At home with... - Martin Fuchs

HORSE INTERNATIONALFeatureThe entire team poses in front of Martin’s horse truck.they are rather small. She leadsthe way to the practice run in thewoods with Heros Champ, andsuddenly turns to me saying: “Todrive a sulky is simply great.” Butwhy give up this sport as well asthe breeding of trotters? “We couldno longer afford the time. WithMartin’s successes in the jumpingsport we had to change our plansagain. Thomas is a perfectionist,and that is impossible in two fieldsat the same time. Our latesthome- bred trotter was namedAdieu Fox, born in 2010.”A long line of successPictures of Martin’s successfuljumpers follow; Karin II CH, Ideodu Thot, then Principal, Arjo, Lalikand Mighty de Riverland are allput in line. His new hope, the greyHolstein stallion Conte dellaCaccia, bred in Italy, has to stayseperate, as he would unsettle thegroup of mares. Martin’s patrons,and the owners of his horses, areRolf and Gloria Theiler, Ursula andLuigi Baleri, Pierre and JacquesBodenmüller and Jakob Weber.With Karin II CH (born in 1995, byIshan), Martin started his careerand a long list of successes. Beforeriding in the 2007 Junior EuropeanChampionships in Auvers, France,his reply to the question: “What isyour target?” came like a pistolshot: “A medal!” And he won theBronze. He classifies his successesup to now: third at the CalgaryGrand Prix, an international topcompetition, with Principal. Withthe same horse he won this year’sSwiss Championships for YoungRiders at Schaffhausen. A specialexperience for him was riding Ideodu Thot at the Rolex Grand PrixMarkus Fuchs, Chef d’Equipe of the Swiss team at the London Olympics.during the CSI Zurich 2011: “Afterthe last jump I saw the Theiler’sin the VIP-section jump up fromtheir seats and throwing theirhands in the air.” So which horseis his favorite? “With Karin I feelsafest, I have no problem withdistances before taking off. ButPrincipal made it possible tocompete in the top sport.”Martin’s sponsors includeMercedes Benz, Zenith Watches,Dominik Co., Private Bank, Uvexand Felix Bühler.Medals and... snakes?In no time, the whole crew haschanged clothes and poses for apicture in front of Martin’shorsebox, all of them participatingin his successes. In the ‘trophylivingroom’ there are a lot of cupsand medals, as well as Adrian’ssnake terrarium. Martin laughsand shows his cap full ofautographs of his prominent pals.In the past he asked for them, nowhe has to distribute them. Martinexplains why he has changed hisT-shirt again: “Three friends ofmine started a collection which Ilike very much. Now I help themwith the marketing.” Renata andMartin look for the snakes in theterrarium. The smaller one, arainbow boa, is there, but where isthe other one, a 135cm long royal16