“Every success story comes to an end at some point,” Felix Hassmann announced on his Instagram account in mid-October. By this he means the long success story that the show jumper has enjoyed with the Holsteiner Cayenne WZ. At the age of 17, he is sending the grey stallion into a well-deserved retirement.

The son of Claudio Ramirado Caretino, from line 138D1, was born in Jardelundfeld at Adelbert Sporn’s stud. His breeder sold Cayenne WZ as a foal to Thomas Petersen (Sollwitt), who presented him to the Holsteiner licensing commission at the age of two and a half. Cayenne was not approved for licensing at the time, but Achaz von Buchwaldt was sitting in the stands during the pre-selection and recognised the young stallion’s attitude and ability at first glance. “I always followed his progress and eventually arranged for him to go to Cayenne Wolfgang Zipperle,” recalls von Buchwaldt, still remembering it very clearly. The stallion competed in his first shows under Deike Ahsbahs before moving on to Felix Hassmann. “I remember exactly how we competed in our show in Paderborn. Despite two clear rounds, very few people thought you were capable of such a career,” says Hassmann. “A career like that” in this case means lifetime prize money of over 560,000 euros, victories in countless Youngster Tours right through to Grand Prix events, for example at Gut Ising, Spangenberg or Nörten-Hardenberg. The highlight of this career was victory at the 2019 German Championships. “I owe you so much; I can’t even put it into words.”

The Holstein stallion can now take a break from competition, but another role awaits him. He is approved by various associations and has also been licensed by the Holstein Association since 2017. Cayenne has now been enjoying his well-deserved retirement for several weeks in the very place where he grew up: in Sollwitt, with Thomas Petersen.

Photo: www.sportfoto-lafrentz.de