Martin Fuchs

The European showjumping champion talks to Pippa Roome about giving horses confidence and how it felt to get gold after a run of second places

WHAT is the most important quality in a champion rider? The technical ability to train horses? The temperament to perform to the maximum in the ring? The horsemanship to get the best from your mounts?

Showjumping European champion Martin Fuchs doesn’t hesitate when asked what personal qualities have led to him becoming so successful at just 27 years old.

“I definitely have a very good relationship with my owners,” he says. “All of them have been with me for many years. That’s a very important thing for a rider — not just to be a good rider but to be able to deal with people.”

Martin’s European Championships ride, the grey Clooney 51, belongs to Luigi Baleri, who has supported him since the Swiss rider was a teenager and who was named owner of the year in 2018 by the Jumping Owners Club. Clooney, who is now 13, has been with Martin since he was at the end of his seven-year-old season.

“He was a great horse already — we knew he had a lot of potential and talent,” explains the former young rider European champion. “It was just about getting to know him and finding a way that works for both of us.

“I think he’s made a much better rider out of me. It’s not just that he’s jumped big shows with chances to win, but he’s a very sensitive horse, even if he might not look it.

“I have to give him confidence and show him that all is OK — otherwise he gets a bit scared or nervous. I always try to do things properly, but especially with him you have to do all the small things in the right way so he knows what’s going on.”

Since 2015, the pair have claimed two European team bronzes as well as this year’s individual gold, landed individual silver at last year’s World Equestrian Games and been second at the World Cup finals.