ph. GPHC
Pius Schwizer has only had the ride on PSG Future for four weeks, but a short history was no matter when he rode the 11-year-old bay Holsteiner gelding (Cashandcarry x Loretin I) to a smashing win in the €400,000 Glock’s Grand Prix CSI5* in Treffen, Austria on Sunday.
The final competition of the Glock’s Horses and Stars CSI5* competition, held for the second year now at the ultra-private Glock Horse Performance Center, capped a unique horse show weekend that garnered rave reviews from attendees while maintaining an exclusive, carefully curated atmosphere managed closely by the Glock family.
“The show is absolutely exceptional,” Schwizer commented. “This is perfect: the stables, the classes, the riders lounge, the cooking chef, all these extras you never see.”
The most notable extras were live concert performances by musical acts that included Cher and Anastasia, costumed entertainers, and an array of custom culinary experiences, making the show one of the most talked about in Europe for its atmosphere alone.
Forty entries tacked up to vie for the top prize in the weekend’s finale grand prix, with the likes of Great Britain’s John Whitaker, Paul Estermann and Marlon Modolo Zanetelli riding clear in Round 1. Switzerland’s Schwizer joined the ten horse jumpoff as well, and proceeded to lay down an emphatic track that saw him crossing the finish timers nearly three seconds faster than the runner up. The class produced just four double clears.
“The course was really delicate,” he said. “You needed a top careful horse. But I have to give a compliment to the course designer because all courses for all levels were top.”
Lauren Hough of the United States placed 2nd with Ohlala, and Willem Greve of Holland was 3rd aboard Carombole N.O.P. Brazil’s Doda de Miranda rode the 4th clear jumpoff round aboard AD Living the Dream.
A Bright Future
Schwizer gained the ride on PSG Future shortly after he lost the ride on nearly his entire string of top-level horses in June, due to an owner’s sudden change of heart. Schwizer regrouped admirably, and several owners stepped up to provide mounts for him so that the FEI ranked World No. 43 could continue competing at the top level.
PSG Future was formerly ridden by up and coming young Swiss rider Martin Fuchs from 2011 through this past June until owner Peter Schildknecht stepped up and transitioned the ride to the more experienced Schwizer. Glock’s Horses and Stars was just the second show for Schwizer with PSG Future, and that his first win with the gelding was a €400,000 five star grand prix spoke volumes about the pair’s bright future.
“This is my second show with PSG Future after Valkenswaard,” Schwizer said. “I’m more than happy, I really did not expect at all to win, and it makes me also very happy for the horse and for the owner.”
It wasn’t without a small measure of irony that one of the horses Schwizer lost the ride on in June, AD Living the Dream, happened to be in the prize giving today under the saddle of de Miranda, but Schwizer harbored no negative feelings about the situation.
“It is better to look in the future and never look in the past,” he said. “I’m super happy with the horses and owners I have now, and I want to work with people that are looking for a long term relationship. I always look at the results of my former horses, I’m happy when they are doing well and am always there to give some help if someone needs me.”
Schwizer plans to compete next with PSG Future at the remainder of the Longines Global Champions Tour events, in Rome and Vienna, and possibly the series final this fall in Qatar.
See the full results list of the €400,000 Glock’s Grand Prix CSI5* at this link.