Riders Tour 2017

The DKB-Riders Tour 2017 was the 17th season of the Riders Tour , an international show jumping tournament series .

In 2017, the Riders Tour program comprised six special stages at CSI 3 * and 4 * tournaments in Germany. The Riders Tour was organized by a company of the same name, whose managing director is Paul Schockemöhle .

Deutsche Kreditbank has been the title sponsor of the series, unchanged since 2010 . In addition, the BEMER Int. AG and mauser einrichtungssysteme GmbH & Co. KG are main sponsors for the second time.

Course of the tournament series

The stages of the DKB-Riders Tour have remained unchanged since 2014: The tests of the 2017 Riders Tour season were carried out in six tournaments, held between April 26th and November 12th.

The special tests were usually the grand prizes of the tournaments. In the German jumping and dressage derby , the jumping derby is the Riders Tour rating test.

With the exception of the German Jumping Derby, the valuation tests were announced as jumping competitions with two different rounds . However, the penalty points were not taken from the first round, so the announcement (apart from the starting order in the second round) largely corresponded to a jumping competition with a winning round. The best quarter of the participants in the first round qualified for the second round.

The Munich Indoors in Munich continued to mark the end of the Riders Tour season. The Munich Grand Prix was a normal special stage. However, in order to be able to enter the overall ranking at the end of the season, the riders had to take part in the final. If this was not the case, they were not taken into account in the final overall ranking.

The evaluation points were awarded as follows:

space	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th
Points	20th	17th	15th	13	11	10	9	8th	7th	6th	5	4th	3	2	1

media

Four of the six Riders Tour special stages were broadcast live on television: in Hamburg (on ZDF ), in Wiesbaden (on hr-fernsehen ), in Münster (on WDR television ) and in Munich (on BR television ). Outside of these broadcast times, all Riders Tour tournaments will be broadcast via an internet live stream.

The exams

1st examination - Hagen aTW

The 2017 Riders Tour season kicked off on May 1st as part of the Grand Prix of the CSI 4 * tournament " Horses & Dreams " in Hagen am Teutoburg Forest .

In the first round of the test, endowed with 75,000 euros, 12 riders and thus exactly the desired quarter of the starting field remained without errors. Seven riders managed another clear round in the jump-off. Third place was one of the greatest successes in recent years for Markus Beerbaum, who after years of focusing on coaching was increasingly returning to tournament sport himself. Here he rode the gelding Comanche , who was owned by his wife Meredith Michaels until the beginning of 2017 -Beerbaum was presented in sports. He was first replaced by Austrian Christian Rhomberg at the top, before Emanuele Gaudiano and the gray stallion Caspar secured victory with the fastest time in the jump-off.

	equestrian	horse	1st round		2nd round		scoring points
			Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )
1	Emanuele Gaudiano	Caspar	0	-	0	50.30	20th
2	Christian Rhomberg	Saphyr des Lacs	0	-	0	50.93	17th
3	Markus Beerbaum	Comanche	0	-	0	51.12	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 47 participants)

2nd exam - Hamburg

Pato Muente and Zera , winners of the 88th German Jumping Derby

The German Show Jumping and Dressage Derby was held in Hamburg from May 24th to 28th, 2017 . After two qualifying tests on Thursday and Friday, the decision about the Riders Tour points in the German Jumping Derby was made on Sunday afternoon (May 28).

After there had been no faultless rides in the previous year and the riders had to jump-off with four penalty points, it lasted until the ninth ride in 2017: Pato Muente and his mare Zera , who had entered the jump-off in the previous year, crossed the finish line without penalty points . Just two rides later, the derby winner of 2012 and 2014, Nisse Lüneburg, succeeded. So a jump-off for victory was necessary. While the winning couple from 2015, Christian Glienewinkel and Professional Aircare , did not finish the course, Gilbert Tillmann, another derby winner from earlier years, made it into the jump-off.

After a half-hour break, another 14 riders started in the normal circuit , including around three derby-experienced couples from the British Isles ( William Whitaker with Glenavadra Brilliant , last year’s second Nigel Coupe and Golvers Hill and last year’s winners Billy Twomey and Diaghilev ). There were also strong couples from northern Germany on the starting list, for example Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann with Anna , with whom she was fourth in the German Jumping Derby in 2015 and 2016, or André Thieme , who came third in the second derby qualification on Friday whose nine-year-old horse Contadur he had only been riding for a few weeks. None of these 14 horse-rider pairs made the jump-off.

Pato Muente had to put forward in the jump-off, did not take the last risk with Zera , but made it through the course again without any mistakes. Lüneburg and Tillmann had to try to master the jump-off course faster and without mistakes despite their young horses. Nisse Lüneburg went a little faster than Muente, but with Cordillo he got four penalty points at the first "railway barrier " (a steep jump consisting of only a single pole ). Gilbert Tillmann rode the youngest horse in the field, the eight-year-old gray gelding Claus Dieter . With this he still rode a significantly higher basic pace. But Tillmann also made an obstacle error at the "railway barriers", specifically on the second jump of this combination. Pato Muente won this test when he took part in the German Jumping Derby for the second time.

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
			Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )
1	Pato Muente	Zera	0	-	0	56.30	20th
2	Gilbert Tillmann	Claus Dieter	0	-	4th	50.12	17th
3	Nisse Lueneburg	Cordillo	0	-	4th	55.16	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 32 participants)

3rd exam - Wiesbaden

Always the Whitsun weekend and a week after the German Jumping and Dressage Derby was in Wiesbaden , the International Pfingstturnier performed. The Riders Tour special test, the Grand Prix of the state capital Wiesbaden, was held on the afternoon of Whit Monday (May 5, 2017).

The sequence of obstacles 5 - 6a - 6b turned out to be one of the most demanding places on the course of the first round, with a double combination (6a oxer, 6b steep jump) directly following the moat. Of the 36 horse-rider pairs, seven remained without errors, so that a pair with a time penalty and the fastest pair with four penalty points also made it into the second round.

In the second lap Eva Bitter , who was the second starter here, was the first to stay clear. With Conte-Bellini , she had received a time penalty in the first round. In the second lap it stayed within the allowed time, but here too at a moderate pace. With the 11-year-old stallion Good Luck, Cian O'Connor was already over six seconds faster than Bitter without any mistakes, he needed 47.02 seconds. While the winner of the 1997 Wiesbaden Grand Prix, Markus Beerbaum , made an obstacle error with Comanche , Philip Rüping took the lead with an even faster ride.

Holger Wulschner was the next rider to compete with the 9-year-old mare Catch Me T , for whom this test was the first start in a classic Grand Prix. Wulschner managed a flawless lap and was almost a second faster than Rüping. The last two riders in the second lap, Lillie Keenan and last year's winner couple Patrick Stühlmeyer and Lacan , also crossed the finish line without mistakes, but they did not come close to the time of the leader.

	equestrian	horse	1st round		2nd round		scoring points
			Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )
1	Holger Wulschner	Catch Me T	0	-	0	45.39	20th
2	Philip Rüping	Messenger	0	-	0	46.36	17th
3	Lillie Keenan	Super Sox	0	-	0	46.74	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 36 participants)

4th exam - Münster

After a break of three months, the Riders Tour season continued with the tournament of winners in Münster . The CSI 4 * tournament was held from August 10th to August 13th.

In the Grand Prix of the traditional Münster tournament, the allowed time should become a cliff in the first round: Initially, it was only set at 75 seconds, which was hardly achievable after the rain of the previous days. The time allowed was then increased to 80 seconds, but almost half of the 42 starters received time penalties. The Grand Prix of the traditional Münster tournament, endowed with 125,000 euros, also attracted the riders who competed in the Global Champions Tour tournament in Valkenswaard until Saturday evening : Ludger Beerbaum was the first starter to receive one (initially two) time penalty (s) with Chacon . After correcting the time allowed, the ride of the second starter pair (Christian Ahlmann and Colorit ) turned into the first clear round. A total of 15 riders and their horses made no mistakes in the first round. Due to the announcement of the test, however, only the eleven fastest zero-error rides made it into the second round. As a result, the winner of Wiesbaden, Holger Wulschner , narrowly missed the entry into the second round.

In the second lap, Christian Ahlmann was on the verge of finishing at the top of the prize money in Münster after finishing second in the Valkenswaarder Global Champions Tour stage: His time of 42.07 seconds in the second lap should not even begin to beat any rider, but the distance to the last jump was not suitable. With four penalty points, he came in sixth in the final result. After several four-fault rides, Gerrit Nieberg's faultless ride with Contagio (fifth place) was the prelude to several zero-fault rides. Christian Rhomberg , Marc Houtzager and Peder Fredricson each took the lead one after the other. But the victory went to a local hero: Jens Baackmann had already won the main test on Saturday with Carmen last year and took second place in the Grand Prix. In 2017 he turned this around and finished second with the now 12-year-old mare on the tournament Saturday and won the Grand Prix.

	equestrian	horse	1st round		2nd round		scoring points
			Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )
1	Jens Baackmann	Carmen	0	-	0	43.21	20th
2	Peder Fredricson	All in	0	-	0	44.02	17th
3	Marc Houtzager	Baccarat	0	-	0	45.84	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 42 participants)

5th exam - Paderborn

At the beginning of September, the fifth stage of the Riders Tour was on the program with the Paderborn Challenge . The only CSI 3 * of the tournament series was held from September 7th to September 10th 2017 on Paderborn's Schützenplatz.

17 riders finished the first round of the Grand Prix without obstacle errors, but four of them with a time penalty. Felix Haßmann, who is otherwise one of the fastest riders, came with Balzaci in the first lap, despite a faultless ride, only in 13th place and thus just missed the entry into the second lap of the top twelve participants.

After two four-point rides, it was Ludger Beerbaum in the second lap who, with Chacon as the first rider, remained flawless. Two rides after him, Heiko Schmidt and Chap took the lead. After three rides with penalty points and a slower zero-error ride by Mario Stevens, it was Hans-Dieter Dreher, who with Berlinda was without mistakes and again over two seconds faster than Schmidt. The last two starters also brought clear laps to the finish line: While Toni Haßmann was slightly slower than Dreher, Marcus Ehning with Comme il faut clearly showed the fastest lap in the jump-off. In doing so, after winning the main test on Saturday the day before, he also secured victory in the Grand Prize endowed with 75,000 euros. Ehning and the stallion Comme il faut repeated their victory from last year.

	equestrian	horse	1st round		2nd round		scoring points
			Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )
1	Marcus Ehning	Comme il faut	0	-	0	41.83	20th
2	Hans-Dieter Dreher	Berlinda	0	-	0	42.57	17th
3	Toni Haßmann	Bien-Aimee de la Lionne	0	-	0	43.13	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 48 participants)

6th exam - Munich

In the final of the Riders Tour, the final points for the overall ranking were awarded as part of the Munich Indoors Grand Prix . The CSI 4 * tournament taking place in Munich's Olympiahalle was held from November 9th to November 12th. In order to be placed in the final Riders Tour overall ranking, participation in the Munich Grand Prix is ​​mandatory for the riders.

Eleven riders finished the first round without a drop, so that two riders with a time error / drop were allowed to compete in the second round. There nine riders were again able to remain without mistakes. Several riders came close to the 35-second mark or even undercut it, including the fourth from last rider fifth in the ranking before the final: Markus Beerbaum on Charmed , who took the lead in 34.52 seconds and thus already won after his ride in the overall standings. Only the last starter was faster: Felix Haßmann was able to take the lead in 33.83 seconds on his veteran Balzaci and won the Munich Grand Prix for the first time after finishing fourth there two years earlier.

	equestrian	horse	1st round		2nd round		scoring points
			Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )
1	Felix Hassmann	Balzaci	0	-	0	33.83	20th
2	Markus Beerbaum	Charmed	0	-	0	34.52	17th
3	Mario Stevens	Landano	0	-	0	34.82	15th

Final standings overall

	equestrian	Stages						Total points
		Hagen	Hamburg	Wiesbaden	Muenster	Paderborn	Munich
1	Markus Beerbaum	15th	-	9	0	0	17th	41
2	Jens Baackmann	0	-	-	20th	8th	8th	36
3	Christian Rhomberg	17th	-	0	13	0	4th	34
4th	Philip Rüping	0	-	17th	2	9	6th	34
5	Felix Hassmann	6th	-	1	0	3	20th	30th

Web links

• Internet presence of the DKB-Riders Tour
• FEI tournament calendar

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DKB-Riders Tour - Imprint , accessed on May 23, 2017
2. ↑ The sporting regulations of the DKB-Riders Tour 2017 , accessed on May 23, 2017
3. ↑ ClipMyHorse preview
4. ↑ Result of the Grand Prix of Deutsche Kreditbank AG, CSI 4 * Horses & Dreams 2017
5. ↑ CSI Hagen: Markus Beerbaum back in sport , grandprix-replay.com, May 2, 2017
6. ^ Result of the German Jumping Derby 2017
7. ^ Result of the Grand Prix of the State Capital Wiesbaden, CSI 4 * Wiesbaden 2017
8. ↑ Wiesbaden: Wulschner's Catch Me T - from the unrideable to the winner , Dominique Wehrmann / St. Georg, June 5, 2017
9. ^ Result of the Grand Prix of the City of Münster / BMW Hakvoort Trophy 2017
10. ↑ Marcus Ehning does it again in Paderborn , St. Georg, September 10, 2017
11. ^ Result of the Paderborn Grand Prix 2017