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During the first week of competition at the Andalucía Sunshine Tour 2025 in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain, Germany's Gerrit Nieberg and Ping Pong van de Lentamel (Emerald x Toulon, bred by Hulde aan de Bok B.V.B.A.) won the CSI4* 1.55m Grand Prix presented by Stephex. A week later, they took their second consecutive CSI4* 1.55m Grand Prix win, topping the CSI4* 1.55m Equine America Grand Prix during week two of the tour. The pair finished off the tour with a double clear round and a 4^th place in the CSI4* 1.55m Andalucía Grand Prix.

“I have been riding him for a little bit over a year now,” Nieberg – winner of the 2022 Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen – tells World of Showjumping about Ping Pong van de Lentamel, who is owned by Karin Ernsting. “Karin bought Ping Pong at an online auction, and she rode him until he was eight. We have worked together for about a year now thanks to a co-operation between my boss Hendrik Snoek and Karin.”

“I'm more than happy to have Ping Pong,” Nieberg tells about the 10-year-old gelding. “Already from the first day I got a feeling that he is a really special horse and for sure able to do some bigger classes one day. I believe that we are slowly getting there. Last year, we did a few three-stars. I think he is ready for bigger classes now and hopefully ready to the next step soon.”

“Our plan was to prepare for the season,” Nieberg tells about his time in Vejer de la Frontera. “That was my main goal, to jump a little bit on grass and do a few bigger classes. When we were clear in the first Grand Prix, I thought that I could maybe try a little bit more in the jump-off because we have not done so many jump-offs together. When it worked out, I was already more than happy. And the week after, it was more or less the same again. I was at the end of the jump-off and I could watch a few. To be honest, it was not a super quick jump-off, so I thought we could try to go a little bit faster – and luckily, it worked out.”

“Let's see where we are and which shows we can get into,” Nieberg says humbly about his plans for the rest of the season with Ping Pong. “Hopefully, we get to do some Nations Cups also, and maybe even some five-stars. I think I need to talk to Otto [Becker] and ask him what he thinks.”

“Obviously, I needed to take some steps back after Ben was sold,” Nieberg tells about the process of building up a new team of horses after his 2022 Aachen Grand Prix-winner Ben 431 was acquired by Lucy Davis in 2024. “My other top horse Blues d’Aveline left more or less at the same time, but luckily, we found some new young prospects. I have tried to bring them up slowly, and I believe I have a really good group of young, talented horses now. I'm hoping and looking forward to be back in the top-level sport soon.”

4.3.2025 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.