1 August 2015

Riesenbeck: Exciting marathon

It  was all about excitement during a sunny marathon day at the CAIO competition for horse pairs and horse teams in Riesenbeck.


Photo: Marie de Ronde-Oudemans


Photo: Marie de Ronde-Oudemans

Former World Champion Harrie Verstappen (NED) went through the obstacles smooth and fast and proved once again that he is still one of the best marathon drivers. He is followed by German team members, Arnd Lörcher and Sebastian Warneck who are also preparing for the World Pair Driving Championships this September. Runner up in dressage, Marco Freund finished fourth in the marathon but he maintained his lead after two days with less than a ball ahead of Sebastian Warneck and Harrie Verstappen on the second and third positions. The German team is leading after two days. The Netherlands is second and Austria is third at the moment.

German driver Christoph Sandmann was the best today out of thirty-five four-in-hand drivers competing against each other in Riesenbeck this weekend. He managed to stay ahead of the very well performing Hungarian József Dobrovitz and marathon winner in Beekbergen, Michael Brauchle who finished third today. József Dobrovitz jr. came fourth just behind the Germans and his father. The great performances of father and son Dobrovitz mean that the Hungarian team is now on the second place after Germany. The Dutch team of Herman ter Harmsel, Koos and Peter de Ronde lies in third position before the final cones. Tomorrow promises to be a nail-biting final as Boyd Exell is only 0,61 penalty points ahead of Christoph Sandmann.

Click here for the results.

Click here for the photos.