Every rider knows these wonderful moments: Winter is over, spring is coming and everything is starting to turn green and blossom. You come out with your horse and ride and you think it couldn't be more beautiful. You have the feeling that the horse is with you and you are with him. This is my passion, in these moments I realize again and again: I have the most beautiful job in the world.
My motivation
It is my fascination with horses that drives me. This is no different for me than it is for a passionate hobby rider or a breeder who cannot and does not want to stop thinking about horses. There is no question that I participate in top-level sports and also demand performance from my horses. But what drives us riders to the stables every day is the unconditional desire to engage with the horses every day, over and over again. This unwavering interest in their characters, their idiosyncrasies and their talents is the source of everything. And nothing changes that, not even the experience that horses repeatedly plunge me into deep doubt and sometimes even almost into despair. That is part of it. I lose myself in observing a horse and developing a vision of its future possibilities. I can't get enough of horses; I'd love to sit on a box of oranges for days and see nothing but horses. That was always the case and will always be, even if one day I will no longer be on the show grounds. Success is the crowning glory. It makes me proud that I have been able to successfully bring more than thirty horses to the top level of the sport. These are the fruits of my labor and my passion. But enjoying it is the most important thing. My family I was born on July 21, 1969, the day the first man stepped on the moon. But I would describe myself as down-to-earth. Like my whole family – farmers for generations. On the farm in Rheinberg, which I took over from my father in 2003, we live closely together as a family. At the best of times, four generations lived here: my grandmother, who lived to be 102 and only seriously weakened in the last two years. My parents. I live here with my partner Wolfgang Urban and my son Frederik. And my older sister Claudia and her family. As girls, my sister and I grew into the equestrian life almost by ourselves. A large part of our youth was spent at the Graf von Schmettow Eversael riding club, not far from the farm. The first cigarette was smoked behind the indoor riding arena. The first apple schnapps was enjoyed behind the outdoor ring. Three times a week, we two sisters turned up with our ponies for riding lessons: twice for dressage and once for showjumping. At the weekend, we went out riding with ten or fifteen children, with our rucksacks on our backs. We played games, skill riding, Indian games, ring tossing, carnival riding. The horses had to wear hats, hearts, glitter and tinsel; they were dressed up just as imaginatively as we were. We chased across meadows and bathed with the horses in the Rhine.
Our mother drove us to the first shows and supported us to the best of her ability. She said: “If you just want to go riding, then we don't have to go to all this trouble. And if you want to go to shows, then we'll do it properly, not half-heartedly. I studied at night, very similarly to how I later did my law degree. When I was a child, our father worked the 22 hectares almost single-handedly. He practised the traditional mixed economy, which existed for centuries almost unchanged, but which is now almost extinct. My sister and I grew up surrounded by all the animals. As a child, you approach things with an open mind, without thinking about it. The horse is there, the dog is there. You don't develop a fear of them, you just take them for granted. They are part of your daily life, almost part of the family. You go to the stables in the morning, the animals are fed, it's a rhythm, it's simply responsibility, and you grow up with it. Growing up so close to all these different animals gave me the opportunity to develop a natural relationship with them. The experiences that I had back then are the key to my enjoyment of life with horses. And thus also to my success.
