On her official Instagram page, Simone Blum has announced that she will not aim her reigning World Champion DSP Alice (Askari x Landrebell) for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Blum explains that the 14-year-old mare had to go through surgery on Tuesday to remove a hematoma. While the surgery was successful, DSP Alice will need a break of 3-4 weeks before she slowly can be put back to work. This has made Blum take the decision to put this summer’s Olympic Games out of her plans. 

The pair has had little luck since their last championship for Germany, where they claimed team silver at the 2019 Europeans in Rotterdam – with only nine international starts since then. After more than a year away from international competition, DSP Alice made a comeback in St. Tropez, France, in October last year but is, unfortunately, six months later out again.