POISED and PRECISE

At the 1.60m Grand Prix of Paris, Christian Ahlmann of Germany is the winner crowned at Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping 2023, taking home the championship with the fastest time of 38.09 seconds

- KARMUN NG

Since time immemorial, equestrian pursuits have been known to be the sport of kings and nobility. Anyone who has seen a rider on a horse — whether that be in a race of speed, a flaunting of dressage, a contest of polo or, the most exacting event of all, the precise manoeuvre of direction and swiftness of show jumping — can see the grace in the symbiosis between human and animal.

The rider needs patience, strength, intuition and, most of all, respect, to coax second-nature cooperation out of the horse. The horse needs the assurance, skill, trust and perception to gallop to a speed, slow to a stop, prance a calculated trot and jump fences up to 1.6 m high with equal lithe and poise.

In show jumping, that interdependence is put to the utmost test with sharp turns and bends that stretch the limits of agility, challenged further by hurdles that push the boundaries of sprightliness. Have all of the above down pat and there’s still the final vault to the finish line tested by time. Not only do the riders and horses need to be dexterous and responsive, but they also need to be fast.

In the apex of performance involving men, animals and sportsmanship, mere milliseconds determine the victor. In one of the renowned show jumping championships in the world, the Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping, those decimals are watched over by the precise chronographs of Longines.

A CHAMPIONSHIP OF MEASURED SKILL AND TIME

At the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on the celebrated grounds of Champ De Mars, the land trembles under the hooves of the best horses in the world. Historically a hippodrome as well as an army military field, it now hosts the finals of the Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping – Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) annually, presented in proud collaboration with the City of Paris.