{"id":201,"date":"2016-08-24T12:30:10","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T10:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spring-reiter.de\/?page_id=201"},"modified":"2025-09-16T13:47:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T11:47:03","slug":"famous-horse-rider","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.spring-reiter.de\/en\/beruehmte-springreiter\/","title":{"rendered":"Famous horse riders"},"content":{"rendered":"

(in alphabetical order)<\/p>\n

Christian Ahlmann<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Christian<\/p>\n

As early as the age of 14, Christian Ahlmann (born on December 17, 1974) won the Gold Riding Badge and the red riding jacket with ten victories in the heavy class. He received his basic training from his father Georg, who, together with Alwin Schockem\u00f6hle and Otto Schulte-Frohlinde, bred Traber after his own equestrian career; the final touch was given to him by Paul Schockem\u00f6hle. He was three times European Team Champion for young riders (1990, 1991, 1992), in 2003 he won gold on \u201eC\u00f6ster\u201c at the European Championships in Donaueschingen in the individual competition and with the team, in 2005 in San Patrignano again won gold with the team, placing 4th in the individual competition. In 2007, he won silver with the team at the European Championships in Mannheim, just as he did in 2013 in Herning. In 2011, with \u201eTaloubet Z\u201c, he won the World Cup final in Leipzig. Christian Ahlmann delivered a true series of victories in 2016: He won, among other things, the Grand Prix of Basel (CSI 5*) with Codex One, the Grand Prix of Braunschweig (CSI 4*) with Colorit, the Grand Prix of Neum\u00fcnster (CSI 3*) with Codex One, and the Grand Prix of Treffen bei Villach (CSI 5*) with Epleaser van't Heike. At the very top of the podium, Ahlmann also won the Grand Prix of Dinard (CSI 5*) with Cornado II and the World Cup jumping of Stuttgart (CSI 5*-W) with Taloubet Z. The Super-Ahlmann year was crowned by the team bronze medal with Taloubet Z at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. From July to November 2016, Christian Ahlmann also led the world rankings.<\/p>\n

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Otto Becker<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Otto
Photo: spring-reiter.de<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For years he was considered one of the most successful show jumper riders in Germany: Since 2009, Otto Becker, the Olympic team champion from Sydney 2000, has been responsible for coaching the show jumper team for his former colleagues. The trained winemaker took part in the Olympic Games a total of three times during his career; after the success in Sydney, he also competed in 2004 in Athens, where he won the team bronze medal. In 1992 in Barcelona, Otto Becker and the team placed eleventh. The most significant achievements of his equestrian career were achieved by Becker (born on December 3, 1958 in Gro\u00dfostheim) with the chestnut stallion Dobel\u2019s Cento. With him, in addition to the Olympic gold medal, he also won the Grand Prix in Aachen (2000) and the 2002 World Cup final in Leipzig for the show jumping team. \u201eCento is the best horse I have ever had under saddle,\u201c emphasized Otto Becker often. He ended his career as a show jumper in 2008 in Hannover with a victory in the Grand Prix. In 2016, as head coach of the German show jumping team at the Olympic Games in Rio, Becker won the team bronze medal.<\/p>\n

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Ludger Beerbaum<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"LudgerHe is a perfectionist and a stylist: Ludger Beerbaum is the most successful active show jumper in the world. The list of achievements is correspondingly long: four Olympic gold medals (1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000), two gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze medal at the World Equestrian Games (1994, 1998, 1990 and 2006), as well as six gold medals at the European Championships \u2013 Beerbaum has won all of these. And that is only a fraction of an incredible record of success. In fact, the career of the rider born on August 26, 1963 in Detmold, who today runs a riding and breeding facility in Riesenbeck, did not start very promisingly. His father enrolled the boy in riding lessons at the age of eight, but already while watching, the little Ludger lost his enthusiasm. The rough tone of the riding instructor and the powerful horses scared the reserved boy off. \u201eI simply had a fear,\u201c says the nine-time German Champion today. He nevertheless came to equestrian sports thanks to a friend who simply took him to the stables. The foundation for a unique career was laid. After the team\u2019s bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, the \u201eLeitwolf\u201c announced his retirement as a national team rider.<\/p>\n

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Meredith Michaels Beerbaum<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: spring-reiter.de<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like many girls, it all began with a love of ponies for Meredith (born on December 26, 1969), but only with her, the ambitious journey led to her becoming the number one ranked female rider in the world in 2004. In 1991, the American arrived in M\u00fchlen with her stallion \u201eQuick Star\u201c from Florida. In 1998, she married Markus Beerbaum, Ludger\u2019s younger brother, took on German citizenship, and won one victory after another under the black-red-gold flag: four times German Champion, in 1999 (Hickstead) and 2005 (San Patrignano) as a team member, gold at the European Championships in Mannheim in 2007 with the team; silver in the individual event in 2007; and gold on \u201eShutterfly\u201c in 2009. She has already been \u201eRider of the Year\u201c three times: in 2004, 2005, and 2007. She won the World Cup final three times: in 2005, 2008, and 2009, always on \u201eShutterfly\u201c. At the World Championships in Aachen, she won bronze in both the team and individual events in 2006, and team gold in Lexington in 2010. In 2016, Meredith Michaels Beerbaum won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Rio with the German team.<\/p>\n

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Daniel Deu\u00dfer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: spring-reiter.de<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He is currently one of the most successful riders in the world: Daniel Deusser, born on August 13, 1981 in Wiesbaden, comes from a family of horsemen. His sporting career began at his uncle\u2019s stable, the former Hessian champion Helge Deusser. At the age of 15, he won his first S-class jumping competition. After an apprenticeship as a horse groom at the Herr\u00f6der stable, Deusser earned his spurs among others with Franke Sloothaak and Jan Tops. Since then, he has won numerous prizes. In 2013 and 2014, Deusser was also German Champion and secured the silver medal with the team at the European Championships in Denmark. In April 2014, Daniel Deusser, who has been working as a trainer at the Stephex stables in Belgium since 2012, won the World Cup final. In 2016, Deusser also won numerous Grand Prix competitions, such as the Grand Prix in London. In December 2016, Deusser also took over the leadership of the FEI World Rankings.<\/p>\n

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Hans-Dieter Dreher<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: spring-reiter.de<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He is an absolute crowd favorite: \u201eHansi\u201c Dreher\u2019s rise to the top of the equestrian sport and into the German championship squad is impressive. The Dreher born on February 10, 1972 in Rheinfelden grew up with horses, as his father ran a riding stable. Thus, the junior started riding early and competed in his first equestrian competitions at the age of seven. Later, he became the Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg state champion twice in the junior category. Also among the young riders, Hans-Dieter Dreher won two state championship titles, which were followed by success for the seniors in 2005. Dreher had his international breakthrough in 2011: After several riders were unable to get along properly with the stallion \u201eMagnus Romeo\u201c, Beat M\u00e4ndli, the former rider, convinced the horse owner Paul B\u00fccheler to let Hans-Dieter Dreher saddle the horse. Dreher and \u201eMagnus Romeo\u201c had their first major joint success when they won the Grand Prix of the CSI3* Pioltello in Italy in 2011. In 2013 Dreher won the World Cup jumping at the Stuttgart German Masters. In 2014 Hans-Dieter Dreher and Embassy and the team came third in the World Cup jumping in Lyon; this was followed by a third place in the Nations Cup in Rome and a second place in the Nations Cup in Hickstead. In 2015 the victory in the World Cup jumping with Embassy in Leipzig came along. In 2016 Dreher was among the top three at the Grand Prix of Switzerland in St. Gallen, among others.<\/p>\n

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Marcus Ehning<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"MarcusThe rider from Borken (born on April 19, 1974) is one of the best stylists and masters of tight turns. As a pony rider, junior and young rider, he has already won titles: six times team gold at European Championships; in 2000, he won Olympic gold with the team at the \u201eFor Pleasure\u201c in Sydney; in 2006, with the team, he won bronze at the World Championships in Aachen; in 2010, at the World Championships in Lexington, he won team gold; in 1999 in Hickstead, in 2003 in Donaueschingen and in 2005 in San Patrignano, Ehning and his team won the European Championship; in 2007 in Mannheim, they placed second with the team. But there are also plenty of individual titles: 2002 German Champion; three times winner of the World Cup final (2003 on \u201eAnka\u201c, 2006 on \u201eSandro Boy\u201c and 2010 on \u201eNoltes K\u00fcchengirl\u201c and \u201ePlot Blue\u201c); in 2010, winner of the Global Champions Tour \u2013 and in 2008, winner of the Fair Play Trophy of the German Sports Journalists. At the \u201eBest of Champions\u201c event in Aachen, Ehning had lost his safe victory on the final obstacle and had to ride around because his \u201eFor Germany\u201c had previously refused to cooperate with Jos Lansink and Rodrigo Pessoa during the horse change. Ehning declined the opportunity to compete and was only a third-place finisher. Ehning also had bad luck at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. After a injury to his horse Cornado NRW, Ehning had to leave early. After that, luck and success returned: Ehning won the Grand Prix in Madrid and M\u00fcnster with Pret a Tout, as well as the Nations Cup final in Barcelona. In Vienna and Paderborn, he won with Comme il faut and also won the title of Rider of the year of the DKB Riders Tour for the first time.<\/p>\n

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Kurt Hasse<\/strong><\/p>\n

The requirements of the 1936 Olympic course in Berlin were high: 20 jumps, with two double and two triple combinations, and a length of 1050 meters had to be overcome before the 120,000 spectators. But not one of the 54 riders failed, 13 did not even reach the finish line. Kurt Hasse was the best and, with the mare \u201eTora\u201c, the Olympic champion in the individual and team jumping. In the final hurdle race, he managed to leave the Romanian lieutenant with more than 13 seconds behind him, the only competitor for the gold medal. Hasse (born on February 7, 1907 in Mainz, died on January 9, 1944 in the Soviet Union) came from a well-known equestrian family and was the son of General Ernst Hasse. His older brother Ernst was also a successful jumper, who, among other things, won the Hamburg Spring Derby in 1931.<\/p>\n

Karsten Huck<\/strong><\/p>\n