In the Olympic year: Jumper Sprunger remains her top horse

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It happens every four years: numerous ownership changes take place in equestrian sports no later than seven months before the Olympic tournament. The reason: all Olympic horses must be registered for the country for which their rider is competing. The four-legged friends of the potential Swiss Olympic riders must therefore be at least co-owned by a Swiss person. The deadline for this was January 15.

One of the most sought-after horses of recent months: the ten-year-old mare Orelie, ridden by Janika Sprunger. The 36-year-old is known for her empathy when it comes to carefully guiding young horses to the top. With the brown mare, who has been riding for two years, she recently made a strong statement at the CHI Basel with a 2nd place in the World Cup jumping.

A close relationship of trust

But last year, Sprunger and Orelie attracted international attention with their good rankings, increasing the number of potential buyers. “We had many requests for Orelie,” Sprunger says honestly. But Tina Pol from Zug, owner of the mare, has rejected all offers and has long assured Basel bidder Amazone that her Orelie will stay with her this Olympic year. That means a lot to her. “Of course we are proud when such requests come in,” says Sprunger, “but Tina never thought about selling them for a second.”

The relationship of trust between jumping horse and horse owner is strong. ‘We’re on the same wavelength. Without them, such a comeback would not have been possible for me,” says Sprunger, who became a mother of little Noah in early 2021 and then took a break.

Thanks to Orelie, Sprunger rode a championship (the Nations Cup Final) with the Swiss team for the first time in five years in September 2023. Thanks to this mare, she has now secured her ambitions for a place in the Swiss Olympic team. “The fact that I get this opportunity is huge. I’m very happy with everything at the moment.”

Sprunger’s last top horse with Olympic ambitions, King Edward, won Olympic gold with Team Sweden in 2021. This was made possible by the aforementioned change of nation: The new co-owner of the gelding became Henrik von Eckermann (42), he is Sprunger’s husband and has been number 1 in the world for 17 months (!). Partly thanks to King Edward, who had built up his wife two years earlier.

Source : Blick