Home story before the World Cup final with Moritz Treffinger and Fiderdance at Gestüt Bonhomme

Who shines more? The powerful spring sun in the bright blue sky above Bonhomme Stud Farm, or Moritz Treffinger, 22, who will soon be able to add “World Cup finalist” to his Instagram bio? Hard to say. And there’s not much time to think about it. Cadeau Noir, who is currently being groomed by groom Gina and who draws attention to himself by scratching, makes sure that he plays a big part in Moritz Treffinger’s successes. After all, Moritz became U25 European Champion 2025 on the back of the stallion, and it was also the black stallion who carried him into the rankings in three out of five World Cup qualifiers.

Fridolin is always there

There is also a four-legged friend who makes it clear who to look out for here: brown, ultra-short legs, but lungs like a marathon runner: Fridolin, an American dwarf dachshund. One with ambitions: Training in the hall, whose pillars are reminiscent of magnificent Wilhelmine buildings in Berlin – it’s a good 40 kilometers to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, and not even 20 to Sanssoucci Palace in Potsdam? Fridolin is there. Galloping on the racecourse? Training on one of the hedge-lined dressage arenas? Or riding in the pine forest, uphill, downhill on sandy paths? Fridolin is always there. And always full of energy.

World Cup final? “Sounds surreal!”

Riding out is an integral part of the training philosophy. “With all horses,” says Moritz Treffinger. Even with the valuable stallions such as Morricone, who always shows off a bit on the yearling herd. No matter! “Everyone goes to the forest – just to clear their heads or for other things”. Moritz Treffinger grins his fresh boyish smile. “And maybe clear your own head too,” he adds. Because despite all the successes that the native of Baden-Württemberg has already celebrated, the first really big step is now on the agenda: taking part in the World Cup final. This step is a big one in more ways than one: Moritz has never been to the USA before and has never flown with horses. And above all, it is also the big step into “real life” – no more “U25”, no more “youngsters” before the tournament. The World Cup Final also means arriving among the “big names” – not just in terms of age, but above all in terms of sporting status. Senior, world class, top sport.

Career booster Gestüt Bonhomme

Two weeks before leaving for Texas, Moritz says that it still feels surreal for him when he hears “Moritz Treffinger is riding in the World Cup final”. A cross-country round to clear his head on the day we are at Bonhomme Stud with Vincero helps. “Preparation doesn’t mean that I’m wrapping everyone in absorbent cotton right now and wrapping myself in absorbent cotton too. I think that would make things even worse. It means that everything will continue as normal, as usual.” “Business as usual” at Bonhomme means a lot of variety for the stallions, “paddock, paddock, (walker) machine and riding as normal, i.e. arena, cross-country, whatever.” Even with World Cup horse Fiderdance, “Fidel”, “because even he doesn’t know now what’s coming up in two weeks’ time”.

Fiedel is clearly living in the here and now. He enjoys the first warming rays of sunshine that make his golden coat shine. Even if there are a few sandy patches from his pleasurable rolling around. The 17-year-old Oldenburg is standing in the paddock, playing with a blue ball and gives the impression of a really happy horse.

The philosophy: Be a horse, perform

“Fidel” wears hoof boots. This keeps his shoes safe if he does make a spontaneous leap. The work/life balance à la Bonhomme works. The stallions, says Moritz Treffinger, “are super balanced because they simply come out every day, whatever the weather. If it rains, they get a blanket on them. Then they go out. So that’s the philosophy or the big motto: let the horses be horses. And that’s actually so simple, because they’re just horses and they want to go outside. And that’s what we offer them. If they have problems getting their shoes off, then it’s our job to try and make sure that they can still get out. For “Fidel” this means Hoof boots over the shoes and off to the paddock.

Bonhomme Stud Farm – a vision that became reality

Bonhomme Stud Farm is the work of two women: Berlin entrepreneur Evelyn Gutman started breeding horses in the 1980s, initially on a small scale in Bramsche near Osnabrück. In 2005, she moved to Werder in Havelland. Evelyn Gutman’s daughter Rebecca, successful in the real estate sector, became increasingly involved. The convinced animal lover was certain: even if nobody wanted to admit it – it is possible to keep stallions in such a way that they lead a horse-friendly life and are successful in top sport. Proving this was one of her major concerns. Initially ridiculed, even her critics soon had to admit it: Rebecca was right. With stallions such as Moriccone, Zinedream, who is successful in 5* show jumping under David Will, and of course the “boys” of Moritz Treffinger, Cadeau Noir and Fiderdance, who were previously ridden by Lena Waldmann and the Australian Simone Pearce in the big sport, Gestüt Bonhomme has exceeded its own high expectations. And proved that Rebecca Gutman’s vision was not just a pipe dream.

Following a tragic illness, Rebecca Gutman passed away far too early. Robert Conredel, who has been managing the Gutman family’s dream project with his wife Saskia for a long time, is now in charge. (more about Bonhomme Stud Farm can be found on the website)

In the beginning there was a “thin” e-mail

Fridolin has completed his morning run. Cadeau Noir, well looked after by groom Gina, is dozing in his spacious stallion box. At the grooming area, busy helpers in black Bonhomme jackets sweep up the last of the dirt. Lunch break! Even for “head groomer” Treffinger – “sounds cool, that’s a huge privilege for me. Because it’s not a matter of course for a 22-year-old to be given such a task, such trust.”

Moritz Treffinger takes off his boots in the tack room, which, like the rest of the complex, has a ceiling height of at least four and a half meters. He rides seven to ten horses a day. Groom Gina-Marie is always at his side. The two have been a team for a year and a half.

Moritz knows that his meteoric rise over the past seven months would not have been possible without the stallions at Bonhomme Stud. “Surreal” is a word that comes up frequently on this sunny day at Bonhomme.

“Undaunted”

Explaining your own success is always difficult. But Moritz immediately comes up with a term to explain what has contributed to him being able to experience the opportunities that are currently available to him. He is “fearless”, or rather “very fearless”. This does not mean that he approaches things without reflection. His strategy is based on the realization that if you don’t ask, you won’t get an answer. “I mean, I can’t get more than a no. And if I get a no, it’s not that I think to myself, oh! Unpleasant! It’s more of a motivation. Okay, then I just wasn’t ready yet”.

“Young rider on the way to three stars”

This mindset got him the job at Bonhomme. When the news circulated on the internet that Simone Pearce was leaving Bonhomme, one sentence stuck in Moritz Treffinger’s mind: The job was also “suitable for a young rider, a young female rider who is now training towards three-star”.

Treffinger, who had previously kept his horses at home with his family, was at the stables straight after school and had a riding arena but no indoor arena, didn’t hesitate for long. “I wrote a very, very thin email. Just who I am, briefly wrote my achievements. I tagged my Instagram account – it has a few videos of me on it, including some about myself – and left my number.” The application went out on Monday and the reply came back on Tuesday. “Would I like to come by for a ride and get to know you?” Opportunities are there to be seized: On Thursdays, we went to Warendorf for the Preis der Besten. “And then my dad drove home with the horse on Sunday and my mom and I drove over from Warendorf to Berlin”. Monday the pre-ride, Tuesday came the work contract, Saturday was a birthday party at home in Oberderdingen. Sunday the move. On Monday, two weeks after the “thin, thin email”, the first day of work on Bonhomme, who had just turned 20.

World Cup company – also a family story

That was less than three years ago. Moritz is grateful for this: there was no pressure from his employers. His boss Robert Conredel told him right from the start: “Come here. Get to know the horses. It will take time, that’s quite normal. That was the case with everyone, they are stallions, they are all personalities. Get used to them. In other words: get to know the horses, the horses will get to know you and it will take time, which we will give you. So don’t stress about it”.

Moritz Treffinger has no lack of ambition. After his pony days, he trained horses with which he rode in qualifications for the Nuremberg Burg Cup. He also competed in several three-star competitions before his time on Bonhomme. He rode Treffinger’s Superstition, who came into the family as a young horse – “my father is a master carpenter, we couldn’t afford to buy expensive horses” – to his Golden Riding Badge and won the iWEST Cup in the Schleyerhalle in Stuttgart. A little tip for anyone who didn’t grow up in Baden-Württemberg: This comes just before the Olympic victory in the state.

Just ask the national coach

His parents have always supported him. It was also his mother Santina who accompanied him to his first World Cup qualification in Herning, Denmark, in the fall of 2025. Permission to compete was granted according to Treffinger’s principle of fearlessness: no more questions than a no. In this case, the recipient of the e-mail was national coach Monica Theodorescu. And she said “yes”. Permission to compete in Herning – the start of a special journey.

So one thing is certain: “Why didn’t you say no” would not be suitable freestyle music for Moritz Treffinger. Cadeau Noir, which took him to the first World Cup qualifiers, followed by Herning (7th), Stuttgart (7th) and London (8th) and finally ‘s-Hertogenbosch (10th), dances to the tunes of the Back Street Boys. According to Moritz, he always has to force himself not to sing along at the end. “Focus, focus,” he then says to himself, as he explains in the podcast TELL ME ABOUT THE HORSE.

Fidel flies to Fort Worth

Fiderdance, which Moritz Treffinger will saddle in Fort Worth at the World Cup Final, went well in Amsterdam (8th) and Neumünster (5th), where he achieved a personal best – 78.365 percent. “In the air tonight” by Phil Collins, some Kylie Minogue and the Fugees as well as Modjo accompany the pair. This freestyle will also be performed at the World Cup Final. As I said, an encounter with the really big names at eye level. Treffinger already rode against top pairs in London. Does that make you nervous? No! “I just think to myself, wow, I now have the chance to get to know these people, who I have looked up to for years, who I used to watch in the arena as a small child, and to get to know them in the stables, in other words to interact with them.” It’s exciting and you quickly realize that superstars are only human.

Being carefree, enjoying moments – which are then happily shared with more than 70,000 followers on Instagram – that is part of the recipe for success. And enjoyment is not only to be found in the big arenas. This enjoyment is also present in everyday life: “We do everything for the horses and it doesn’t matter whether the day starts at six o’clock and ends at nine o’clock. The day ends when it ends. The horses give us so much in return that it’s simply being there that keeps us doing it and why we simply enjoy doing it.”

Hildie, the secret queen

Anyone who follows Moritz Treffinger on Instagram will also know Hildegard. The goat lady, who lives in a little house in the stall of Cashmere, a show jumping stallion who grew up as an orphan, and runs around freely in the large area during the day, is a superstar. She is fully aware of her popularity. “Our content magnet,” says Moritz Treffinger and laughs his typical laugh again. A content magnet who sometimes enters the riding arena without saying “door free”. That’s good scare training, says Moritz Treffinger. And that perhaps also explains why “Hildie” goes so well with Fridolin, Bonhomme and the “fearless” Moritz Treffinger.