Christian Kukuk

Christian Kukuk didn’t really want to ride, but a career in the saddle seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Christian was born in 1990 into a family that was a household name in the equestrian scene. His grandfather Franz Kukuk was the head saddle master at the North Rhine-Westphalian state stud in Warendorf. And it was there, in the “equestrian capital”, that Christian Kukuk was born.

His father rode, his mother Ingrid worked for the German Olympic Equestrian Committee (DOKR). And the son? He wanted to become a professional footballer, but also accompanied his father Norbert to tournaments. At some point, the genetic predisposition prevailed. Or was it actually the much-quoted and much-used “horse virus” that caught him? We don’t know. What is certain is that he had talent and after completing a commercial apprenticeship, the young Christian Kukuk did not go straight to any stable, but to Riesenbeck to Beerbaum Stables. Olympic champion Ludger Beerbaum hired the slim rider from Warendorf straight away.

That was in 2012 and Christian Kukuk dedicated the next few years primarily to working with young horses. At the same time, he was also able to celebrate successes in 5* show jumping competitions. In 2016, he was awarded the golden riding badge. Connected via the video screen: national soccer player Thomas Müller, who was to play an important role in Kukuk’s career in the future.

The first time went down the drain

In 2016, Kukuk received permission to compete at the CHIO in Aachen for the first time. Every rider remembers the premiere in Aachen. For Christian Kukuk, however, the memories are rather clouded. In the Prize of Europe, his horse forgot to extend his legs in time after the water ditch. The two fell and debutant Kukuk had to go to hospital. However, he won again at the end of the year. In Frankfurt, in the Festhalle, an early Christmas present.

From 2018, Kukuk rode in Global Champions League teams. Since then, Team Riesenbeck has continuously scored points, winning the overall ranking in 2023 and also the “Play-Offs” in Prague – both of which are endowed with several million euros in prize money.

White horse rider and Olympic champion

Christian Kukuk In 2019, he was given the gray stallion Mumbai to ride. He rode the Diamant de Semilly son into the final at the World Championships for Young Show Jumping Horses at Zangersheide Stud in Lanaken, Belgium. Two years later, the pair were named to the team for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Although the games under pandemic conditions were anything but glorious for the German show jumping team, the combination from Riesenbeck was able to prove their international class a few weeks later: At the European Championships “on Home Turf”, i.e. in the Riesenbeck International stadium, the pair helped the German team to a silver medal and finished fourth in the individual classification. Two years later, the pair also reached the final at the European Championships in Milan (14th). At the beginning of 2025, the stallion moved to the livery of Kukuk’s then boss Ludger Beerbaum, then went under Philipp Weishaupt and from April 2025 under Marco Kutscher.

Christian Kukuk already had three young horses in his stable in 2021 whose qualities were beyond doubt for the makers at Beerbaum Stables: Chageorge, Just be Gentle and Checker. All of them made the headlines. Chageorge and Just be Gentle initially made headlines in Austria because they were allegedly owned by the Laura Foundation, which is backed by billionaire bankrupt René Benko, and Checker mainly because of his prominent owners. The gray horse was sold to Beerbaum Stables by national coach Otto Becker. Later, Madeleine Winter-Schulze, long-time patron of Ludger Beerbaum and Isabell Werth, and FC Bayern star Thomas Müller acquired shares in the Westphalian. Müller said that he wanted to “have something to cheer about in the evening” at dressage competitions where his wife Lisa has to be in the arena early in the morning or after soccer matches.

The calculation worked out. And the fever curve was probably at its highest on August 6, 2024: The pair Christian Kukuk/Checker won the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the jump-off in the Palace Park of Versailles. It was a particularly emotional moment for Kukuk, not only because the title of Olympic champion is an award for eternity, but also because he had a special relationship with his mother and family in Paris. Christian Kukuk’s mother was unable to witness her son’s triumph because she died of cancer in 2017.

In 2025, the pair won a 5* Grand Prix in Wellington, just hours after Kukuk’s American girlfriend Veronica Tracy gave birth to their daughter Lilah Katherina. In August, Checker won the LGCT Grand Prix of London. Two weeks earlier, Christian Kukuk and Just be Gentle had won the team bronze medal at the European Championships in La Coruña. A few days before leaving for London, Christian Kukuk announced that he would be leaving the Beerbaum Stables at the end of the year to set up his own business. Ludger Beerbaum announced that he would continue to work with the Olympic champion.