March 22, 2025 
Just Be Gentle is anything but in the ring.
“She’s a sharp lion and, in the ring, she wants to go fast,” said Christian Kukuk of the 11-year-old KWPN mare. The reigning Olympic champion piloted the Tyson-sired Dutch warmblood to their first Grand Prix win in the Lugano Grand Prix CSIO5*-LLN at World Equestrian Center – Ocala (WEC) on Thursday.
It’s the biggest win of their two-year partnership. But it’s hardly an unexpected one.
After all, Just Be Gentle may be Dutch bred but she’s been trained with German precision.
Developed up to the 5* level by Philipp Weishaupt, Just Be Gentle jumped exactly one 1.60m Grand Prix under the German rider’s saddle—the 2023 LGCT Doha at age nine. And won.
The mare was sold shortly after but she only switched saddles, not stalls. Weishaupt’s Team Beerbaum teammate Christian Kukuk (GER) got the ride when his sponsor purchased the horse.
“I have had her since she was six. She is a superstar. She is just green,” Weishaupt told World of Showjumping at the time.
“For sure, I would have liked to keep her, but this way we will have a great horse for the future in the stable, so this is the second-best scenario.”
While losing a promising Grand Prix horse to your teammate might ruffle feathers in most barns, it’s not the first time Weishaupt and Kukuk have swapped mounts. Zineday was developed by Kukuk up to the 1.45m level and went on to have phenomenal success with Weishaupt in the stirrups, winning four 1.60m classes and jumping at the Paris Olympics before being purchased for Harry Charles (GBR) this year.
Now it’s Just Be Gentle climbing into the team ranks. In 24 starts at 1.60m she’s jumped clear at a 54% clip and into the top 10 in half those appearances (Jumpr stats). This week, she’ll make her debut on the German squad at the second leg of the Longines League of Nations in Ocala.
“The more you ask of her, the more ability she gets,” continued Kukuk. “I am very, very happy to have her in my stable. She will step up in the Nations Cup on Saturday, and I’m excited for the rest of the year.”
Cian O’Connor and 12-year-old Zangersheide gelding Iron Man finished just two tenths of a second off the winning pace with a time of 40.81 seconds to Kukuk and Just Be Gentle’s winning time of 40.61.
The Longines League of Nations streams at 4:30pm ET on FEI TV.
