FRH Butts Abraxxas

They say you have something to learn from every horse, sometimes as a rider, sometimes as a person, sometimes both. Ingrid Klimke says that FRH Butts Abraxxas taught her that you can live with it better if you learn to accept what cannot be changed. It was a painful lesson for the riding mistress. With “Braxxi”, she had to learn to accept that colorful poles in the course did not command the slightest bit of respect from him. As a result, many a potential victory ended in bitter disappointment. But in the phases before that, he was world class.

A new pony in the Klimke stable

When Ingrid Klimke met Braxxi, she was looking for a successor to her great Sleep Late. Braxxi was already predestined for eventing in terms of his pedigree. And not only because he had 99.8 percent thoroughbred blood in his veins, but above all because one highly successful eventing horse after another emerged from the stable and line of his breeder Friedrich Butt. Braxxi was no exception. As a young horse, however, it was not obvious that he would one day become a world star – his height was in the lower 1.60 meter range, his basic gaits were those of a thoroughbred and his jumping was rather average. But in the cross-country arena he was already a real grenade when he tried it out. Ingrid Klimke decided to give Braxxi a chance. How good for her, how good for Germany.

Because Braxxi was a winner in the cross-country. It is always said that the attitude of the horses is more important than their talent. Braxxi was living proof of this. Small in stature, limited in ability, he managed to do things that other horses don’t even attempt – for example, jumping a combination built on a canter jump in the Badminton In-Out water complex. It wasn’t that Ingrid Klimke made him jump so inappropriately that he had no other choice. He simply did it. What he lacked in height, he made up for twice and three times over with courage, skill and an iron will.

Achievements

In 2007, he won his first of six championships in a row. He only failed to finish once, in 2009 at the European Championships in Fontainebleau, where only Michael Jung and Sam from Germany were able to complete the test. But apart from that, this little Hanoverian was unstoppable. Ingrid Klimke owes her two Olympic gold medals to Braxxi, in 2008 in Hong Kong, where the pair also came fifth in the individual classification, and in London in 2012.

After Hong Kong, a sale of the horse was on the cards. Once again, it was thanks to the generosity of Madeleine Winter-Schulze that Ingrid Klimke and Braxxi were able to remain a pair.

Unforgettable ride in Burghley

In 2013, at the age of 16, Braxxi went for his last season in the big sport. He ended his career with an exclamation mark as he finished the two most difficult eventing events in the world. In Badminton, he crossed the finish line of the cross with just 0.8 time faults. In Burghley, he even finished fourth overall. When he crossed the finish line here, it was clear to Ingrid Klimke that this was to be his last major competition. This cross-country round is particularly memorable for her. She told us in the FEI interview:

“I couldn’t believe how high the obstacles were! On this cross-country lap, I asked myself twice if I shouldn’t stop. But when we crossed the finish line, it was so touching! I told Braxxi that this was our last competition together and that he couldn’t give me any more. He has outgrown himself, showing more talent and more ability than he actually has. I hadn’t planned this, but that was the moment I retired him.”

He initially spent this time actively teaching Ingrid Klimke’s older daughter Greta before being put out to pasture completely. At 25, he had to be put down due to a heart condition. Anyone who has experienced Braxxi, “fast like a rabbit” (quote from national trainer Chris Bartle), will never forget him.