In our new series we regularly zoom in on one of the horses that has left his or her mark on our sport. Today it is Ratina Z, Ludger Beerbaum's incredible mare who jumped from one victory to the next.
Ratina Z was born in the stables of Zangersheide in 1982. Before she ended up under the saddle of Ludger Beerbaum, she was active under the saddle of Piet Raijmakers. He won the gold team medal with the mare during the 1992 Olympics, before she moved to the stables of Ludger Beerbaum.
"Actually, Milton was the horse that could not be beaten in Ratina Z's time," say several sources who were active at the highest level at the time. "This changed, however, when Ratina Z appeared on the scene. She had a heart of gold and was a real championship horse, who did everything to bring home the medal for her rider".
And gold medals were sure to follow. Once Ludger had taken his place in the saddle, the mare immediately jumped to victory in the Dortmund World Cup, knocking John Whitaker and Milton off the top step of the podium in the very last round. "It took a while for Ratina and I to become a real combination but once we were, we could handle anything," Beerbaum said.
In 1994 they won the World Equestrian Games and in 1996 Ratina was part of the team that jumped to gold at the Olympic Games. At the European Championships in Mannheim they put in a tremendous performance, winning both the individual and team titles.
Ratina herself died in 2010 but was 'cloned' twice: both Ratina Alpha Z and Ratina Gamma Z still carry the genes of this exceptional mare.
