Olympic show jumping champion Christian Kukuk has responded to the accusation of improper training with his mare and admitted a mistake. “I understand that and totally see it,” said Kukuk before his first start at the Stuttgart tournament. “I am extremely sorry that I brought the people, our sport and also myself personally into this situation and that I disappointed some.” At his first appearance in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Kukuk took 30th place with Cepano Baloubet.
He had previously come into focus because of a video. It shows how Kukuk rides with only draw reins during training with his horse Just be Gentle at the World Cup tournament in Verona. This is not allowed in Germany, as the national association FN explains. The officials of the world association FEI did not react in Verona. Draw reins are auxiliary reins that are attached to the bit in addition to the normal reins. They run through the bit rings and are held in the rider’s hand.
“It makes me look very bad in my role as a role model, there are no two opinions,” says Kukuk
“It was a challenging situation for me,” said Kukuk, explaining his approach. The mare was “very excited. But those 30 seconds do not reflect at all what happened in the 45 minutes in which I worked with the horse. Unfortunately, my gut feeling overruled my head feeling. For me, it was the best approach to get the tension out of her.” Not listening to his head was the wrong decision. “It makes me look very bad as a role model, there are no two opinions,” admitted Kukuk, who finished third in Verona after the incident. With the result, the mare proved that she “ultimately forgave me for what was portrayed.” One way to improve the situation would be clearer rules, said the Paris gold medalist. “At the end of the day, it also comes down to feeling and empathy – that doesn’t work with rules,” Kukuk continues. It is now important for him to choose a different approach in such situations. A lot has happened to him and those around him in the past few days, the rider from Riesenbeck pointed out media criticism and negative news as well as comments on social networks. “I also think it’s dangerous to reduce a relationship between two living beings to 30 seconds. In a way, you’re being targeted, you’re being branded – and I have to live with that now.” He further explained that the messages sent to him were “terrifying” and that the dynamics surprised him.
Kukuk received support from national coach Otto Becker, who said: “On the one hand, I usually make sure that things like this don’t happen. On the other hand, it’s also about me standing in front of my riders – and Christian said it, mistakes can happen, we try to avoid them. It’s not a given that he stood up – respect.”