“I’m trying to remember the bright side of all this,” Isabell Werth.

Well, it all started with the books in the series “Bille und Zuttel”, which told the story of a little girl and her pony. I loved to read. Bille was my first heroine and I wanted to be like her! Today, my son plays on his iPhone and iPad, but when I was his age, I read those books. The world has changed, and not necessarily for the better!

Gigolo, Satchmo and now Bella Rose were the most important horses in my life. At the moment I have Weihegold, whom I also love, of course, and with whom I have a lot of success, but our relationship is not the same as the one I had with Satchmo, for example. (very moved) Today (interview conducted on April 18, editor’s note), I saw him in his meadow as I was coming back from the gallop track with Weihegold. I was talking to him about the fact that we should be in Las Vegas to present our Reprise Libre en Musique when Satchmo approached me to remind me that he was there with me eleven years ago (the couple had finished second in the World Cup final in 2009, editor’s note). Seeing him graze with the little pony Kelly, come and chat for a while and then come back down to eat more grass without worrying about the rest of the world, and feeling “Weihe” get in the way because she was very awake and enthusiastic, that’s something special for me. She still loves sports, and he is so happy in retirement! No one else is there but it makes me feel good!

For many athletes who wanted to end their careers in 2020, it’s huge. As far as I’m concerned, I think it’s bad luck because my horses were in great shape this year but now we have to adjust and prepare for 2021. My three horses are still young and fit enough to start again next year, but I’ve been in the sport long enough to know that anything can happen between now and then… In the end, I’m keeping my dream of going with Bella to the Olympics, but we’ve all learned something very important over the last few months. We can have hopes and dreams… but nothing is more valuable than our health.