Grischa Ludwig passes $ 1 million in NRHA earnings
27/06/2023 – It was September 2000 at Americana in Augsburg (GER) where the reining career of Grischa Ludwig (GER) started. 23 Years young the in the reining scene unknown rider entered the 6-year-old stallion As Smart As Charley [As Smart As The Fox] owned by Jürgen Kalischinski in the preliminary round (47 entries) of the $ 30.000 added NRHA approved Open Lawson class. A huge sum by that time. Kalischinski had purchased As Smart As Charley in the beginning of the year from Kim en Debra Sloan and the stallion hit European soil. Unique for that time and for Ludwig an enormous challenge to make his debut this way, competing against well-known and respected riders such as Stefan Breug (GER), Adriano Meacci (ITA), Eugenio Latorre (ITA) Volker Schmitt (GE), Torsten Tieman (GER) and Rudi Kronsteiner (AUT) who all qualified for the finals. In the end Grischa claimed the title, but it did not come easy. The decision came after a run-off with a likewise young pit-bull, Mikel Wasser (NED) and the 6-year-old stallion Tabasco Tari [Taris Catalyst] owned by Henk van Amstel, both marking a 219,0. Grischa posted a 216,0 in the run-off, staying out of the penalty box. Mikel unfortunately faced a major penalty. And this way Grischa started his NRHA career with $ 9.953 in NRHA earnings to his account. Quite unique as well.
At the start of the NRHA European Futurity & Futurity Show scheduled for the end of May 2023 in Cremona (ITA) the counter stood at $ 997.432,73. Grischa entered various horses at this show in both the Open Futurity and ancillary NRHA Open class. In the finals of the $ 199.617 added L4 Open Futurity Grischa placed 7th with the 4-year-old stallion Chic Weasel [Chic Magnetic] owned by German Georg Wiedenhofer and entering the 7-year-old stallion Spooks Of Genius [Spooks Gotta Whiz] owned by Dutch Margot van Doorne in the $ 2.140 added NRHA Open class he claimed the co-Champion title out of 32 entries. With these achievements the amount of $ 1 million in NRHA earnings was by far exceeded.
Disregarding Italian Andrea Fappani (2006), Italian Franco Bertolani (2017), German Martin Mühlstetter (2020), Dutch Ruben van Dorp (2021) and German Arno Honstetter (2022) because they are all based in the United Stated of America for many years, Grischa is the 7th European based rider passing this magic milestone. His predecessors are Austrian Rudi Kronsteiner (2011), Belgian Bernard Fonck (2012), Belgian Cira Baeck (2018), Belgian Ann Fonck (2019), Italian Gennaro Lendi (2020) and German Gina Maria Schumacher (2022).
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Photo: As Smart As Charley and Grischa Ludwig, Photo: Dirk Büttner, GER