German para dressage rider Elke Klein injured herself in a riding accident at the 2025 German Para Dressage Championships in Balve on Saturday 14 June 2025.
The 55-year old Klein fell off her horse, Manfred Helfrich's 9-year old Hanoverian D'Noir (by De Niro x Rubin Royal), when he spooked in the warm-up ring. The pair had just begun its warm-up and on the trot off, D'Noir spooked fro the tent and spun round, which made Klein lose balance and fall off
She was transported to the hospital where she was X-rayed, but fortunately her injuries were minor and there were no broken bones. She sustained several bruises which will keep her out of the saddle for a while. She was allowed to leave the hospital late Saturday night.
Klein is a Grade V para dressage rider whose international career begun in 2023 at the CPEDI Stadl Paura, where she won all three Grade V Intermediaire tests. Since then she has competed at four more CPEDi's in Kronenberg, Mannheim and Stadl Paura.
At the 2025 German Para Dressage Championships, Klein and D'Noir finished 9th in a field of 9 in the first classification for German Championships Para-Dressage 2025. She scored 60.854%. She had to withdraw from the freestyle because of her fall.
Professionally Klein worked as an animal physiotherapist and acupuncturist until an accident damaged her knee and made her a para rider in 2022. She now works for a medical company that specializes in X-rays. Klein is based in Ronneburg and rides at Hof Löwelsberg in Bad Orb.
Photo © Stefan Lafrentz