Isabell Werth to Retire Emilio at End of 2023

Dressage

Germany

Isabell Werth has announced that her international Grand Prix horse Emilio will be retired from sport at the end of the year. Emilio is 17 years old.

Emilio is a Westfalian by Ehrenpreis out of Celina (by Cacir AA x Frühlingsball x Pilatus) and is out of the same dam as Werth's champion mare Bella Rose. Both are bred by Heinrich and Wilhelm Strunk.

Beginnings with Bouten

Werth bought Emilio directly from the breeder and the bright bay gelding has been a quirky horse from the start with a lot of cheeky behaviour, which never disappeared.

“We had him first as a three year old, then the owners wanted him back. But he came back to us. When you first saddled him up everything was fine, but he was a little bit anxious when you tried to sit on him," Werth explained in 2014. “Matthias patiently practised the process with Emilio." The key to a successful start was riding him with driving horse blinkers.

He was trained as a young horse by Isabell's assistent at the time, Matthias Bouten. Emilio made his show debut in Germany under Bouten only when he turned 6 in 2012.. He showed the horse in his first A-level dressage horse test at a local show in Kalkar, folllowed by one in Willich.

Two years later Werth premiered the gelding herself at international small tour level at the CDI Odense and finished second in the Prix St Georges with 71.842%. At the end of 2014 Werth rode him in the Nurnberger Burgpokal finals, winning the warm-up round but they dropped to 9th place in the Finals class.

Louisdor and Otto Lorke

Emilio's true rise to fame came in 2015 when he won the Louisdor Cup finals for Developing Grand Prix horses and received the Otto Lörke Prize, for best riding Grand Prix horse in Germany. By that time sponsor Madeleine Winter-Schulze had invested in an ownership share of Emilio.

Emilio did his first international Grand Prix tests in the summer and autumn of 2015: in Perl (75.440%) and Stuttgart (75.620%).

One Two Three

As of 2016 Emilio faced much competition from barn mate Weihegold, who in the end up turned out to be Werth's number one choice for the 2016 Olympics and 2017 European Championships. Don Johnson, at that time, was nearing the end of his sport career and got injured in 2016.

In 2018 Bella Rose made her come back and snatched the number one spot in the barn from Weihegold, while Emilio became her number three.

The pair competed in no less than 87 international Grand Prix classes between 2015 and 2023, so far, but Emilio was never the team choice. Nevertheless, the majority of his entries became winning ones as he consistently scored in the mid seventies and claimed trophies with his Italian music inspired freestyle.

To spare Bella Rose for the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, Werth rode Emilio at the German team selection trial in Aachen and won the Special and Kur after an unusual 17th place in the Grand Prix. At the 2019 German Dressage Championships Werth won GP Special silver and the Kur gold medal on Emilio, after having gone off course with Bella Rose in the Special (4th).

In 2021 Emilio competed at only one international (CDI Achleiten). Last winter (2022-2023) he was ridden in World Cup qualifiers such as Lyon (2nd), Amsterdam (2nd), and 's Hertogenbosch (3rd).

Three weeks ago he was fourth in the 5* Grand Prix at Fontainebleau but withdrawn from the freestyle after he didn't feel 100% fit. Fortunately he was back to his usual self quickly and last weekend Isabell rode Emilio at the CDI Mannheim, where she clocked a double victory with 73.718% in the Grand Prix and 82.630% in the Kur.

Retirement at End of 2023

Werth announced Emilio's retirement at the end of year on Dressursport Deutschland.

"Emilio was pretty cheeky," Isabell Werth told Dressursport Deutschland. “He has been a real character from an early age, but we've come to terms with it over the last twelve years and embraced his peculiarities. He should take them with him when he retires." Speaking of retirement: "I'm proud when I see my pensioners in the field at home, from the age of 20 upwards. There are always seven to eight former Grand Prix horses romping around on our pastures and most of them enjoy their retirement for many years to come. It's a pleasure to watch them and it's the best proof that top-class sport also means keeping horses healthy. Emilio will retire at the end of the year."

Isabell quickly added, "but no, I'm not going to retire yet."