An Olympic champion in reserve, a showjumping ‘dressage horse’ and other things the equestrian world is talking about
Champion alternate
Olympic eventing champion Julia Krajewski has been confirmed as Germany’s alternate for the Paris Olympics, with Nickel 21. Julia, who won gold in Tokyo with the now-retired Amanda De B’Neville, and the 10-year-old were originally in the third group of combinations on the German longlist but have been named as alternates after their CHIO Aachen win last week. They will join Sandra Auffarth with Viamant Du Matz, Michael Jung with FischerChipmunk FRH and Christoph Wahler with Carjatan S in Paris.
A great win
Olympic showjumping champion Ben Maher took a prestigious win in Aachen with a “full dressage horse”. Ben and Exit Remo, whom he has been riding since 2022, won the Alianz Prize ahead of Richard Vogel and Cydello. The 15-year-old gelding Exit Remo is by dressage stallion San Remo, out of a mare by Ferro, the grandsire of Uthopia and Valegro. “He’s a full dressage horse, or so I’ve been told!” said Ben. “I’m not sure if we went to the other side of the street, we’d be winning but it makes him a bit more of a character; he’s got high head carriage and you can see similarities.”
Follow the feather
The City of London Police’s newest equine recruit has completed his training and been officially renamed. Andy, now known as Police Horse Thomson, is a 14-year-old Clydesdale who loves a good scratch and whose fabulous feathers have been left in their full glory, which the force said is unique for a police horse. “Andy has made great progress, is now in the peak of health and has just completed his training and is a fully fledged police horse,” a spokesperson said.
You might also be interested in:
Reigning Olympic champion boosted to alternate position for Paris after Aachen
‘He’s a full dressage horse!’ Ben Maher takes ‘fantastic’ Aachen win
Meet City of London’s newest police horse – complete with fabulous feather #FollowTheFeather
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