Road to Paris 2018: Marcus Ehning

Marcus Ehning is one of the central pillars of German show jumping; having inherited the role of “senator” from Ludge Beerbaum following the latters retirement from competing for the national team. 
Ehning is the third rider we will be looking at in our feature Road to Paris 2018. Third in the Fei World Cup 2018 rankings after the qualifying rounds, Ehing comes from one of the most important and prolific equestrian regions in Germany: Westphalia, where he was born on the 19th of April 1974, and began his adventure in horse riding at Borken, alongside his sister Kerstin, when he was seven.Despite his talent, Marcus did not have an easy start to his career, but through determination and ambition he has managed to become one of the most important riders at international level, and is often considered the most elegant and graceful; hence the nickname “the Stylelist”. 
Over the course of his career, the German equestrian has stung together a series of elating jump-offs, especially when riding Opium, with whom he won over 40 categories including the Nations Cup. The Gelding is now 26-years-old and enjoying his well-deserved retirement at Ehning Stable. 
Ehning is also a highly respected trainer of both horses and riders, two of his most famous students are Irishman Bertram Allen and American Reed Kessler. 
Many stars have been under the saddle of the 43-year-old as he conquered wide and far, stars such as For Pleasure, who is one of the most sought after studs around, and Plot Blue, Cornado, Comme Il Faut, Singular La Silla, Gaudi, Noltes Kuchengirl and Sabrina. Aside from the more famous top horses (Cornado, Comme Il Faut, Funkiy Fred), Ehning also works with young horses (around a dozen are currently undergoing training in their fundamentals) and he has expanded his activity with a small ranch where his first foal was born last year, the offspring of his former top horse Noltes Kuchengirl. 
Some of the active studs on his ranch are Comme Il Faut, Cordynox, Cornado NRW, For Pleasure, Funky Fred and Sandro Boy. 
To date, he has taken part in two Olympic Games: London 2012, riding Plot Blue, where he finished 10th with the German team and 12th individually, and Sydney 2000 with For Pleasure where he won gold in the team event, and placed in the individual rankings. 
Three WEG editions: 2010 in Lexinon with Plot Blue (1st in the team event, 16th in the individual rankings), Aachen in 2006 with Noltes Kuchengirl (3rd in the team, 51st in the individual)  and Jerez de la Frontera with For Plesure (4th in the team, 15th in the individual). 
At the 2017 European Championships in Gothenburg he placed 6th in the individual rankings and 5th in the team with Pret A Tout.He has won three World Cup finals: 2003 in Las Vegas with Anka 191, in 2006 in Kuala Lumpur with Sandro Boy, and in 2010 in Geneva with Noltes Kuchengirl/Plot Blue. He is currently fifth in the FEI computer list, and while has not had many wins in the indoor World Cup season he has placed a number of times: 4th on Cornado NRW in Madrid, 7th in London and 4th in Leipzig on Comme Il Faut, 2nd in Bordeaux on Conado NRW, and finally 7th in Gothenbug on Comme Il Faut. Overall, the results have earned him third place in the 2018 World Cup qualifying round. 
www.fei.org
www.sportpferde-ehning.com
Photo: Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping BordeauxMarcus Ehning GER riding Cornado NRWPhoto FEI/Richard Juilliart(MC)