Source/Photo:  News Release

The horses have demonstrated outstanding performances and have really earned a distinction: The readers of the Reiter Revue International have been electing their “Horse of the Year” for 26 years, and tribute is paid to the horse every year in the big stadium during the CHIO week. Sterntaler has been reaching for the stars. The readers of the Reiter Revue International are now acknowledging his success in the dressage arena by voting him as “Horse of the Year”. The big award ceremony took place today in the Main Stadium in Aachen. Sterntaler’s rider Matthias Alexander Rath, who was visibly moved, was of course also present and he galloped at full pace along the last straight towards the exit.


2009 was Sterntaler’s success year. Together with his just 24-year-old rider Matthias Alexander Rath from Kronberg (Hessen), he won the freestyle competition at the German Championships, danced to victory in Saumur and in Wiesbaden despite strong competition and crowned his list of wins by triumphing at the Finals of the Meggle Champions Tour in Dortmund. However, the climax of his season was being nominated to compete for the dressage team at the European Championships, where amid the setting of the Royal Windsor Castle Dort in England, the Sion son secured the bronze medal for the German team after putting in the best German performance. “Sterni”, as Matthias Alexander Rath fondly calls him, “hasn’t finished a competition on less than 70 percent. 2009 was his best season so far."