“With Callaho’s Benicio, it is an interesting story. The stallion came to my stables in Germany late in 2012. He had been sold at the Hanoverian Stallion Auction and went directly to South Africa. He did a little breeding there, and when he was four years old he went to a few little competitions. Last year he came to me, and the minute he stepped off the trailer, I went ‘Oh my god, what is that?!’ I was absolutely fascinated. He went into the arena, and I saw his movements, his paces, and… I have no words for that.”
“I started to train him and we found really fast a good relationship. We were in good form, and my dream was to ride at the World Championship for Germany, but a few weeks before the selecting day he had a little accident in his box, and he broke a bone. I was really sad about that – it happened while I was in Australia, and that evening I needed lots of red wine!”
“When I came back to Germany, I rode him every day, seven days a week, one and a half hours in walk, and then the vet said, everything is fine now, you can continue. I started with him, and I cantered him and I asked for a flying change, and he says, okay – I know everything. He hadn’t forgotten anything… he is so fantastic.”
“So then we went to a qualifier for the Bundeschampionate, and we won the qualifier, so we came here…”
“The owner from this horse is a great owner, he says, you have no pressure, take time, and if you want, you can go to the Bundeschampionate, if not stay home – you have a long and a big future, and he will stay with you. I don’t need him for breeding at the moment, I have enough frozen semen.”
“So I came here to Warendorf, and before my test I get a short SMS – No Pressure, just have fun! I rode in on Benni, and there was a little moment when I got a bit nervous because to ride a fantastic horse like that, you say, oh my god I want to make it perfect. We started and I thought, just have fun, and I rode a relaxed round, I tried to do my best. Then we had two relaxed days, he felt fantastic, tomorrow in the final, we will see. If it should be, he will be the winner in the end, and if he is not it doesn’t matter, we’ll have a long future.”
“I have a fantastic trainer on my side, Hans-Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen – I make no decisions without him. He is like a rock, he only has to be there then I know it will work.”
The aim with Callaho’s Benicio is to go to the big sport – to Grand Prix?
“Yes. It really is exciting. It is great with this owner, normally if you have stallions of that quality, you have big pressure because they have to breed, or they are for sale, and if they are not successful here at the Bundeschampionate, then they lose a lot of money. But if you have an owner like Ian Callender-Easby, then you say, okay, I have time, I can relax. If he doesn’t feel good tomorrow morning before the Final, then I don’t ride, because I know I will have him for years to come. He believes in us, he says with Hans-Heinrich and me, and this horse, it is the perfect combination. We think we have a big future. I hope so.”
I think we all hope so, because it certainly would be a fascinating picture in Grand Prix…