VICTORIA MAX-THEURER
I gained my very first experiences in riding when I was just two years old - on Topy, a small bay pony mare. Later, the ponies Black Jack and Lucky Luke were added and with these two I won my first ribbons at shows.
My father, Hans Max-Theurer, taught me how to ride. And it is thanks to his teaching that I became so successful in the saddle, then as well as now. After saying goodbye to riding ponies, I went on to win bronze six times in total at the European Championships for junior riders in 1999, 2000 and 2001 with Agrigento and Falcao. In 2002, team and individual silver were added at the European Championships for junior riders Pratoni del Vivaro/ITA riding Falcao.
Instead of switching to the camp of young riders, I started right off with the seniors. And I was successful: In 2003 Agrigento and I won our first Austrian State Champion title. With Weinrausch I worked my way up towards the European Championships and at the age of 17, I was the youngest participant in Hickstead/GBR.
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.
In 2007 at the EC in Turin/ITA, Falcao OLD and I reached the Free-Style Final among the best 15 for the very first time. And Olympic Games were scheduled in 2008 - this time in Hong Kong.
In the meantime, August der Starke OLD, Eichendorff, Eviva Espana and Salieri OLD have also made their international debut with me in Grand Prix classes. Augustin OLD, a very special rising star, started to shine in 2007 when he won the Nürnberg Burg Pokal and took fifth place in the 2009 EC in Windsor/GBR as well as fifth place in the Final of the Meggle Champions Trophy of Dortmund/GER. In 2010 he placed sixth in the Grand Prix of Aachen and in 2011 second in the Meggle Champions Trophy Final of Dortmund/GER.
Meanwhile she ia able to add with the Burg-Pokal winner Blind Date and Della Cavalleria OLD further success at the European Championships in 2015 in Aachen/GER and in 2016 at the Olympic Games in Rio/BRA.
As opposed to many other riders, I don’t sit in the saddle all day long. Ever since I finished school, I work several days a week in my family’s company which specializes in mechanical engineering.
