DSP Chakaria and André Thieme back in the Olympic squad

DSP Chakaria is back on the big stage. After her injury break last year, André Thieme’s successful mare has seamlessly picked up on her old performances this season – and has done so emphatically. The result: Thieme and his 16-year-old chestnut mare have once again been called up to the Olympic squad.

DSP Chakaria “perhaps even better than before” after comeback

On the sidelines of the TSCHIO Aachen, Thieme summed up the current form of his mare as follows: “For weeks, actually for months, we have had the feeling that she is completely back – maybe even better than before.” And: “She feels great and is definitely not one percent worse than a few years ago, when we thought she was at her absolute peak.”

The results prove him right: victory in the Grand Prix of Hamburg, second place in Hagen a.T.W., strong performances in Aachen – the pair are in impressive form. With DSP Chakaria, Thieme became individual European Champion in 2021 and won the Grand Prix of Aachen in 2024.

Patience is the key

The comeback has been a long road. Thieme gave his mare more than a year to recover, accompanied by regular examinations. “There was always hope that she would come back completely” – this hope has been fulfilled.

Thieme leaves no doubt about how much the return means to him: “It means everything to me. It was a difficult year without Chakaria.” He is enjoying the current phase all the more: “We see it as a gift. It’s not a matter of course that she’s coming back like this.

I enjoy every lap with her and try not to put any pressure on myself. Our goal is to be zero as often as possible – and that’s what we are at the moment.

Updated Olympic squad: seven riders, one female rider, nine horses

The Olympic squad has now been updated with a view to the World Championships. It includes Richard Vogel with the winner of the Grand Prix of Aachen, United Touch S, Daniel Deußer with the World Cup runner-up Otello de Guldenboom, Sophie Hinners/Iron Dames Singlair, third in the Grand Prix of Aachen, and Iron Dames Combella, Christian Ahlmann and Dourkhan Hero Z, Marcus Ehning with Coolio, Christian Kukuk with Olympic Champion Checker and Just be gentle, Gerrit Nieberg with Pingpong van de Lentamel as well as Thieme and DSP Chakaria.

How the nomination for the World Cup works

Read our interview on equi-pages.de to find out how national coach Otto Becker views the squad policy and the prospects for German show jumping. Decisive for the nomination are, among other things, the performances in upcoming Nations Cups such as in La Baule and Falsterbo. The show jumping committee of the German Olympic Equestrian Committee (DOKR) will then jointly nominate the proposals of national coach Becker. Initially there will be a longlist from which the riders will then be named at the time of the nominations.

If you would like to hear Becker in more detail: In the podcast Tell me about the horse, the national coach talks about his work and his philosophy as a trainer in a separate episode.