Dear Rita,

“Maximus Retires” seems like a funny title, as if he made the choice to do so when in fact, I am the one who made the choice for him. Maximus would never choose retirement if he was in charge of his own life. He is too much of a warrior for that!

I bought Maximus (who was then named “Junker”) from Daniel Ramseier in Zurich, Switzerland, at the beginning of 2003. He was delivered to my stable on my birthday in March, but our magnificent partnership was not a waltz through the rose garden from the very beginning. We got off to a rocky start.