Jörne Sprehe wins Badenia 2026 in Mannheim with superiority

The Badenia of Mannheim 2026, the Grand Prix of the traditional Maimarkt tournament, which also celebrated the 100th anniversary of the host equestrian club Mannheim this year, was held over 1.55 meters with a jump-off. 54 pairs tried their hand at the course, which Christa Jung had been thinking about since January. The result was not exactly easy for the riders. In the end, only ten pairs made it through the difficult first round without any faults.

Pairs such as Maximilian Weishaupt and Omerta Incipit gave up after faults. Others finished with various faults, such as the usually so successful Michael Viehweg and Contario (9), Sophie Hinners on Event de l’Heribus (8), Richard Vogel on Phenyo van het Keysersbos (4) or the Abu Dhabi winner Luciana Diniz with Vertigo du Desert (4).

The pricking

Jörne Sprehe and her impetuous stallion Toys by Toulon then went first in the jump-off. The twelve-year-old Hanoverian, a real powerhouse, swept through the shortened course in a clear 40.35 seconds, making what was difficult look easy. In any case, the other eight pairs were all biting their teeth out at this benchmark, both in terms of time and even more so when it came to the obstacles.

The only pair that also stayed clear was one that was in no hurry at all, as it was a minor sensation that they had made it this far: Ronnie Healy, South Africa’s number 1375 in the world rankings, rode his own 13-year-old DSP gelding Cornet’s Mandarino through the jump-off in a relaxed 47.54 seconds without any faults and thus jumped into second place.

The fastest four-fault round against the clock was achieved by Belgium’s Jos Verlooy on the eleven-year-old Diamant de Semilly son Etundel de Marocy with 43.42 seconds, Rama three.

They were followed by Katharina Rhomberg on Colestus Cambridge and Martin Fuchs in the saddle on Love de Vie for Austria and Switzerland, ahead of Felix Hassmann on the Comme il faut daughter C’Est la vie and the Nations Cup heroes Gerrit Nieberg and IB Queen. All with four faults.

Jörne Sprehe already had a feeling that she had a good chance today. “The day started well, I thought it was going to be something today,” she said later. And she said to her stallion: “He proved that he can do anything.” True enough.

Nations Cup victory for German para-dressage riders

Mannheim is their place! For the tenth time, a German para-dressage team won the Nations Cup at the Maimarkt tournament. Regine Mispelkamp on Highlander Delight’s, Melanie Wienand on Lemony’s Loverboy, Heidemarie Dresing on Poesie and Martina Benzinger on Imperia beat the teams from Italy and Finland.

National coach Silke Fütterer-Sommer was happy. Because Mannheim is one of five selection competitions for the German para-dressage riders with a view to the WEG in Aachen – a particularly important selection competition, as the national coach says:

“When we usually go to para tournaments, they are pure para tournaments, practically without an audience. But at championships, we are also confronted with the hustle and bustle, which is why it is so important for us to be able to test how the couples deal with this backdrop and the spectators in Mannheim.”

She explained to the FN that she was taking important insights with her from Mannheim that will help her to find the World Championship team.