As Christoph Wahler announced on October 18th, he will no longer gallop out of the starting box with his long-time top horse Carjatan S. The 15-year-old Holsteiner will be leaving the high-performance sport in good health and will now spend the years in “early retirement” as a teacher with young rider Justus von Paepcke in the junior division.
The large-framed gray horse was born at the beginning of April 2009 at his breeder Carl-Friedrich Söhrmann in Groß Buchwald between Neumünster and Kiel. His mother Kajenna is descended from the fullbred Galant Vert xx. Interestingly, in addition to Carjatan S, she gave birth to other offspring who were successful in sport, including Cayendro by Castellini, who competed in international vaulting. On his father’s side, Carjatan descends from the Holsteiner Clearway, who was internationally successful in show jumping for Denmark and whose offspring are registered internationally with the FEI.
The Hungarian show jumper Krisztian Orban, who lives in northern Germany, completed his first show jumping horse tests in classes A and L at the age of five with the then much darker Carjatan S. He already stood out there and was able to record his first victories in his first season. In the fall he was part of Elmar Lesch’s Top Eventers collection and took part in his first cross-country test under Christoffer Forsberg, which he won straight away. In 2014, Christoph was just 20 years old and, together with his father Burkhard Wahler, he was looking for a horse that could potentially accompany him on his way to the top sport after the Young Rider period. In 2014, Christoph came fifth in the saddle of Green Mount Flight at the U21 European Championships in Vale Sabroso, Portugal, and won the silver medal with the team. But back to Carjatan: After studying the videos and briefly trying it out in Bavendorf, it was clear that it should be the large-framed gray with a thoroughbred content of around 60%. After a lengthy bidding duel at the auction, the Wahler family won the contract and at the end of five years Carjatan moved into the Klosterhof Medingen, where the varied basic training really began. But even though the gray horse continued to develop even as a six-year-old, few eventing enthusiasts were still aware of him at that time. At the beginning of his bush career, Carjatan was still unsure about the topic of foreign water and so the two of them were not immediately at the top of the result lists.
At the end of 2015, however, Christoph’s time began at the Versatility Perspective Group in Warendorf and Carjatan benefited from the training at the DOKR and in particular from the collaboration with Rüdiger Schwarz. Rüdiger Schwarz was a fan of Carjatan from the start and laid the foundation for his later great successes in off-road training. Finally it clicked and water leaks were never an issue for either of them again. As a seven-year-old, they competed internationally for the first time and the rise of the two was impressive: in 2016, Carjatan S took part in six international tests and finished all tests without any obstacle errors in the terrain within the top 10. With 9th place in his first CIC2* (now CCI3 *-S) in Langenhagen he was even formally qualified for the World Championships in Le Lion D’Angers. However, Christoph decided against starting in France, after all Carjatan had only had two years of basic training in the field at the time and his complex canter in particular was not yet optimally trained for such long and difficult tests. At the age of eight, the two of them won three international 2* competitions (today 3*) in a row and Carjatan continued to mature physically and mentally, even though Christoph had to show a lot of sensitivity again and again, especially in dressage, because his hopes for young talent were always internalized in the arena nervous, which of course also affected the points in some lessons. As a nine-year-old, they managed to jump to 3* level and to crown the year they finished the Nations Cup test in Boekelo in 16th place and were thus able to help the German team win.
Due to their consistent success in various difficult tests, C & C were appointed to the perspective eventing squad for 2019 and were able to celebrate their first victory at 4* level in the same year: In Houghton Hall, Great Britain, the two won the individual ranking in the CCIO4*-S and The team was also able to reach the top of the podium again. In autumn 2019 the time had finally come: at the European Eventing Championships on home soil in Luhmühlen, the two of them were competing for the first time in a championship for Germany. For Christoph, at just 25 years old, it is also his first international championship in the senior camp. The two delivered and placed in the top 20 at the end of the tournament. Due to the numerous successes, there were of course inquiries about buying and a possible sale was in the meantime due to very good offers. At the right time, a long-time family friend, Lena Thoenies, came along and became co-owner of Carjatan. Thanks to the generous support, the well-coordinated team was able to remain in place for the long term. After the 2020 season took on its own dynamic due to the coronavirus, the two wanted to tackle the next milestone in their careers at the end of the year: the first 5* test in Pau, for both Christoph and Carjatan. In the dressage everything went according to plan – placement in the top 10. But on the morning of the cross-country day, Carjatan suddenly had a bruised leg for no apparent reason and Christoph decided not to take any risks and returned to his home stable, which he has since taken over from his father Burkhard Wahler took over.
After the postponement due to the coronavirus, 2021 will be the new Olympic year. Carjatan is now 12 years old, physically and mentally mature, can now deliver more and more consistent dressage results and reach his potential. Since only three team riders are allowed, the air at the top is extremely thin and top results must be delivered for a possible nomination. The two are among the eight German couples who made it onto the longlist for Tokyo. After consultation with the national coaches, Christoph decides that he and Carjatan want to tackle Mission 5* again in Luhmühlen. The plan works and with great clear rounds in cross-country and jumping, the two of them take second place with their dressage result. In the end, they narrowly miss their ticket to Tokyo with the draw for the second reserve – the first reservist (Andreas Dibowski with Corrida) flew as Traveling Reserve with you to Japan. But even if the disappointment over the nomination decision was certainly still present at first, the next highlight of the season was already appearing on the horizon: Avenches agreed at very short notice to host the 2021 European Eventing Championships under Corona conditions. The well-rehearsed team started and achieved seventh place in the individual rankings, another top placement at a very high level.
2024 was all about the Olympic rings: Carjatan, now 15 years old, is one of the most experienced and reliable horses that you can find in eventing in Germany and so the two of them received after a victory in the 4* test in Baborowko and a final test run in Aachen secured one of the coveted starting places on the Olympic team. But although the two have experienced many highs and also some lows together in their careers, one would have wished for a different outcome for the two of them for the absolute ultimate, namely the Olympic Games in Paris. After a great first half of the cross-country ride, Carjatan stepped with his hindquarters into an open ditch and stumbled briefly, causing Christoph to get out of the saddle and the two of them’s Olympic dreams shattered within a fraction of a second. But the most important thing: The two were uninjured and thanks to the new regulations they were even able to compete in the team competition on the last day. Here the two put together a zero-fault round in their usual confident manner, without anyone having any idea that this would be the last big appearance of the dream team.
Now Christoph, together with Carjatan’s co-owner Lena Thoenies, has decided to say goodbye to high-performance sport when he is fit at the end of 15 and to only exercise him at a moderate level in the coming years. A suitable rider has already been found: Justus von Paepcke is 14 years old and the grandson of Christa von Paepcke, the breeder of Christoph’s second 5* bush horse D’Accord FRH. Justus was able to compete in eventing for the Schleswig-Holstein regional association at the Federal Junior Championships this year and has already successfully completed his first CCI1* intro test on his previous bush horse. After his first successful test training at the monastery farm, Carjatan recently moved to Lehmkuhlen, where he can now gallop over the pastures in the neighborhood of Carl Friedrich Söhrmann’s breeding facility and is preparing for the junior tour next year with Justus.
Nevertheless, it remains in the possession of Lena Thoenies and Christoph Wahler. Carjatan will return to the monastery farm in a few years for his pension.
