Daniel Deusser is still getting to know his talented 12-year-old mare Equita van’t Zorgvliet, who moved into his string just a few months ago. In fact, the pair had never competed indoors until this weekend, when they teamed up to win the $377,500 Longines Grand Prix of Los Angeles.

The German emerged from a crowded jump-off and completed the course just under the time of Nayel Nassar and Lordano.

Daniel Deusser. ©Bernstein Associates

Daniel Deusser. ©Bernstein Associates

For Deusser, it’s just the latest chapter in what has been an extraordinary season, which included a team bronze in Rio and a victory in the Furusiyya Nations Cup just a week ago in Barcelona. In a way, Deusser is seeing his career come full circle.

When Deusser was 10 years old he looked up to three riders—Germans Franke Sloothaak, Ludger Beerbaum, and Britain’s Michael Whitaker.

He never dreamed that he’d end up working for one and riding on the German team alongside the another.

“When I was a kid and went with my father to the shows to just watch, I never imagined to ride in a competition on that level. That was when I was 10 years old. Here we are now, 20, 25 years later and they’re still on the top.”

By age 20, Deusser was riding for Sloothaak, nearby Beerbaum’s stable.

“He was always an idol. Both of him and Franke Sloothaak. I was always trying to perform the same as him, learn something from him,” says Deusser.

“It was a success, for me, to be finally on the team with him. At the end [of his career], he considered me his colleague and we had super results together.”

Daniel Deusser. ©Bernstein Associates

Daniel Deusser. ©Bernstein Associates

Those results include a team silver medal at the 2013 European Champions and a team bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics. But it was last month’s performance at the Furusiyya Nations Cup Jumping Final in Barcelona that would be the feather in the cap of their shared team career.

As the German anchor’s final ride for the team—Beerbaum announced his retirement from team competition at the Rio Olympics—Barcelona was always going to be an emotional performance. It was the impetus for the team.

But then, that’s what Beerbaum has always done.

“He has this way of motivating people,” says Deusser.

“It’s difficult when everybody is standing on the ground and you have a team and you don’t want to do anything wrong. He was the one who always pushed you a little bit more. Even if the horse wasn’t on form, or you didn’t have the best warm up, he was always pushing, [telling you to] ‘forget it, forget it, concentrate, do what you always do.’ He’s a sportsman.”

In Barcelona, the Germans would capture the team gold, giving Beerbaum a fairy tale ending to a storied team career.

“He created that atmosphere for all of us. We wanted to give him something back. He wanted to give his everything for his Final Nations Cup and finally it worked out,” says Deusser.

“The Nations Cup was one of my biggest successes on the team.”

While Deusser will never contest another Championship with Beerbaum, his influence won’t soon be forgotten.

“It’s not only in the sport. He was a man who knew about everything in life. He knew about every political problem. He could talk really well in front of the press. There are a lot of things where you think, this man is really good for our sport.”

“That he now stops, I think for his career, is a really good step. A lot of people miss that,” says Deusser.

“He’s not really finished. He’s going to continue riding. He’s still with us at the shows. But to end up his Nations Cup career like that was for all us a great success.”