International Frankfurt Festhalle Horse Show is just around the corner

Councillor Mike Josef, Frankfurt's head of sports since September 2021, Carsten Rotermund, responsible for show jumping at the International Festhalle Riding Tournament Frankfurt (IFRF), and Sophie Hinners, German Show Jumping Champion 2021, have something in common: In 2022, all three will experience their IFRF premiere.

The premiere by city councillor Mike Josef

"We as the City of Frankfurt feel blessed that the event has not been abandoned and that Frankfurt's sporting calendar continues to be allowed to close its year with the equestrian tournament," the Head of Sports emphatically declares. "With all its tradition, with the combination of top-class sport and popular sport - we are very grateful to the Linsenhoff-Rath family and the Schafhof team for implementing this tournament with all the planning and attention to detail. That can't be taken for granted." It is often underestimated how big a part sport plays in a city's marketing, Josef continued. "And the International Festhalle Horse Show attracts attention far beyond the borders of Frankfurt." The fact that Councillor Josef counts the IFRF among Frankfurt's 'Big Four' had already made Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff proud a few weeks ago, and she also accepts the importance of family that he mentioned with a joyful smile. "In the 50s, my grandfather started this tournament and the ball was always passed on within our family. With Matthias, it is now passing into the hands of the fourth generation and we are very happy about that. As Councillor Josef said, this is not something that can be taken for granted."

The premiere of Carsten Rotermund

"I have never experienced anything like this before!" Rotermund is an event expert when it comes to equestrian sport. For example, he is part of the show management at the Stuttgart German Masters and at the German Championships in Balve. This year he is responsible for show jumping at the IFRF for the first time and is already impressed in advance. "At many shows there are waiting lists of riders who would still like to compete, but we have 40 German and 30 international riders in Frankfurt who still want to ride. The interest is huge." The explanation for the enormous rush by the show-jumpers bubbles out of the former event director of the German Equestrian Federation (FN) without hesitation: "The concept in Frankfurt is simply right. We have four jumping competitions for the world ranking list, everyone can also bring a youngster and the prize money also fits." In addition, he hears again and again that the riders are very much looking forward to the Christmas atmosphere and the purple glitter in Frankfurt.
Three show-jumpers from the German Olympic squad have announced their participation in the 49th edition of the IFRF: Jana Wargers, Janne-Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann and Philipp Weishaupt. They will meet three of their colleagues from the perspective squad: Marie Ligges, Philipp Schulze-Topphoff and Hannes Ahlmann. Ahlmann will also be bringing along two of his Young Rider colleagues from the silver team at the European Championships this year, Johanna Beckmann and Matthis Westendarp. These proven and up-and-coming German show-jumpers will be joined by no less than five from Hessen, three of them from the professional stables of David Will and Richard Vogel. Last but not least, Vogel's partner Sophie Hinners could make it difficult for the international greats to win in the Festhalle.

Sophie Hinners' premiere

"I've never been to the Festhalle before, but I'm totally looking forward to it," explains the 25-year-old Hinners. The 2021 German Champion will bring two of her top horses to the start: Churchill and Air Pilot. "Churchill is a grey stallion and a real fighter. I like it when the horses fight properly in the course. And Air Pilot I have only had in the stable for a fortnight, but he is also a really great horse. Frankfurt will be my second tournament with him and I am very excited to see how he does." One question remains to be answered: Which youngster will she have with her? Sophie Hinners laughs. "Well, that hasn't been decided yet. Richi (meaning Richard Vogel) doesn't have a suitable youngster at the moment, but I have two. So I'll give him one. I just don't know which one yet."

Squad meeting in the Festhalle dressage arena

No less than five German squad riders will meet in the five-star dressage competitions of the IFRF. "With Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Isabell Werth, the number one and three in the world will be competing," Show Director Matthias Alexander Rath is delighted. "We have a great starting field in the dressage." He himself and his perspective squad colleagues, Dorothee Schneider and Carina Scholz, will leave no stone unturned to 'scratch' the percentages of the ladies Werth and von Bredow-Werndl. "Destacado had a break after Stuttgart," Rath tells us. "He really did two great rounds there, we still tweaked a few little things and now I'm looking forward to his two starts here in the Festhalle."
In the 31st Final of the NÜRNBERGER BURG-POKAL, riding champion Schneider is celebrating a very special record: she is competing with her finalists number 19 and 20! In the final of the Louisdor Prize - part of the IFRF since 2012 - one also encounters squad quality: Frederic Wandres saddles the nine-year-old high nobility son Harrods there and thus participates in this final for the third time. Wandres and Harrods secured their ticket to the final right at the first Louisdor station in Hagen, as runners-up. The victory then went to the eight-year-old Fendi under Sönke Rothenberger. Rothenberger has a journey of just under 20 kilometres to the IFRF. He has known the tournament in the Festhalle for many, but - and this is astonishing - the team Olympic and World Champion and two-time European Team Dressage Champion has competed more often in Frankfurt's show jumping competitions than in the dressage arena. "I used to ride the amateur tour of the show jumpers, the combined classification of the county associations and also once the international medium tour in the Festhalle," the 28-year-old tells us. "But I have only competed in the Frankfurt dressage twice so far." In 2015 with the eight-year-old Cosmo in the final of the Louisdor Prize and in 2016 in the saddle of Favourit. The pair came second in the freestyle with 76.375 percent. And Rothenberger has already experienced another exceptional moment in the Gudd Stubb: in 2014 he was awarded the Golden Riding Badge under the huge Advent wreath in the Festhalle.
"We can expect a wonderful weekend and a very beautiful fourth Advent," Mike Josef looks forward to the coming days in the Festhalle. "We will enjoy it!"