You can always rely on ‘Donni’ – he was fantastic in Hagen! Don Diarado’s last competition was at the end of February/beginning of March in Doha, but even with an eight-week break from competition, he was fully focused from the very first jump in Hagen, a true professional.
Two clear rounds in the qualifier for the Grand Prix on Friday, and two clear rounds in the Grand Prix on Sunday. On Friday, we rode a quiet round in the jump-off and finished seventh. Our focus was on Sunday from the start. In the Grand Prix, I was very lucky to be the last rider to go into the jump-off. Patrick (Stühlmeyer) was in the arena before me, and I was able to watch his round. I already had one or two turns in mind that I could perhaps ride with one or two fewer strides… In the end, everything worked out perfectly, Donni was simply brilliant, and we were ahead by four-tenths of a second. I think it wasn’t just me who had a great time; Don Diarado was super motivated and really enjoyed himself too. And the fact that my stablemate Christopher (Kläsener) also made it onto the podium made the success for our team from Emsbüren absolutely perfect!
Hagen was the first leg of the Riders Tour, and when you’ve already racked up a solid 20 points, you naturally start to think about it. I hadn’t really planned on Redefin as the second leg, but now we’re reconsidering 🙂
©pferdefotografie Lafrentz
