Hagen: Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann wins the start of the Riders Tour 2022

Hagen a. T.W. (fn-press). The last season of the Bemer Riders Tour has hardly ended when the new one has already begun. And that with a victory for Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann (Pinneberg). The 41-year-old won the “Horses&Dreams” tournament in Hagen am Teutoburg Forest with the Belgian gelding Messi van't Ruytershof. Behind the second-placed South African Oliver Lazarus, Mario Stevens (Molbergen) finished third with the Hanoverian gelding Starissa.

The 2021/2022 season of the Riders Tour only ended on Friday. The corona pandemic was the reason that the final had to be postponed from February to April. Patrick Stühlmeyer (Osnabrück) secured the title “Rider of the year”. Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann had already finished third with Messi in this test. On Saturday she finished fifth with Chesmu KJ after two clear rounds in the qualification for the Riders Tour special stage. All in all, it was a very successful weekend for the North German, who only gave birth to her son Friedrich at the end of January. In September 2021, also in Hagen, she rode her last tournament before the baby break and finished it with a second place. "The year started with Friedrich's birth and I am very happy to have a healthy child. It's a totally new time and I've been thinking about getting back into competitions since I was pregnant. There was no outside pressure. My horse owners and my team have been very supportive. But I put a bit of pressure on myself to get back in the saddle as quickly as possible,” reported Meyer-Zimmermann after the award ceremony and added with a laugh: “I wanted to do well again in Hagen. But I didn't expect that my pregnancy would make me even faster. To start again with a win here makes me very happy.”

Meyer-Zimmermann discovered the ten-year-old Belgian gelding Messi van't Ruytershof (by Plot Blue – For Pleasure) together with his current owner Jürgen Fitschen when he was five and have been carefully building them up ever since. Even then she recognized his potential, said the rider. “But it also takes imagination to believe that a horse can go four stars. I can imagine that he'll get five stars one day." The bay has long been an insider tip in her stable. “When he was eight or nine years old, my colleagues noticed him too. We gave him a lot of time because he used to be very afraid of other horses in the warm-up arena. He has always been a highly intelligent horse on the course. He is tall, but can also be fast, as we saw today.” Meyer-Zimmermann has high hopes for her new top horse: “I think he's a horse for the future. I will continue to build it up and dream of getting one or two Nations Cups from the national coach. I trust Messi that he can start for Germany. This is my dream."

Mario Stevens was also impressed by his nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding Starissa (by Stakkato Gold - Quidam's Rubin), who many people mistake for a mare because of his name. "His name should actually be Starisso. When I bought it last year, I left the name as it is because it has now become a cult,” said Mario Stevens, explaining the frequent confusion at the press conference. “He started here for the first time outside and in front of spectators. He didn't know that at all because of Corona. So I was surprised and impressed by how he did it, also in the jump-off. I can be more than satisfied with that.” Stevens was certain that the fact that “Horses&Dreams” could now take place with an audience again motivated riders and horses to ride and jump even better. "That's what makes our sport special: that we can show our beautiful sport to the spectators together with our horses. They are all horse people here, you could tell.”

The great atmosphere and the perfect conditions for the horses were appreciated by all riders and the audience. "After the long dry spell caused by Corona, we are absolutely satisfied. We approached the organization with care and didn't say we wanted to reach where we left off in 2019," said organizer Francois Kasselmann. A total of 51,000 visitors came to Hof Kasselmann over the five days of the tournament. Among them were refugee families with children from Ukraine. “Paul Schockemöhle has taken in several families from the Ukraine at his stud farm in Lewitz. For that he deserves thanks and applause. We invited the families to Hagen so that they can have a nice day,” said Kasselmann. jbc