We’re back for another round of “Ride of the Week” brought to you by our friends at Hallway Feeds, where we feature the absolute best rounds the H/J universe has to offer. These clips are not only a thrilling spectacle of the world’s very best competitors at the top of their game, but also a valuable learning tool.
It’s a well established fact on Jumper Nation that we’ve got a bit of a horse crush on Taloubet Z, as we follow him and his #1 ranked rider Christian Ahlmann around the Longines Global Champions Tour Circuit this season. The 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood Stallion has an unbelievable presence, and seems every bit as motivated to win as Christian.
That fire is certainly evident in their first round performance in Rio, where the German combination went beautifully clear alongside 23 other combinations.
Earlier this year, Christian explained how he came to acquire Taloubet Z in an interview with LGCT, explaining that the horse was originally a horse of his partner’s, Judy-Ann Melchior. The two were not quite clicking, and Christian took on Taloubet as a temporary project, but the chemistry was so magnificent, the pairing stuck.
“There is no distance or fence where I’m worried that he can’t do it,” says Christian. “His flat canter just means I have to put an extra stride in sometimes or all the power goes forward instead of up.”
Christian himself has been riding since he was 11 years old, and his father George and brother Dirk are also dedicated horsemen, so the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Just four whirlwind years later, he was competing at his first European Championships, and he’s been making an unbeatable reputation for himself since.
He’s been a member of the German team the past three Olympic games, and was a team bronze medalist at the 2004 games in Athens. He’s taken home just shy of €1.8 million (more than $2 million) in prize money on the Global Champions Tour.
The Germans were locked in a dead heat overnight with the Netherlands, Brazil, and the United States for a spot on the podium, and ultimately finished with a Bronze medal behind France the the US. You can get the full report here!