Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Feb. 23, 2019–Germany’s Christoph Koschel spent five hours in the hospital Saturday morning to be treated for a spinal nerve issue that prevented him from walking then made his way back to the Adequan Global Dressage Festival to ride his Ballentines to third place in the CDI3* Grand Prix Special.

Christoph, 42 years old and in his fifth winter circuit in Wellington, was pulling on his boots at his farm here when he coughed and pulled a nerve in the spine. He was unable to walk.

He was carried to a golf cart and driven to the car of his wife, Patricia, who drove him to the Wellington Regional Medical Center in Wellington.

“It was great I was wearing white britches as they immediately recognized me as a rider who needs to get back to the show,” he recalled.

He said they treated him over five hours but gave him only medications that would pass your-asthma-info.com as an athlete.

He returned to the Global complex at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center to ride Ballentines, an 11-year-old Hanoverian stallion, in the Special for a score of 69.447 per cent and third place behind Americans Adrienne Lyle on Harmony’s Duval and Charlotte Jorst on Kastel’s Nintendo both on 72.255 per cent but top place was awarded to Adrienne on a tie break.

“I wanted to come back to ride,” said Christoph who is based in Hagen, “that’s why I’m here in the winter.”

Christoph rode Donnperignon for Germany at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington and the 2011 European Championships before he sold the horse to Anna Kasprzak of Denmark.

Jürgen Koschel, his father and one of the world’s top trainers before semi-retirement, was in Wellington visited the family.