Come On Sunshine!
The Alltech Christmas Puissance on the
Thursday night produced a classic mix
of supreme jumping skills from some
of the best riders in Europe and some
absolutely heart stopping moments for
the eager crowds. The most noticeable
combination in the field was 16-yearold dual Hickstead Derby winner
Loughnatousa WB and his Irish rider
Trevor Breen; the pair made it to the
fourth round but unfortunately couldn’t
make it all the way to the final round.
On the fifth and final round, the class
was jointly won by Germany’s Hilmar
Meyer and the young showjumper Jos
Verlooy from Belgium, who both cleared
the red brick wall at a massive 2m15
– one of the highest this class has ever
seen. The Belgian rider adopted a unique
style as he progressed through the
rounds riding the 9-year-old Sunshine,
only allowing his horse to canter on the
left lead and then trotting in the corner
before the wall - apparently to ensure
the horse stayed straight and to allow
the rider to regroup before tackling the
iconic mass of bricks. Even more oddly,
Jos then aimed the chestnut gelding
at the FEI World Cup Qualifier on the
Sunday afternoon and the Olympia
Grand Prix on the Monday night, but
unfortunately couldn’t produce a clear
round on either evening. It certainly
takes a special kind of horse to be bold
enough to take on a puissance wall
as well as have the athleticism and
sensitivity for a Grand Prix track.
Hilmar Meyer travelled his horse
Continuo over from Germany for their
first visit to this show solely to compete
in this class, “I came over many years
ago as a groom and have watched it on
the TV since, now I have a horse good
enough to ride here,” he said of the
13-year-old gelding. “I found the horse
by luck. A friend of mine saw him and
told me I must have him – he’s also
been jumping well in six bar classes,” he
added.
Unfortunately, the two Brits in the
class didn’t make it particularly far in the
competition, Guy Williams (Depardieu
van T Kiezelhof) reached the second
round before taking a brick with him on
landing, while Laura Renwick (Roller
Coaster) made it to the third round
before the gelding maxed out.
Gaudiano Gallops to Victory.
The Longines FEI world Cup qualifier
left the audience on the edge of their
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EVERYTHING HORSE MAGAZINE • Issue 28 • January 2016