The Linsenhoffs' Danönchen OLD Passed Away

Dressage

Germany

Former German youth rider Liselott Marie Linsenhoff said goodbye to her number one youth horse, Danönchen OLD. The gelding was 17 years old.

The bay gelding was Oldenburg registered but bred in France by Xavier Marie of Haras de Hus. He was by Danone out of Elfira (by Rohdiamant).

Schafhof

Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff of Gestut Schafhof acquired the bay as a foal for 46,000 euro at the 2007 Vechta Foal Auction.

He was first competed by their groom and assistant at the time, Swedish Dagmar Kallenberg, who premiered him as a 4-year old at the local show in Schwamheim in May 2011.

As of 2012 he became the ride of Matthias Rath, who first showed him lightly at L-level. In 2013 they were at M-level and in 2014 Matthias debuted Danönchen at international small tour level in Vidauban.

That year he also presented the horse in the Nurnberger Burgpokal qualifiers in Redefin, Munich, and Perl, finishing third in the Burgpokal Finals in Frankfurt in December 2014.

Rath campaigned Danönchen at international small tour level through the summer of 2015.

Marie Linsenhoff

In the autumn of 2015 Liselott Marie Linsenhoff took over the ride and debuted the gelding at M-level in Kreuth as the horse with which she made the transition from ponies onto horses.

Linsenhoff and Danönchen made their CDI debut in Jerez de la Frontera in February 2016 at junior level and rode the German team qualifier in Hagen in June. The pair remained at junior level through 2019 with CDI starts in Valencia, Wiener Neustadt, Hagen, Le Mans, Nice, and Ornago.

In August 2018 Matthias briefly competed him at the CDI Ermelo at small tour level, winning the Prix St Georges, as well as Le Mans, where he scored a double win.

In September 2019 Marie competed Danönchen at one CDI at Young Riders level in Fot (HUN), where they were fourth in the team test and third in the individual and Kur. It was the horse's last international show.

Nationally the duo continued one more season at national small tour level with a handful of starts in Kronberg, Bettenrode, Darmstadt and Herzlake in 2020. Herzlake in September 2020 was the 13-year old gelding's last show.

Retirement

Danönchen spent the rest of his days at Gestüt Schafhof. In July 2022 the family announced that the horse was retired to the field after sustaining an injury. Little over two years later the Linsenhoff family announced his passing.

"He passed away peacefully today in the field at Schafhof after an incurable leg fracture in the paddock," Linsenhoff communicated.

In memory of their horses, Marie wrote: "Today we walked with you your last walk as a family, every step a memory. All your life you carried us, now we have supported you over the last meters. You've been with us since childhood. Grown up and became adults we are together, whether in competition or at home you always accompanied me. Now you go back to the meadows that were your playground several years ago. All I feel is gratitude, for all successes and failures, memories and experiences, all have shaped me and in them you will continue to live."