Lyndal Oatley's Feramo K Passed Away

Dressage

Australia

The Oatley family's retired Oldenburg bred Feramo K has passed away at age 20. The chestnut gelding brought Lyndal Oatley to Europe and international dressage sport.

"In our lives we are sometime blessed with a extra special horse who touches the lives of all he meets. Feramo was that horse," said Lyndal Oatley. "He ignited my journey in Europe as I wanted to be good enough to ride a horse as special as him. Rami began his career with the legends Lisa Wilcox and Kyra Kyrkland. He brought my husband into my life and long term true friends."

Feramo K was born in 1998 and bred by Leo Deitert in Germany. He was by Fidermark out of Diana (by Damenstolz x Fruhlingsball).

He was initially licensed as a stallion at the 2000 Oldenburg Stallion Licensing and did his 70-day stallion performance test in 2002 in Neustadt/Dosse, where he scored 103.81 points to finish 10th out of 21 participating colts. He has a dressage index of 115.58 and a jumping index of 89.16 points. He did not sire any licensed sons and has only three offspring registered for sport in Germany.

As a sport horse he was first competed by Lisa Wilcox, who showed him at A-level for one year in 2002. Under Danish based Finnish rider Mikaela Lindh, Feramo competed at the 2003 World Young Horse Championships in Verden, Germany, where he finished 16th in the consolation finals with 7.28. He was 8th at the 2004 Danish Young Horse Championships. The horse then went to Kyra Kyrklund and she rode him internationally in 2005 and 2006, before Michael Ripploh scouted the horse for Oatley at Patrik Kittel's barn.

Mikaela Lindh and Feramo K at the 2003
World Young Horse Championships

Lyndal competed him internationally in 2007 at small tour level and did the 2008 Zwolle International Stallion Sgow, after which a severely fractured pedal bone almost ended the life of the horse. Feramo K recovered in Australia and was even remarkably brought back to show fitness. With Judy Dierks he competed at a select number of shows since 2011. His last competition was the 2014 CDI Sydney, where he finished 7th in the Grand Prix (65.300%) and 12th in the freestyle (65.100%).

Feramo K was enjoying his retirement from sport at the Oatley farm outside Sydney.

"He fought like a warrior to survive a broken pedal bone from a freak accident and defied all odds to return home to Australia to not just retirement but to a competition life with Judy Dierks and became mums best mate along the way," Lyndal added. "There was no horse more beautiful inside and out. Sadly today he is no longer with us after a health battle he could not win. Rami captured the heart of every groom, rider, surgeon, blacksmith, vet and vet nurse he came across. He was sunshine and gave us all and more throughout his life. He will be missed more than he will ever know."