Vitakraft Grand Prix for Johannes Ehning – Future Prospects

Johannes Ehning and the 13-year-old Belgian stallion Ogano haven’t known each other for very long. “He came to us towards the end of last year,” recalls Ehning, “so about half a year ago, and just over a week ago I rode my first 1.50-meter class with him. We had one fault in the jump-off, but overall it was good.” At the Hetzel Spring Masters in Goch, things went even better, as Ogano and Johannes Ehning won the Vitakraft Grand Prix, a show jumping class S with a three-star jump-off.

For Ehning and Ogano—whose pedigree is quite impressive, with Ogano Sitte as his sire and Diarado as his grandsire—the plan is now to move forward step by step at this level. A Belgian rider followed the winning pair in the rankings. On Saturday, with Hot Stuff EP, he had placed seventh in the classic S** show jumping competition, and in the Grand Prix at the three-star level, he managed to raise his performance even further. The host’s daughter also made it to the podium: Laura Hetzel and Angel d’Or, her mare by Askari, delivered two flawless rounds to secure third place in Sunday’s main event at the Hetzel Spring Masters.

Praise from the Winner for the Masters

“Winning a Grand Prix is always a great achievement, but managing to do so at this excellent tournament here in Goch was especially enjoyable,” said Johannes Ehning afterwards. He also had high praise for the hosts: “We riders and our horses were provided with first-class conditions here. Even on Thursday, when it rained almost the entire day, the footing in the jumping arena was still outstanding.” Marcus Ehning (Borken) earned seventh and eighth place with Baloubets Rose Dree Böken and Askala NRW.

More from Tony Stormanns and Laura Hetzel

Before the Grand Prix, Laura Hetzel had already taken second place with Maggie Mae B in the S* class with a jump-off—the Prize of Caroline von Daniels—finishing just behind the previous day’s winner. Tony Stormanns and Berlioz De Bedon thus secured their second victory within 24 hours. The 17-year-old, however, skipped the Grand Prix, unlike the Westphalian young rider Max Merschformann, who took sixth place with the Hanoverian stallion Stonsdorfer. Interestingly, both Merschformann junior and Johannes Ehning have something in common at the moment: both completed their first 1.50-meter classes with Stonsdorfer and Ogano just a week ago in Werne, and then confirmed their quality again in Goch. This potentially opens up even more opportunities, as the “Prize of the Best” in Warendorf has come into focus for the state squad member Merschformann from Osterwick and Stonsdorfer. For everything else, trainer and father Markus Merschformann remains relaxed: “We’ll have to see—one thing at a time.”