An eye-catching five-star jumper
The showjumping world can’t stop talking about Gerit Nieberg’s brilliant equine partner Ping Pong Van De Lentamel, who won the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) grand prix of Riesenbeck. The distinctive 10-year-old gelding only stepped up to five-star level this summer. He really impressed when jumping double clear in the Rolex grand prix at Aachen, his second show at the level, only tipping a rail in the jump-off to finish ninth. “He’s such a cool horse,” says Gerit, the 32-year-old son of Olympian Lars Nieberg, about his superstar mount. “He’s the easiest character every single day.”
“Not naughty or lazy, but in pain”
Mary Frances, CEO of Moorcroft Equine Rehabilitation Centre in Sussex, is urging riders to “believe what they feel” and listen to what their horses are telling them, as those often labelled “naughty” or “lazy” may be in pain. Mary told H&H that suspensory pain can be a common cause of issues she sees, including unidentifiable lameness and reluctance to go forwards. “It’s worrying – and incredibly frustrating – to hear of horses who have been simply labelled as ‘naughty’ or ‘lazy’, when in fact they are suffering from suspensory ligament pain and are, therefore, unable to perform adequately,” she said.
Ireland’s bright future
Team Ireland is celebrating – and looking to the future – following their first senior European eventing team medal in 30 years at Blenheim. “We’ll enjoy this result but I think it’s fair to say we are building an excellent eventing programme and obviously now Aachen will be the next major target,” said Dag Albert, Ireland’s high performance manager for young riders and seniors, who took on the role this spring.
The silver medal-winning Irish team at the 2025 European Eventing Championships at Blenheim.
The 2025 senior European Championships are the first in the cycle building towards the 2026 World Championships in Aachen and the LA28 Olympics. And for Ireland to have won a medal when the majority of horses on the squad are only 10 or 11 years old is particularly promising for the future.
Read more about the Irish resurgence
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