CANADA (by Sonja Grob) Following their win in the 2016 Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping in Aachen, Germany, LB Convall (Colman - Irette x Cascavelle) once again wore the winner’s sash thanks to two stunning rounds from Germany’s Philipp Weishaupt. “To have two clear rounds in this class is really hard”, Weishaupt said following his victory in the ‘CP International Grand Prix presented by Rolex’, which turned into a battle of a stallion versus a mare. Of the 43 entries in this coveted Grand Prix, with the course designed by Leopoldo Palacios, only 12 qualified for the second round.
The female element in this equation refers to both horse and rider, with Portugal’s Luciana Diniz being the last one on course riding her 13- year-old mare Fit For Fun (For Pleasure - Fetzi x Fabriano), but after lowering the final fence they had to be satisfied with second place. A mistake that Diniz claims as her own: “I changed my strategy.” Saying she had planned five strides after walking the course, but after watching Philipp Weishaupt and seeing others going with four, she did the same – incurring a costly error. Mclain Ward (USA) aboard HH Azur (Thunder Van de Zuuthoeve - Sion van de Zuuthoeve x Sir Lui) likewise finished with just one rail down in the second round for third place.
Philipp Weishaupt has been riding LB Convall since 2015. Bred by Ernst Carsten Rolfs in Germany, Hans Lieberr, the stallion’s owner and father of Swiss rider Christina Liebherr, who rode Convall until he was seven, bought him as a three-year-old. Following his stallion 2011 Holsteiner stallion licensing, the now 10-year-old grey is currently not in breeding. As Christina Liebherr said, they decided to concentrate on his sport career. “He had a light injury at the beginning of the year at the breeding station so we decided to go farther with his showjumping career”. But, he will be returning to breeding duties at some time in the future...
