Together they started very small. From the first tests for young show jumpers to their first advanced level jumping competition and all the way to the top of the world:
Concordess NRW and Philipp Schulze Topphoff were a dream team. At the end of 2021, the two sensationally won the World Cup leg in La Coruna, but the 24-year-old and the Westphalian mare not only excelled in Italy, together the team also placed in the Rolex Grand Prix in Aachen in 2021 with impressive rounds, achieved several victories such as in Budapest and numerous top placings, e.g. in Doha. Now the successful duo have parted ways. The 13-year-old grey mare by Congress, bred by Delia Brügmann, was sold to Qatar after eight years together.
"Yes, unfortunately that is true," Philipp Schulze Topphoff told spring-reiter.de in Leipzig. "We didn't take the step lightly, we had a close look at the new owners beforehand. The mare has it really good there, they take great care of her," the show jumper explains.
Concordess NRW's new rider, 29-year-old Rashid Towaim Ali Al Marri from Qatar, has already presented the mare in a 1.35m competition in Oliva.
It is another chapter in the history of Olympic preparations: In view of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the Arabs are currently upgrading themselves and offering top prices for successful horses.
