Hannes Ahlmann and Madness, a promising young horse, win the 1.55-meter Grand Prix in Wuustwezel

Hannes Ahlmann thinks very highly of Madness, the nine-year-old son of Kannan. That’s easy to understand, as was evident today in the Grand Prix of the CSI3* in Wuustwezel (Netherlands).

The 25-year-old Ahlmann and his KWPN stallion were the first pair in the standard course to find the right answer to every challenge posed by Belgian course designer Bernard Mathy in the 1.55-meter jumping competition. Only six other pairs out of the 51 competing in this Grand Prix also finished without faults. The fact that the jumping competition was no walk in the park was evident from who didn’t make it to the jump-off—the Olympic silver medal-winning pair Steve Guerdat and Dynamix de Belheme, for example. However, this was also the first Grand Prix for the 13-year-old Selle Français mare after a break of several months. She had one knockdown but was still fast enough to earn a ribbon.

The pricking

After newly crowned German champion Laura Klaphake, riding Quizano, finished the first round with eight faults, Hannes Ahlmann was the only German rider in the seven-rider jump-off.

Among those riding with him were Belgian European team champion Gilles Thomas, Pius Schwizer (SUI), and Victoria Gulliksen. Ahlmann and Madness had already posted the fastest time in the first round and set a time in the second round that left the competition in the dust: 37.03 seconds. Unbeatable. The victory earned them a new saddle and 10,300 euros in cash.

The other winners

Gilles Thomas and the Selle Français stallion Happy Landais by Andiamo Semilly—who is also just nine years old—came closest to the winner with a time of 37.42 seconds and no penalty points. Pius Schweizer took third place riding the KWPN gelding Jason R by Starpower. With a time of 37.66 seconds, he was hot on Gilles Thomas’s heels.

Rounding out the jump-off were Italy’s Mauro Matteucci Jr. riding Filippo—like Madness, a son of Kannan (4/39.97)—Victoria Gulliksen (NOR) riding Kinmar Bespoke (4/41.80), Juan Carlos Garcia (ITA) on Oliver Twist vd Berghoeve (8/42.14), and Britain’s Chloe Aston on Auto von Rocherath Z. The latter pair had nine penalties, five of which were for exceeding the time limit.

You can find all the results here.