He’s raising two juniors for me.
A two and a three-year-old.
He’s sort of educating them a bit. He’s doing a good job.
This is where he belongs.
In the summer he’ll be here all day.
They’ve got a nice open stable where they can seek cover if it rains or the sun is too hot.
Then they will be over there under the roof and otherwise they are walking across the meadow.
They’ve got a pond over there where they can refresh themselves.
He was always called Marius. It’s a reference to (German musician) Westernhagen.
He’s actually a performance horse.
If the horse is ready to push itself once the rider goes “come here, we’ll do this now”.
And that’s his way pretty much.
As jumps got really high and wide and the trenches also got bigger this horse displayed an effortlessness in the way it went about these tasks.
It really is very, very impressive.
I always said every course suits him and every course is a course for him.
He’s always done well. He didn’t do any three or four-star-tests where he wasn’t seeded.
He was always seeded high up.
The diversity of the sport suited him.
Horses can do a lot of things, however only eventing horses are able to show off the various things they can do.
Fighting, being obedient, brave and fast.
He loved performing like this. Competition has been a great thing for him.
During the winning ceremony he was also able to stay as still as a memorial.
There was commotion all around him and he just stood there as if to say “I am the king”.
We have learned a lot together.
I didn’t do a lot of riding at the highest level, not at all actually.
So he also had to be patient with me.
I think I too improved with him.
I know I have to be grateful to him.
I achieved all my noteworthy successes, of which there has only been a handful, with him.
On a given weekend with this horse I happened to be the best at the most important event.
It only takes place every four years. He definitely has a place in my heart.
Of course he’s the horse of my life.