German Show Jumping Championship 2026: Gold for Kukuk, silver for Kutscher, bronze for Lill

The 2026 German Show Jumping Champion could only be crowned if they were still clear after four challenging rounds. Both the first and second competitions, the Grand Prix on Sunday, went over two rounds. After the second round, the field of potential candidates for the podium had thinned out. The defending champion was the last to be unlucky. Mario Stevens’ hopes of a fourth title, which would have been his third in the saddle of the Hanoverian Starissa, were dashed at the first jump of the triple combination. Starissa simply came too close to the front oxer pole.

Three in the jump-off to become German Show Jumping Champion 2026

It was a trio that qualified for the jump-off for the 2026 German Show Jumping Championships: Marco Kutscher, 51, Olympic champion Christian Kukuk, 36, and Maximilian Lill, 32. Lill was the first to go into the jump-off with Casallco’s George PS. The OS stallion, bred by Paul Schockemöhle, was part of the team that won the Nations Cup in Sharjah at the beginning of the year. Things went less well in the jumping stadium in Balve: the pair collected three knockdowns. It was therefore pretty clear that the new German champion would start with “Ku”.

Coachman or Kukuk?

Christian Kukuk had brought the ten-year-old Akarad Tivoli Z with him to the German Championships. The wiry bay has been successful several times in the USA, including in CSI5* show jumping competitions in Wellington. Most recently, the pair achieved two top 10 placings at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The gelding, who goes back to Darco, sometimes has a somewhat individual forehand technique on high jumps. He stretches his legs forward, but avoids contact with the poles as much as possible. This was also the case in the jump-off in Balve, where he not only remained clear, but also showed in the final distance with seven big canter jumps that he can “also jump big”.

Kutscher: DM-K.O. at jump two

Marco Kutscher and the Colman son Cool Fox, the winners of the first competition, had already exhausted the motto that a good horse only jumps as high as it needs to at several jumps in the second round. In the jump-off, the pair met their fate at the second obstacle. This was followed by another knockdown – the silver medal for the high-profile trainer and 2005 European Champion and third at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Tobias Meyer came fourth in the German Championships with Caillou (4) ahead of Marco Kutscher with Pikeur Lemar (4) and Hendrik Sosath and Casino Grande (4).

Conclusion Kukuk: victory for mom

He may already be an Olympic champion, but Christian Kukuk still had a score to settle with the German Championships. He did not see himself as the favorite. After all, he has only had Akarad Tivoli Z under saddle since January, when he discovered he was looking after his daughter for two hours while watching the Grand Prix of Opglabbeek, where the gelding was ridden by Bertram Allen. Kukuk was thrilled, pulled out all the stops and secured the talent. A good decision.

“Here and there, the coordination wasn’t as good as I would have liked. But he made everything possible with his incredible quality,” said Kukuk. This enabled his rider to win his first German championship title. It’s practically a home game for the new rider from Münster, who now has his horses at Karin Ernsting’s stables. He occupies a stable wing with eleven boxes. Seven of the horses here are not for sale – like Olympic champion Checker and now German champion Akarad Tivoli Z.

The German Championships in Balve were his late mother’s favorite tournament, said Kukuk. The last time she attended the Balve Optimum as a spectator, her son had it in his hands to become German champion. But it was not to be. “I really wanted to win the title back then and then I blew it in the last round.” You can still hear the anger about it today. Now the score has been settled. “Being able to dedicate this title to my mother makes me very proud and happy.”

Coachman proud and confident, Lill risks too much

Marco Kutscher was not a bit disappointed about silver, just “proud and confident” about the performance and for the future with Cool Fox, a horse that he has not had under saddle for too long and who showed this weekend that he also has what it takes for greater things.

Maximilian Lill was already German champion once as a junior. He would have loved to repeat this success. But it was not to be. “Christian and Marco, I knew I had to risk everything. In the end, I probably took a bit of a risk,” he concludes.

Results German Show Jumping Championship 2026