Edited press release from Riesenbeck International

The Longines FEI European Championships 2021 kicked off in Riesenbeck on Tuesday, with the first horse inspection and a training session in the main arena. Even though Team Germany's Maurice Tebbel on Tuesday evening announced that he has decided to withdraw Don Diarado from the competitions due a hoof abscess, Chef d'Equipe Otto Becker has set a clear goal for the coming days: "We want to have a say in the medals." 

Rightly, Tebbel had high hopes for these European Championships. It was supposed to be his fourth championship for Germany, after competing at the Longines FEI European Championship in Gothenburg, the World Equestrian Games in Tryon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Marcus Ehning and Stargold – the German reserves – will now replace Tebbel and Don Diarado on the team. "I have to try to concentrate on myself. On the one hand, you already want to ride, sure. But when it happens like this, it's not so nice in the end," said Ehning.

For the 31-year-old Christian Kukuk and his young stallion Mumbai, it is not only a European Championship on home soil, but a real home game, as the two are based in Riesenbeck. A lot has changed at the showground in the recent months. "I have already followed this over the last few weeks and seen in small stages what has changed and what is new. So, I've almost gotten used to it now," Kukuk said. "It's a home advantage, of course, because there are quite a lot of people here that you know, that are part of the team and part of the family. They can all be here this week, and I'll count that as a home field advantage." On his return from the Olympics, he said, "Mumbai did great on the trip. He had a bit of a rest afterwards and went out hacking with his groom."

André Thieme was also in Tokyo. He returned with many new experiences in his luggage. He now wants to attack in Riesenbeck with his mare DSP Chakaria: "My goal is to do one or two things better here. There can't be more pressure than in Tokyo. That's why I want to try to keep my cool. Chakaria didn't compete after Tokyo. We have jumped on grass once or twice since then, which felt very good."

David Will and his 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding C-Vier will be making their championship debut in Riesenbeck. "To be part of a championship for the first time is something very special," said the 33-year-old. "C-Vier and I became pretty good friends over the last year. It all happened quite quickly. The goal is to be as good as possible, but of course not just by the motto, to be up there is everything." 

Will last saw the facility in Riesenbeck in 2020. A lot has changed since then: "Last year there was the new sand arena, which was already a significant improvement. Now there is a second large sand arena and permanent stabling, which of course makes a huge difference, especially for the well-being of the horses. The stalls are huge, everything is really well thought out with washing areas for the horses. It's hard to do it better."

German Chef d'Equipe Otto Becker is also full of praise for the organising team: "Hats off to Ludger and his team for what they have put together. With the grandstands, the arena has a real stadium character. The whole facility is great. What they have achieved here in the last few months, is worthy of all honour."

Such a facility, which has already hosted the German Youth Championships and the German Senior Championships, would be good for Germany as a tournament location, said Becker. "I have to give a huge compliment to Riesenbeck and Hagen, where the European Dressage Championships will be held next week. Both have put on European Championships within a few months. We could easily add two or three more facilities with these conditions, so that Germany remains one of the main bases in Europe. We have a huge tradition with events and a facility like this, and hopefully a few more, would of course underline that for a long time to come." 

It is not only the great conditions in Riesenbeck that make Becker optimistic about this championship: "In contrast to Tokyo, I see the advantage here in the fact that we have a drop score again. If a round goes wrong here, you can make up for it the next day. That helps, of course. That's the tried-and-tested system that we know and like. I think we are well prepared and of course we are aiming for a medal." 

"We have a new chance here, a new championship, it's back to square one. And as André said, they gained experience in Tokyo. Maybe we lacked that a little bit there. If I think back to Rio, afterwards we had a European Championship with the newcomers, where they learned something. And the year after in Tryon, we won gold and bronze," Becker closed off.