Ludger Beerbaum steps back in sport
In Barcelona, Ludger Beerbaum will jump his last Nations Cup for Germany. He took his first Olympic team gold medal in Seoul riding a horse called The Freak in 1988, and two more at Atlanta (USA) in 1996 with the great mare Ratina Z and with Goldfever at Sydney (AUS) in 2000. The individual gold he clinched with Classic Touch at Barcelona (ESP) in 1992. At his seventh Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (BRA) he added team bronze to his collection. Further: two gold, one silver and one bronze at world championships and six gold, three silver and two bronze from European championships. Beerbaum always wanted to quit at the top, and he will make his final appearance in his red Team Germany jacket at the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final in Barcelona (ESP) next month. Emotions are likely to run high as he returns for the very last time to the scene of that glorious Olympic achievement at the very same venue, the Real Club de Polo, 24 years ago. Beerbaum now will focus more on his equestrian center in Riesenbeck, the breeding and the training activities. He will also still compete, but not in Nations Cups anymore. (Source: FEI)
Video. Ludger Beerbaum and The Freak, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea
Barcelona Final: Belgium and Austria picked up as the alternate countries
After forfaits of Saoudi-Arabia and Ukraïne, Belgium and Austria were picked up as the first alternates for the Furusiyya Nations Cup Finals in Barcelona. Ukraïne lost Cassio Rivetti last week at Stephex Masters, when Rivetti broke his leg during the Grand Prix. Also: team supporter Aleksandr Onyshchenko had sold most of his horses due to a fraud case. Several countries already announced their team for the final in Barcelona. Belgium goes with Stephex GP winner Niels Bruynseels (Cas de Liberté Z), Judy-Ann Melchior (As Cold As Ice Z), Jerome Guery (Grand Cru vd Rozenberg), Gregory Wathelet (Coree) and Pieter Devos (Dream of India Greenfield). Belgium won the final in 2015 with Melchior, Devos and Wathelet in the team. Germany is sending Beerbaum (Casello), Ehning (Pret a Tout), Ahlmann (Taloubet Z) and Deusser (First Class van Eeckelghem). The Dutch will go to Spain with Gerco Schröder (Glock’s London), Maikel Van der Vleuten (VDL Groep Verdi), Harrie Smolders (Emerald), Jeroen Dubbeldam (Carusso LS) and Wout-Jan Van Der Schans (Capetown).
Zenith and Aquila for sale through online auction
The Olympic Games were the last competition for World and European Champions Jeroen Dubbeldam and Zenith together. They ended up in seventh place due to one time penalty. The twelve-year-old gelding now will be sold by the Dutch fund that owned the horse. ‘It has always been the meaning to sell after Rio’, says Jacob Melissen from SFN. Also Wout-Jan Van Der Schans’ top mount Aquila and five other horses from the fund will be auctioned. The SFN normally would only conclude in 2018, but to maximize the profit for the stakeholders, the horses will now already be sold. A new fund, SFN 2, is about to be created. The auction of Zenith, Aquila and the other SFN 1 horses will start online at September 21.
Thomas Frühmann and The Sixth Sense to retire
Austria’s Thomas Frühmann, who has enjoyed a career that spanned more than four decades, has announced he will retire from show jumping. The 65-year old rider holds an impressive record of titles and accomplishments: in 1992 he won the FEI World Cup Final in Del Mar, California. He jumped in the World Cup Final ten times from 1980 – 1992. He twice competed in the Olympic Games, in Montreal in 1976, and in Barcelona in 1992, where he won Olympic team silver. In 1990 he won the Grand Prix of Aachen. In more recent years, Frühmann has competed The Sixth Sense at the grand prix level. In 2015, Frühmann and The Sixth Sense placed second in the €100,000 Gaston Glock’s Vienna Masters Prix CSI5* at the Longines Global Champions Tour of Vienna. The Sixth Sense once was the number one horse on the world ranking. He now is 20 years old, still competing at GP level, but he will retire simultaneously with his rider. Frühmann has announced that next week’s edition of LGCT Vienna will be the final competition of their career.
William Whitaker to replace Joe Clee
As Joe Clee left the stable of Ludwig Criel in Belgium after more than 10 years of cooperation, it is William Whitaker who will replace him. A few months ago, William Whitaker moved to Belgium to join Tal Milstein Stables. Now the British show jumping rider has decided to move to the stables of Ludwig Criel. Colombian rider Mark Bluman will replace William Whitaker at Tal Milstein Stables. The 25-year-old Bluman is currently debuting for the TMS-team at the international CSI3* show in Bonheiden, Belgium. Also his brother Daniel Bluman works together with Tal Milstein. In the meantime Joe Clee started his own business. He recently welcomed the BWP approved stallion Kafka VD Heffinck (Calvaro) in his barn.
Von Eckermann left Beerbaum Stables
The Swedish rider Henrik von Eckermann (left) has left Beerbaum Stables to start his own business and a cooperation with Karl Schneider. He took took horses from Beerbaum’s Stables to the barn of Schneider, so he will stay in Germany. Von Eckermann already welcomed several new horses aswell. He kept his Olympic mare Yjamila (Lux Z) and Catover (Catoki), and he got new rides in Hermes de Mariposa (Canturo) from the Qatar Armed Forces. This stallion was ridden previously by Annelies Vorsselmans before being sold to Qatar inthe beginning of the year. Also the youngsters Mary Lou and Ecuador W are under the saddle of the Swedish top rider.
Fourth child for Marcus Ehning 
Germany’s show jumping rider, Marcus Ehning (right) has become a father again. Ehning and his wife Nadia welcomed their fourth family member. The new born son got the name Lyas. He’s the brother of Yula Ekaterina (6 years), Davu Andreas (4 years) and Nael Fyor (2 years).
Super talented stallion Untouched dies
The 9-year-old Westfalian stallion Untouched (Untouchable) unfortunately passed away for a yet unknown reason. He was home 
at Ben Maher’s when the disaster struck. The horse just collapsed, Maher stated in the press. As a young horse Untouched was produced by Dutch show jumping rider Mathijs Van Asten. In 2015 Olympic Champion, Nick Skelton (left), took over the reiins and developed the horse up to a 1.60m level for the American Moffit family, who owned the horse. Only recently Untouched moved to the stables of Skelton’s compatriot, Ben Maher. The pair debuted in April this year at the Longines Global Champions Tour in Antwerp and placed 10th in the GCT Grand Prix of Cannes.
Nino des Buissonnets will no more jump the championships
Steve Guerdat has announced to reduce the competition schedule of his 15-year-old Championships horse, Nino des Buissonnets (left), with whom he won the individual gold at the Olympic Games of London 2012. After their last Championship performance, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, Guerdat has decided no longer to start Nino in any international Championships. Steve and Nino just fell out of the medals in Rio, placing fourth after one misstake in the jump-off. Nino will now enjoy some rest, the pair will however be back in action at the international CHI in Geneva, where they won last year’s Grand Prix.
Penelope Leprevost injured
Pénélope Leprévost (right) is forced to take back some gass due to an injury. At the Olympics the female show jumping rider got injured when falling down from her mare Flora de Mariposa, but afterwards she continued competing for the gold. The French prime show jumping lady was diagnosed with a muscle tear. This means a recovery of several weeks. For the upcoming FEI Furusiyya Nations Cup finals Pénélope’s presence is now uncertain for the French team.
New rider at Ashford Farm
Marlon Zanotelli and his wife Angelica Augustsson announced they’ll go separate ways with Ashford Farms. In one of their last shows for Ashford, at Zandhoven, Marlon and Angelica won both the CSI4* and the CSI2* GP. In the two star the Ashford Farm riders clinched the full top three. Now Enda Carroll has announced he has found a replacer for Marlon Zanotelli. Irish show jumping rider Jonathan Gordon will be the new number one rider at Enda Carroll’s Ashford Farms. Gordon will start October 1st at the Belgium-based sport and trading stable. He jumped at Aachen this year for the German stable of Manfred Marschall.
Gulliksen family invests in new GP horses
The 12-years-old Zinius and 11-years-old Arakorn have joined the Gulliksen stables, which was confirmed by World Of Show Jumping. Zinius (by Nabab de Rêve) was before ridden by Dutch show jumping rider Doron Kuipers. The combination competed up to an international CSI5* Grand Prix level. Most recently the pair placed third in the CSIO5* Nations Cup in Gijon, Spain. Zinius will from now be ridden by Victoria Gulliksen. Geir (both pictured right) will be the new rider in the saddle of Arakorn (by Cantos). With Jelmer Hoekstra from Holland this horse finished third at the international CSI3* in Opglabbeek, Belgium.