Koen Vereecke brings the Neumünster Championship to Belgium

Riding the ten-year-old BWP mare Quinoa De La Liniere, Koen Vereecke set an unbeatable time of 34.12 seconds with no faults. Hannes Ahlmann, as the last rider in the jump-off on the nine-year-old Madness, would have had the chance to keep the victory in the country after all. But it was not to be. The clock stopped at 34.66 seconds.

Third place (0/35.72) for 19-year-old Tomma Thiesen from the island of Fehmarn was a minor sensation. She had already caused the Holstenhalle to shake with her clear round in the normal course in the saddle of her nine-year-old Holsteiner Diarado son Django Riff. When she was the first rider to go clear in the jump-off and was also fast, the cheers of the crowd could probably be heard all the way to the highway.

Championship “taken away”

Koen Vereecke’s itinerary in February with Quinoa de la Liniere (by Moskito van het Hellehof) looks like this: Hong Kong – Neumünster – Gothenburg. “Neumünster was halfway from home,” explained Vereecke. “Quinoa is due to go next week in Gothenburg (at the World Cup tournament, editor’s note). This is good preparation,” said the 56-year-old Belgian, who has run his own stable since 1999 and represented his home country at the European Championships in Milan 2023 and at the Nations Cup Finals 2022/23.

For him, 2026 is a sporting premiere in Neumünster – “I was here 30 years ago for the licensing”. His VR Classics debut taught him that the young Holsteiner riders are a force to be reckoned with. “I saw Tomma’s round and thought, oops, that’s fast!” But in the end, with all his experience, he was a little faster. Perhaps also because Quinoa was so inspired by the Holsteiner spectators. “This is a really special crowd here and I think the horses notice that too,” said the Belgian.

Madness – one for the future

When Hannes Ahlmann crossed the finish line 0.54 seconds behind Vereecke and Quinoa with his fantastically jumping Kannan son Madness, his first thought was probably something like “Shit, it was almost enough!”. At least that’s what his gestures and facial expressions suggested. But the next moment he was already patting his stallion’s neck gratefully. Even later, there was no sign of disappointment. “I’m incredibly proud of Madness! He’s only nine years old. I tried to take him a step further today and was already thrilled with the way he jumped in the round.”

In fact, the colorful dark chestnut – his dam’s sire Emerald van’t Ruytershof – was not at all fazed by the spectacle around him. But a jump-off is something else again and the two-time finalist in the World Championships for Young Show Jumpers has not yet jumped too many rounds against the clock. That’s why he didn’t really want to attack today, said Ahlmann. “Maybe that’s why I lost it from 1 to 2 today. But then I really got into the flow and was able to really attack!”

In his opinion, this was definitely not the last chance to win with Madness. He has high hopes for the KWPN stallion from a Holsteiner dam line. Tomorrow in the Grand Prix he will still be backing his top horse Tokyo, with whom he already won the 1.50 meter time trial yesterday.

The teen from the island

For 19-year-old Tomma Thiesen, 2026 will be the first time she has ridden in the “big ones” in Neumünster. She graduated from high school in 2025 and started working as a rider at Stall Köhlbrandt, so she has remained loyal to her home island of Fehmarn.

The clear round in the round was a reason to celebrate not only for the spectators, but also for herself. The fact that things went so well in the jump-off also came as a surprise to her. “It was all a bit crazy. It’s the first time the horse and I have ridden a Grand Prix over this height (1.55 meters, editor’s note) and I was just thrilled with how he jumped!”

Especially as it was “not easy for her white horse to stay with himself in such an atmosphere”, as she said. Nevertheless, “we approached the jump-off as if we didn’t have so much to lose,” Thiesen described. A recipe for success. Her answer to the question of whether today’s third place was her greatest sporting success to date: “I think you could say that.”

Tomma has thus qualified for the Grand Prix at the first attempt. Which horse will she ride there? “I’ll have to ask my boss,” she laughed. Nobody had thought that she would be able to shake up the Holstenhalle again tomorrow afternoon at the weekend’s show jumping highlight.

You can find all the results here.