“My first thought in the hospital was: Where is my cell phone? My second: Can Barbara ride my horses instead of me at the tournament in Samorin (Slovakia; note)?” When it comes to his horses, Helmut Morbitzer is very sensitive. But when he was admitted to the intensive care unit after a riding accident in November, in which he broke the hip he had just operated on, he knew immediately that there was only one option for his beloved four-legged friends. Babanitz not only repaid the trust with good performances, Morbitzer also likes her “light-looking” riding style (Morbitzer: “She makes it as easy as possible for the horse.”) – possibly because this style reminds him of himself.
It is the beginning of a partnership for which Morbitzer has a big goal in mind. “I want to bring someone to the Olympics, I’ve been following that for years,” says the 67-year-old, who was part of the Austrian show jumping team in Atlanta in 1996 that was the last to qualify.
With the B squad rider, who is currently fifth in the national ranking led by Max Kühner, he sees the necessary abilities to achieve this goal with her in Paris. And that despite the fact that, according to Morbitzer, there is still a lot of work to be done and the summer games will take place in two years. The show jumping trainer, who was trained in Germany, owns a riding stable with 19 horses in Purbach on Lake Neusiedl. From there the Burgenland native commutes to Linz to train with Morbitzer’s top horses Caipidor and Sin City. “They bring great ability and will grow with the task,” says the 34-year-old, whose strength is handling difficult horses.
The CSI three-star tournament organized by Morbitzer in two weeks in Linz-Ebelsberg is part of the national elimination on the way to the World Championships in August. This year’s eleven events at the Linz Horse Festival begin this weekend with the Future Cup, followed a week later by the Spring Masters. From Friday on there will also be riding in Ranshofen, where after a two-year break the spring opening of the Hofinger Riding Club will open the local spring series.
Source: Nachrichten
