With the horse trained by his uncle Gerco, Lars Schröder rushed to victory in De Telegraaf Prize this afternoon. This national battle at 1.35 m level has been on the program of Jumping Amsterdam for years and so it is something special to win this ‘classic’. Lars rode Colando to victory by staying clear in the jump-off in 28.62 seconds.

All hands on deck

In the jump-off Lars Schröder had to pull out all the stops to stay in the saddle. The 17-year-old rider from Tubbergen let Colando turn very short to the narrow oxer of Anemone, came very close under the obstacle and then Colando had to work very hard to stay away from the wood. “I lost my stirrup there and got a little off balance,” Lars says. “Fortunately, I got the stirrup back quickly and was able to continue riding.”

‘Plan in my head’

Lars is satisfied with his jump-off. ”I did have a plan in my head for the jump-off, but you always have to see how it goes and capitalize on that. I always look carefully how the lines run and how many canter jumps there are between the obstacles.”

The show jumper has not been riding Colando very long. ”I’ve had him for about two months now. He is doing very well so far, so I am very happy with him. I took him over from Gerco, I was allowed to ride him.”

‘Nice to ride in front of a lot of audience’ 

Lars had not ridden any qualifiers before Jumping Amsterdam. “They had one spot left, I was lucky with that. I think it’s a very nice experience to ride at Jumping Amsterdam. It’s a fantastic hall and a big ring. Always good to ride in front of a lot of audience.”

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