Text © World of Showjumping

At last year's FEI Jumping European Championship for Young Riders, Juniors and Children in Oliva Nova, Spain, Germany’s Tony Stormanns and Dia Nova (Diamant de Revel x Cardento 933) impressed in the Children’s category – taking double gold. “It was like a dream coming true, it was a perfect week for me,” the 15-year-old tells World of Showjumping as he looks back. 

“Dia Nova does not need a rider to go clear. I just needed to show her the jumps, which made it pretty easy for me,” Tony says. “The thing with Dia Nova is that she really knows me; she is used to me making mistakes – she just knows everything I do wrong and what I do right. She knows the moments where she needs to help me and when she can let herself be helped by me – it is like we can speak to each other. Oliva was definitely a delight, having all the pressure set off of me, but it was also somehow sad because it was my last time riding the Europeans in the Children’s Nations Cup team. For sure there was more happiness than sadness, but still… it was bittersweet. Me and my mother – and my whole family – are the type of people that think about the team more than ourselves individually. We are always for the team first.” 

Tony, the son of Helena and Tim Stormanns, started riding as a baby in front of his father’s saddle. “When my father was riding, he would canter around with me on his lap,” Tony tells. “Later on, when I was capable of walking, I had a small Shetland pony that I rode. However, I never got it to canter… but I had a lot of fun. My first shows were actually small dressage shows that I would do with the ponies, but my parents then put me on jumper ponies, which I also liked a lot more; it was faster.”

Today, Tony balances his time between school and riding, while also traveling between Europe and USA as his mother Helena Stormanns spends January to April at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington helping her students. “Usually, when I am on shows over the weekends, like when I am in Florida, I do online school, and when I am at home in Germany, I go to a normal school,” Tony explains. “In the future, I definitely want to be a professional rider. Of course, I look up to my mother a lot, but from someone that I don’t know so well, I would say I look up to Daniel Deusser. Many people say that he would be the modern-day Franke Sloothaak – and of course Franke is known for being the best rider in the world. When I see Daniel ride, it always looks so easy; I would love to ride like him.”

“At the moment, I have to learn how to ride clear with many different horses and then in the end it is just working on small details,” Tony tells about how he wants to progress. “Riding a clear round is the most challenging part. Most of the time it depends on the course and how the horse and the rider fit together.”

“What I have started to enjoy a lot is something that used to annoy me before. In the past, when I came out of the ring, I did not know what I had done wrong – and my parents would have to tell me the same things day after day. Now, when I come out of the ring, I usually know what I have done wrong, and they don’t have to tell me the same things anymore. After a certain time, you do notice that you start evolving as a rider, that you are learning, and that is a feeling I enjoy,” Tony tells.

“Here and there, I do have lessons with others than my parents, but in Florida it is just me and my mother. When I am back in Europe, I train with my father as well. I think the biggest lesson I have learned from my parents, is that it is never the horse’s fault and I have understood that now,” Tony tells. “I think what I still have to learn from them is helping the horses jump good with my position – because my position is sometimes so off; I am over the jump next to the horse and not on top. Thanks to my parents, I have already met so many amazing people; I got to talk to Nick Skelton, Ludger Beerbaum… my mother even made it possible for me to work at Ludger’s stable for a week.”

“At the moment, I have five horses to ride,” Tony tells. “My best horse is Dia Nova who we got from Royne Zetterman – a good friend of ours from Sweden. At first, we only owned half of her but when we saw what she was capable of, we acquired the second half – and today we are happy that we made that decision.” 

"I also have a great new horse in Cinnamo (Magic Park x Avon) who we have owned since he was four," Tony continues. "As Dia Nova sustained a small injury just before the show in Zuidwolde, my mother suggested I try Cinnamo – and it turned out to be a good match. We won the Grand Prix in Zuidwolde, jumped clear in the Nations Cup in Hagen and have now been selected to be a part of the German junior team at next week's youth Europeans in Gorla Minore." 

"Then I have a 7-year-old mare called Servus Z from Christian Ahlmann that is also really good. Christian and my mum are friends, and here and there we also used to breed with his stallions. Servus came to us because Christian thought we could be a good match and wanted to give it a try."

Tony’s goal for this season is simple: Improve. "This year in Florida I jumped 1.45m classes with both Dia Nova and Servus Z, and even though it is my first year in the junior division, I do feel confident," he says.

“Riding for Germany is something I enjoy, but in the future, I think it is going to be difficult to be good in the top sport when we have riders like Christian Ahlmann, Daniel Deusser, Ludger Beerbaum… they are all riders that have been ahead of their time before they were my age,” Tony points out.

“Long-term, I want to do it like my mother; make sure the world knows my name, and then I want to focus on training. In the end, it is just competing that I would stop, not riding – which is fun. I believe it is important to teach people and to preserve horsemanship,” Tony says. “There are more people who walk around not knowing what they are doing than those who know what they are doing. Sadly, there aren’t too many people anymore in this world like my mother, who walks around telling the truth. I am a person that needs people around me, that is also why I am drawn to teaching. In the future, I want to be able to do what my mother has done with her career, both as a rider and a trainer.”

8.7. 2023 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.