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My first pony was called Topy. I was two years old, when my parents lifted me on the back of the small bay marefor the first time. She still lives with us at Schloss Achleiten which is our home and where our stables are. I gained my first experiences at competitions and won my first ribbons in dressage tests on my two ponies, Black Jack and Lucky Luke.
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At that time, I was already being trained by my father, Hans Max-Theurer, and this has never changed. Under his guidance I successfully managed the changeover from riding ponies to riding horses: on Agrigento and Falcao I won a total of six bronze medals at the European Championships for Junior Riders in 1999, 2000 and 2001. In 2002 I started at the European Championships for Junior Riders in Pratoni del Vivaro/ITA. Falcao and I won team and individual silver there - and those were my last achievements as a junior rider. I then changed to the seniors and with Agrigento I won the Austrian National Championships in 2003, an achievement that I am very proud of. With Weinrausch I was appointed to the Austrian team for the European Championships. Competing in the event in Hickstead/GBR and being the youngest participant at 17 years was a big honor. Accordingly, I was very happy that Weinrausch and I put on a good performance in the dressage ring. We had the second best result on the Austrian team and helped Austria to achieve seventh place in the European Championships. With this result, my country qualified for Olympic Games for the first time since 1984.
Participating in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens was a very special experience for me. Achieving 20th place individually was an excellent result which I also owe to Falcao. In the Olympic Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special he demonstrated that he has enormous potential - is spite of the fact that he only had one year of experience in Grand Prix at that time. At 18, I was the youngest rider in the dressage arena - the youngest participant ever in Olympic dressage. Falcao and I justified our nomination with the best result on the Austrian team which finally reached 8th place. The next big goal was to participate at the 2005 European Championships in Hagen a.T.W./GER. A Grand Prix that went well and a good Special meant 21st place over all and the highest ranking rider on the Austrian team which took 10th place. The year 2006 was not just the first year for me to participate in the World Equestrian Games in Aachen/GER where I took a sensational 19th place in the Grand Prix and 29th place in the Special as well as 11th place with the team. It was also the year that three of my horses - Eichendorff, Eviva Espana and Salieri - made a whirlwhind debut in the international Grand Prix league. 2006 also opened new horizons for a career. After graduating from Austrian high school in 2005, I started an internship at my grandfather's company. In the meantime I have a part-time job there as an assistant in the export area that I really enjoy but still leaves me with enough time to ride.
Beside my father, my great masters are my horses. The trained Grand Prix horses teach me the feeling for the movements and for the right measure of aids. This sensitivity helps me when I work our young horses. After all, only a very experienced rider can teach a horse the advanced level movements properly. Therefore, I train with my father again and again, working on giving the correct aids and using a sensitive influence on the horse. If I had to describe my own way of riding, I would characterize myself as very concentrated, independent and determined - although sometimes I am bit too ambitious. I am not fixed on a particular kind of horse. On the contrary, the individual characteristics of each horse are especially interesting and challenging to me.
I seem to have a passion for horses in my blood. But I don't see my parents' success in riding as a burden. On the contrary, I profit a lot from their riding experience and their horse knowledge. Horses will always be my hobby. My professional plans are different: after graduating from the trade academy, I would like to take on a responsible position in the rail construction engineering company owned by my grandfather, Dr. Josef Theurer.
