Michael Jung is finding it impossible to evade platitudes. They just seem to follow him wherever he goes. Some say the sport of eventing has never been the same since the 32-year-old German made his international senior team debut six years ago.
Contemporaries like former world number-one William Fox-Pitt may have won more four-star events, but neither he nor Andrew Nicholson, another world leader, can claim individual world or Olympic titles. In fact, “Michi” (as he is known to friends and colleagues), became the first eventing athlete to hold the European, world, and Olympic titles simultaneously after capturing individual and team gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games. In May, he jumped to the top of the FEI World Eventing Rankings for the first time in his still relatively short career after finishing first and third in the four-star Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event with Fischerrocana FST and La Biosthetique-Sam FBW, respectively.
Michael is the product of the classical German training system as taught to him by his father, Joachim. Like his dad, he is proficient in the three Olympic disciplines, competing successfully at S level in dressage and show jumping in the eventing off-season. All his horses, regardless of their career paths, receive basically the same training. Diversity is king on the edge of the Black Forest at Reitschule-Jung.
Michael started riding as a youngster and left school at 16 to pursue his equestrian dream. A Junior and Young Rider European gold medalist, he came to prominence on the senior tour when he won the Luhmühlen CCI4* and an individual bronze medal at the 2009 European Championships in Fontainebleau. A slew of successes followed with La Biosthetique Sam FBW, including individual gold at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky in 2010 and double gold at the London Games. Jung was also part of Germany’s gold medal-winning team at last year’s WEG in Normandy, where he claimed the individual silver medal with the eight-year-old mare Fischerrocana FST. The world number one eventer will also be looking to defend his back-to-back individual and team titles at the upcoming Longines FEI European Eventing Championships at Blair Castle in September.
Three double golds in a row? Hardly beyond the scope of Michi the Magnificent!
Life must be pretty hectic; can you give us an idea of what it’s like to be you?
I get up and have a little breakfast and then I’ll ride five or six horses before lunch. After lunch I may teach or do some cross-country training. Every day and every week is a little different.
We have 35 boxes on the yard and 25 of them are for my horses. Most are young horses and eventers, but I also have some jumpers and three dressage horses – two in the making and one I’m competing in the Nürnberger Burg-Pokal (a series for horses aged seven to nine years) and aiming for grand prix.
So one day I may work with the dressage horses and another with the jumpers and another cross-country training. We have a nice area here for that. I have portable fences, so I can move them around and make different courses. I have three students currently staying with me, one from Italy, one from Japan and one from Korea. Otherwise, students will just come in for the day.
There are seven staff who work with me and the horses. The seasons are also different, so during the winter I’ll do a lot of show jumping, maybe compete every other weekend. In the summer from March to October I will compete every weekend. I like the variety.
How did you get started with horses?
My father was an accomplished rider in all three disciplines, so I have always ridden. I started show jumping and dressage and turned to eventing when I was 14. My father built our stables (at Horb on the river Neckar, 60 km southwest of Stuttgart) 35 years ago and I have lived here all my life. I competed in my first German championships when I was 15.
Can you identify a turning point in your career when you decided to try to earn a living doing this?
Not really, although I would say that my win at the world championships in Kentucky was very significant for me – it was my biggest success so far and Sam was in fantastic form. Everything changed a little after that, but in our sport, life doesn’t change much.
Is there anyone who has been particularly important in your career?
My parents. It’s very important to have good family and friends around you – and very good young horses!
Do you get to enjoy any downtime?
I always have time for friends and family. I like what I do and I still have time to go out with friends or play tennis or a game of soccer. If I have a day off I sleep in and don’t set an alarm.
What ingredient besides horsepower gives you a competitive edge?
You need a lot of self-discipline and the ability to stay focused. I’d also say I am open and willing to learn from the horses and from other people.
How would your family describe your personality?
I think they’d say I have very strong nerves. I don’t get stressed when things are not working out; I’m pretty cool and calm most of the time.
Do you have a fitness regimen?
I don’t follow a particular program – it could be two or three times a week or two or three times a month, depending on when I have time. I’ll do some condition training and lift weights. I like doing it; I just don’t always have the time.
Where is your favorite place in the world?
There are many nice places, but for me the place isn’t so important as the people around you. It’s more important to have nice people around you. It’s no fun to be alone.
Where would you most like to go that you haven’t been?
Rio!
Where did you go on your last vacation?
My brother, Philip, and my girlfriend, Faye, and I went on a ten-day riding safari in South Africa in January. It was great. The horses were good and the people were really friendly and we saw rhinos, crocodiles, hippos, giraffes, lions and tigers and elephants.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Red meat and Coca-Cola!
What’s on the horizon for you?
I’ve got some young horses to bring along this summer, as well as Burghley and the European Championships in the fall.
Medals or prize money: what’s most important to you?
Medals, because they will always remind you of the success you had, of being best of all the great riders and great horses.
