Hungarian Grand Prix rider Robert Acs has suddenly lost his top horse Weinzauber. Last night, the 14-year old Westfalian gelding was found dead in his stall at Udo Lange's yard Gammertshof in Röttingen, Germany. This horse died of a ruptured aorta.
Born in 1997 and bred by Leo Deitert, Weinzauber was by Weinberg out of Utopie (by Upan la Jarthe AA x Artwig). He was discovered as a 4-year old by Petra Stroetmann-Epping. The German rider trained the horse from novice level up to Grand Prix.
As a 5-year old Weinzauber qualified for the Bundeschampionate and as an 8-year old he qualified for the Nurnberger Burgpokal Finals, but couldn't compete there because Petra had broken her leg.
The combination made the transition to Grand Prix in 2005 at the Westfalian Regional Championships. As a 9-year old he won several national Grand Prix and Special classes in Walldorf, Wickrath and Munster.
Acs and his partner Aniko Losonczy acquired Weinzauber in the late 2000s and Acs has trained him under the professional guidance of Udo Lange.
Their career highlight was a victory in the World Cup qualifier in Brno in June 2011. They also competed at the 2011 World Cup Finals in Leipzig after finishing second in the 2011 Eastern League World Cup Qualifier in Warsaw. They also showed at the 2011 European Dressage Championships in Rotterdam.
The Hungarian lives and works near Frankfurt and commuted to Lange's yard twice a week. Acs was spending the Christmas holidays with his family in Hungaria when he received the devastating phone call about the passing of his horse this morning.
"We received the shocking message totally unprepared," said a devastated Robert Acs. "He left us leaving us with so many questions. Why? Was he hurting? Was he ill without us knowing? His absence has become a sad reality for me and Aniko. We saw his empty box and realised we'll never hear him nicker anymore, nor scratch for carrots, nor be able to groom him, nor put him in the pasture with his fieldbuddy Rudi. I still had so many goals and hopes for us together."
Weinzauber was key in Acs' dressage career at Grand Prix level but the horse meant more to him. "He gave me much love and even more pleasure and success. He was not just a horse to us but a friend, a member of the family and a sports comrade on which we could rely 200%," said the bereaved Acs.
Photos © Astrid Appels
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