Dr. Felix Austermann has been appointed the new director the Warendorf State Stud. He succeeds Kristina Ankerhold, who transferred in May 2021.
Ankerhold
Ankerhold became the director of Warendorf in December 2017 when she succeeded Susanne Schmitt-Rimkus, who got fired and convicted for fraudulent money management alongside head stable manager Peter Borggreve and deputy director Bernhard Gerdemann
Ankerhold succeeded, but she herself came in troubled waters in the spring of 2021. Video footage had surfaced of questionable training methods being applied in Warendorf. Ankerhold's condoning of unfriendly horse riding, also at the Bundeschampionate qualifier held in Munster last year, led to an investigation and her resigning by asking for a transfer of post in May 2021.
Austermann
State Secretary Dr. Heinrich Bottermann managed the state stud in Warendorf ad interim.
Dr. Felix Austermann has now been officially appointed as the new director. With a degree in agricultural science from Bonn University, Dr. Felix Austermann is a horse breeder and rider himself and professionally has worked for the animal breeding and animal husbandry department in the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture for several years. He will officially be welcomed in Warendorf on 27 March 2022.
The Return of Rimkus?
Remarkably, Susanne Schmitt (formerly Rimkus) also applied for the job as director of the Warendorf state stud like Austermann.
She was not considered for the position and took the matter to the labor court in Münster, where her case got dismissed in February.
She is now appealing that decision before the NRW state labor court in Hamm.
Photo © Thomas Hartwig
Related Links
Ankerhold Resigns as Head of Warendorf State Stud
Warendorf Director Kristina Ankerhold in Troubled Waters Due to Videos with "Unfriendly" Horse Training
What's Happening: December 2017 - Part 2
Warendorf District Court Rules In Fraud Case Against Rimkus, Borggreve, Gerdemann