André Thieme has a home game in Hohen Wieschendorf: The local star from Plau am See has travelled to the DKB Horse Week Hohen Wieschendorf with four horses. With new horses. With horses that surprise him. And with an energetic Paule S (by Perigueux). The 2021 European champion is looking at this year’s four-star tournament on the Baltic Sea from a completely unique perspective.
For him, this year’s CSI4* event is all about „trying things out.“ „I went to America at the beginning of the year with seven horses and came back with only one. The horse trade was going well in America. But for the big competitions, I currently only have Paule,“ André Thieme summarizes his current situation.
His European champion and Aachen winner of 2024, DSP Chakaria (v. Chap), is just now being carefully retrained after a tendon injury following the Nations Cup final victory in Barcelona 2024. „I have to build up a few new horses. Chakaria is back in the training phase after her injury; everything looks good, but I have to be patient now. That’s why I’m taking the time to get to know the other horses better. This tournament is a gift from heaven. There are so many different tours and competitions with such different levels here – you can ride, ride, ride, and the horses learn incredibly much here,“ Thieme sums up the benefits of the DKB Horse Week.
He has just welcomed a young hopeful into his stable: Last Gentleman, a ten-year-old stallion (v. Latour VDM). „Last Gentleman only arrived in my stable two weeks ago. I brought him here to give it a try. So far, he does everything to tell me that he wants to be ridden by me,“ smiles André Thieme.
„Last Gentleman is a very calm horse; I almost wish he showed a little more spirit and energy. He seems to be just like me – very calm,“ the Nations Cup rider laughs. „But he has a great character; he doesn’t want to do anything wrong and so far he hasn’t jumped a single round. This is a bit like jumping into the cold water for him – after such a short time with me, at such a tournament, and then immediately doing a 1.40-meter jump. I can’t say for sure if he will ever become a five-star horse, but I’m very impressed,“ Thieme admits.
He also brought along the seven-year-old Million Amour (v. Million Dollar) and the eight-year-old MF Come Home (v. HH Messenger) for the Youngster Tour. „We actually bought Million Amour for resale. He is very rideable and calm. But our trainer, who has been riding him so far, has become pregnant. Now I practically ride all the horses myself and realize that it definitely pays off to keep Million Amour for a little longer. He goes around without a single fault, has a great character and has not yet given me the feeling that there are great limits in terms of wealth. He surprises me from round to round. We have had Come Home for eight years now, but the trainer who has previously ridden him has also ridden him successfully, but I hadn’t really taken him seriously until now. He is very energetic and somewhat curious, but I am now realizing that he is a much better horse than I thought. I’ve thrown him pretty much in the deep end here as well. It’s almost the first tournament I’ve ridden with him, and then the wind and the atmosphere come along. And with him, I started right here with a 1.40-meter course; until now, he only knew the Youngster Tour. But: He’s doing it – and doing it well!“, rejoices André Thieme.
Paule S is also starting in Hohen Wieschendorf after a well-deserved break: „Paule did great things in Florida in February-March. He replaced Chakaria much better than I could have imagined. After that, he had a long break and Hohen Wieschenddorf is his first tournament again. As I know Paule, he will be very energetic after the break and with the wind here, so I don’t fancy the Grand Prix; I’d rather try the Championship on Saturday. And then I would really like to try the Derby in Hamburg again next week with him, because he actually did quite well last year,“ reveals Thieme. On Sunday, there is one last Derby training on the Moorhof in front of Hamburg’s gates.
The title defense at the CHIO Aachen is also firmly on the tournament calendar of the 2024 Rolex Grand Prix winner, although this year it will probably not be with Chakaria. Such champion horses are not just for top riders. „It’s not like after a CHIO Aachen victory, the horse owners and breeders line up in front of us top riders. I’ve already discussed this with Christian Ahlmann. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The good horses are sold earlier and earlier these days. If the young horses have gone a few times over 1.40 or 1.45m with a rider at a rural tournament, then they are already sold abroad at the highest prices. We have no chance of getting good horses anymore. We have to find the good horses very young today, recognize their talent early, and then strike immediately. Otherwise, they’re gone. That wasn’t the case in the past,“ summarizes Thieme.
But he praises the DKB Horse Week organized by Enno Glantz: „After Holger Wulschner no longer runs his tournament and Redefin has also fallen through, we no longer have much to offer at international tournaments here. Not only that, of course, we are all incredibly happy that Enno is organizing this so thoroughly – but then also so extremely well – that’s just gigantic. This tournament is just amazing. We really appreciate the fact that Enno is behind it with so much dedication.“