Text © World of Showjumping
Over the past weeks, WoSJ has asked chef d’equipes, grooms, riders and show organisers to look back at 2020 – a year out of the ordinary for absolutely everyone. Next up is the current European Champion Martin Fuchs, who after his Rolex Grand Prix win at the 2019-edition of CHI Geneva entered 2020 as the Rolex Grand Slam live contender.
“It has been a very weird year,” Fuchs begins. “It all started well. I went to Wellington and had some good results, preparing for the Rolex Grand Slam at the Dutch Masters. At this time, the Covid-19 pandemic was worsening; the event in s’Hertogenbosch got cancelled and all the problems of the year began. However, I must say that I think we riders have been fortunate this year. We have still been able to ride our horses and after a short lockdown we were back showing, just not with many five-star shows. Other industries were hit harder by the pandemic than ours.”
“During the first lockdown, my partner Paris Sellon and I started our new business Twin Flame Horses – which has been a really cool new project,” Fuchs continues. “Together with Paris, I have during 2020 focused a lot on this and it has definitely been an interesting journey. I actually enjoyed 2020, I had a good time: I was traveling less, had more time to spend at home and to do different things than just go from one five-star show to another. I did not mind this one-year break from bigger competitions. We got to do some smaller shows, had time to get to know some new horses. Now, my horses are fit and in good shape.”
“I guess a lesson learned in 2020 is that it is ok not to be at a five-star show every weekend. What I enjoyed a lot was having less pressure. I think I will ride with less pressure on myself in the coming years, simply because I this year have seen that at the end of the day what we do is very small in a bigger picture. I love riding as much as I did before, but in times like these you get reminded that there are other things in life that are also important – maybe even more important than horses.”
“I look forward to 2021,” Fuchs says about the new year ahead. “I am going to Wellington and I hope we get to show there. I will bring five horses with me. We have a lot of friends in Wellington and I always enjoy my time there. I obviously hope that the year will keep going with some of the bigger shows and that we can slowly get back to normal.”
No reproduction withouth written permission, copyright © World of Showjumping