Damon Hill Passed Away

Dressage

Germany

Damon Hill, a German Olympic team silver medal winner, 2013 World Cup winner and double World Young Horse Champion, has passed away.

Damon Hill was a 2000 born Westfalian stallion by Donnerhall out of Romanze (by Rubinstein x Parademarsch x Disco-Star). He was bred by Heinrich Sauer.

Licensed Stallion

Christian Becks discovered Damon Hill at a foal show and gave the breeder a rumoured 30,000 DM to buy him. He got named Damon Hill after the legendary F1 race car driver from the 1990s.

The colt was licensed at the 2002 Westfalian stallion licensing in Munster-Handorf.

Damon Hill at his first public appearance under saddle with
Elizabeth Willnauer on board at the 2003 Aachen stallion show

The liver chestnut did his 30-day stallion performance test at the start of 2003 and scored 9 for dressage and 7.5 for show jumping. He achieved his lifetime achievement through sport.

Double World Young Horse Champion

The ride was initially allocated to Elizabeth Willnauer, who first presented him to the public at the Aachen Stallion Show. His first competition was under the late Susan de Klein, who premiered him in Mönchengladback in May 2003.

Becks then reached an agreement with Ingrid Klimke who was in charge of Damon Hill's training for six years. Klimke showed him from July 2003 through the spring of 2005. They won bronze at the 2004 Bundeschampionate in the 4-year old stallion class.

In May 2005 Klimke broke her shoulder and handed over the ride to her student and assistant rider at the time, Helen Langehanenberg. She rode him at the 2005 World Young Horse Champion in Verden as a 5-year old, where they won gold and the title. It was Helen's first major international success in her career, after she debuted as a rider at the 2004 WCYH on Farwick's Fallaby.

Three weeks after Damon Hill won the title, Klimke was back onboard, even competing him in a few regional jumping competitions. In 2006 Ingrid and Damon Hill went to Verden and won the World Young Horse Championships as well. They grabbed silver at the 2006 Bundeschampionate.

Produced to Grand Prix Level

Klimke continued to train the stallion all the way to Grand Prix level, turning Damon Hill in the "living" example that success at the WCYH can also result to top success at Grand Prix level.

In 2008 the combination became the reserve champions in the Nurnberger Burgpokal Finals at the CDI-W Frankfurt. They competed in the 2009 Medien Cup (now Louisdor Cup) to make the transition to Grand Prix. Ingrid rode him in his first international Grand Prix at the CDI Aachen, scoring 68.000% In 2010 they were selected for the German B-team.

Contract issues with owner Becks led to Klimke giving up the ride on Damon Hill. The stallion moved from her barn to the station station of Rüscher-Konermann.

German Team Horse

Two weeks later Christian and Melanie Becks reached an agreement with Helen Langehanenberg, who continued the stallion's sport career.

Helen and Damon Hill returned to the arena in Oer-Erkenschwick in July 2010 and their CDI debut was in Stockholm in November 2010, sphere they scored 65.020% on the Grand Prix. She trained with Klaus Balkenhol and her then-husband Sebastian Heinze at the time.

They showed in the World Cup qualifiers of Stockholm Mechelen, Neumunster and Den Bosch and qualified for the 2011 World Cup Finals in Leipzig, where they were 7th in the Kur.

In 2011 they were fifth at the German Championships and only did the CDI's in Lingen and Aachen, where they had 73.106% in the Grand Prix, suffice to be nominated on the German team for the European Championships in Rotterdam, where they won team silver and placed 8th in the Special and Kur.

Six months later they returned to the arena at the World Cup qualifier in Amsterdam, followed by Neumunster and rode the 2012 World Cup Finals in Den Bosch, where they placed second. They won the 2012 German Championships. At the 2012 CDIO Aachen their Grand Prix score had risen to a 78.426% and they made it to the 2012 Olympic Games, where Germany got team silver. Individually they were fourth. At the end of 2012 Damon Hill turned out to be the best earning dressage horse in the country, having bagged 138,505 euro in prize money.

In 2013 the pair rode their third consecutive World Cup Final in Gothenburg, and won it. They won the 2013 German Championships and at the 2013 European Championships in Herning there was team gold and Special & Kur silver.

In 2014 they went to their fourth World Cup Finals in Lyon, but they were second behind Valegro. Based on their merit the pair was excused from the German team qualifiers in Perl and Balve and got selected after proving form in Aachen with a 81.220% Grand Prix score. The pair finished the year at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Caen, where they got team gold and another double silver. It was their last show as a pair.

Failed Contract Negotiations and Sale

In September 2014 rumours were rife that Damon Hill was for sale, but Becks' legal team denied that.

In November 2014 the and of the collaboration between Becks and Langehanenberg was confirmed as both parties did not reach an agreement for an extension until the 2016 Rio Olympics . Even the German Olympic Equestrian Committee (DOKR) attempted to reach a deal to extend the contract until the Rio but those talks failed too.

According to her lawyer Eisner, Langehanenberg was not paid boarding fee, nor riding fees for taking care of Damon Hill or competing him since mid 2013. She did not receive any of the prize giving money and had to pay her own way to the shows.

Young Rider Schoolmaster

He returned to the public eye on Sunday 15 March 2015 at the Equitana stallion show in Essen under the owner's daughter, Jil Marielle Becks. The 17-year-old Becks rode her first competition with the well-known stallion at the 2015 Preis der Besten qualifier in Vechta, where she won. She then took him the CDI Hagen and only rode the Prix St Georges, winning with 79.211%. This was the stallion's last CDI start.

Becks took him to the 2015 Preis der Besten in Warendorf, the first mandatory German team selection trial for the European Junior/Young Riders Championships. She won the first round with 76.132% and was second in the finals with 73.368%. Judge Roland Disterer scored the final round 68.816%, which was 7% lower than judge Reinhard Richenhagen. The discrepancy was heavily discussed at the time.

The stallion did not make it on the German team as he got injured right after the Preis der Besten. In November 2015 Becks told Eurodressage that she planned on competing Damon Hill at Grand Prix level in the winter, but this never happened.

Retirement

With Jil at the 2015 CDI Hagen
(Photo © LL-foto)

Damon Hill slowly slid into retirement without any pomp and circumstance. His retirement nor lifetime achievements were celebrated in a special, public ceremony.

He continued to stand at stud, although his stud fee was not made public.

Eurodressage picked up the news on Damon Hill's passing on 12 December 2024. Forty minutes after inquiring with Jil Becks, a post on social media was made confirming the news.

"Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to our beloved Damon Hill," Becks stated. "Dami had a full and successful life, characterized by great moments in the dressage arena. Dami was allowed to spend the last years of his life with us, where he could enjoy his well-deserved retirement in the best attention and care. His expression, his personality, his offspring and the memories he gave us will stay with us forever. Farewell, dear Dami. You will remain unforgotten and live on in your descendants."

Legacy

Damon Hill will go down in the history books as one of Germany's most successful dressage horses. He was also one of the horses that got celebrated for his lightness, grace and harmony coming out of an age in the 2000s were some hand-held horses still ruled the sport.

As a breeding stallion he sired 15 licensed sons, of which 9 are in studbook I. His most famous one was the WCYH medal winner Damon Jerome (Uta Graf) as wel as Daley Thompson.

He has 356 offspring registered for sport in Germany. 53 of them are competing at S-level, which is a high percentage. His most famous offspring in sport are Daily Mirror (Benjamin Werndl), Djembe de Hus (Jessica Michel), Deodoro (Morgan Barbancon), Damon's Fantasy (Kathy Priest), Diamond Head (Franziska Stieglmaier), Damon's Delorange (Helen Langehanenberg), Ducati K (Ane-Lisa Theile), Damon's Satelite (Jil Becks), Damon's Design (Nancy Smith), DSP Dauphin (Christina Morin-Graham), Damon's Dejaron (Katharina Haas), amongst others