Beate Schridde, riding instructor and trainer at Steinmühlen: Her passion for horses began at birth

That intense passion may eventually fade. Most parents of teenage girls sense this coming when their daughters don’t want to leave the riding stable at all. Knowing full well that interests can change over time, they still encourage their young riders.

Beate Schridde, riding instructor and trainer at the Steinmühle Riding School, was born into the world of horses. No one needed to inspire her—her passion for horses had already been alive and well on the Schridde family farm seven years before she was born. Schridde Leistungszucht—a name synonymous with show jumping!

Beate Schridde’s childhood home was located on the estate in Vöhrum, Lower Saxony, between Braunschweig and Hanover. She used to wake up in the morning to the sound of horses neighing and the smell of the stables.

If there’s anyone who has equestrian sports in her blood, it’s Beate Schridde. Having later trained as a horse manager and riding instructor with an A-level coaching license, she didn’t just make it her mission to pass on her passion for equestrian sports. She also developed her own enthusiasm and qualified to compete in dressage, cross-country, and show jumping—both nationally and internationally. In show jumping, she even competed up to the S-class, the highest level. To this day, her heart still beats for the show jumping course.

Anyone who knows exactly what a good horse must offer and be capable of, and who knows from personal experience what a rider’s role should entail, is in high demand as a riding instructor and trainer. Beate Schridde has been associated with Steinmühle, where she works today, for over 15 years. The up-and-coming rider Nicola Pohl, based at Hofgut Dagobertshausen, also learned to ride here. Beate Schridde played a pivotal role in the young rider’s equestrian career for several crucial years as a salaried riding instructor and FN-certified trainer for the Pohl family. Today, Nicola Pohl successfully competes in world-renowned tournaments.

Beate Schridde wouldn’t be Beate Schridde if she lacked the ambition to prepare not only riders but also horses to perform at their best in the dressage arena, on the show jumping course, or even on cross-country trails. While her brother Claus successfully continues the Schridde family’s performance breeding program in northern Germany—with six show-jumping-oriented foals expected in 2019 alone—Beate Schridde devotes herself to training and riding young horses alongside her regular work. She also offers additional services such as presenting horses at mare performance tests and preparing them for stallion licensing. Training courses for beginners, those returning to the sport, or ambitious competition riders are also part of her repertoire.

You can almost sense that behind all these activities, even before a regular workday begins, lies a deep passion. The joy she finds in what she does puts into perspective the time and physical effort invested by this dedicated 49-year-old, who handles maneuvering the horse trailer and trailer with such ease that it looks as if they were wheelbarrows. “It has to be that way,” she remarks casually, “after all, there’s valuable cargo in there.”

That’s right. Beate Schridde has driven not only four-legged competition winners but also quite a few neighing prize winners from equestrian performance tests. “Living sports equipment”—each with its own personality and different needs. “That’s what,” says the passionate rider, “sets it apart from other sports.” The dachshund breed is also known for having a “personality of its own.” She has two young ladies of this breed who are part of her life.