History

Emirage, the Pracht Family’s Olympian

09/11/2010

Greatest Oldies

Love at first sight is an occurrence not restricted to human beings. Every horse lover knows this particular moment when one sees a certain horse and immediately wants to own it. This moment happened to Eva-Maria (“Evi”) Pracht, daughter of the legendary dressage rider Dr. Josef Neckermann, in 1984.

Jubilee, A Post-War Dressage Hero

22/10/2010

Greatest Oldies

Everybody interested in the history of dressage usually one day comes across the name of Lis Hartel. Even to this date books and articles feature the heartbreaking story of Hartel recovering from polio to be the first woman winning an Olympic medal in dressage

Woermann, a Rascal on the Olympic Throne

23/09/2010

Greatest Oldies

In the early 1960s some dressage competitions were held at Swiss Olympic show jumping rider Paul Weier’s property in Elgg. There a dark bay horse tried to set an infamous record of being more on two than four legs during a test.

Wolfdietrich, Chammartin’s Aristocrat

14/09/2010

Greatest Oldies

Without a doubt the breeding of dressage horses has improved tremendously over the past three decades. Looking at old pictures one wonders which models were chosen to ride dressage in the past.

Stephan, A field Accident Gone Olympic

18/08/2010

Greatest Oldies

The story starts June 1949 in the North of Germany. Near the town of Husum, famous as the birth village of German poet Theodor Storm, two horses were grazing happily in separate fields not far from each other. One, a young Lippizaner stallion, damaged the fence looking for an amorous adventure which it quickly found with the other horse nearby, a noble Holsteiner mare.

Bonheur xx, From Race Track to Olympic Dressage Arena

09/08/2010

Greatest Oldies

It seems impossible to imagine that in the early 1960s a Canadian pony clubber of barely 14 had set the target to compete her young and difficult thoroughbred off the racetrack in the dressage Olympics in 1964 in Japan, a country without a dressage tradition back then.

It was no day dreaming and it became reality thanks to inconceivable efforts from the determined girl and her faithful horse. We talk about Canada’s 7-times Olympian Christilot Boylen and her first dressage horse Bonheur xx, whose story is still one of the most inspirational in the sport.