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It\u2019s would be easy to think that German dressage rider Beatrice Buchwald must be older than her 29 years. Not only has she had a career\u2019s worth of successes from Young Horse to Grand Prix, but while based at Isabell Werth\u2019s yard for five years, she was the main rider of Isabell\u2019s latest star and current European Champion and Olympic silver medalist, Weihegold. Other superstars Beatrice has trained include Belantis, Victoria\u2019s Secret and Daily Pleasure, who she still rides. Her successes have included three Bundeschampionate titles, a World Young Horse Championship title, she\u2019s a N\u00fcrnberger Burg Pokal winner and a Louisdor Prize recipient.<\/p>\n
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Belantis and Beatrice, Second in the Six-Year-Olds at the World Young Horse Championships in 2015. Belanitis is by Benetton Dream, from one of the ‘P’ line mares from Neustadt Dosse, Philharmonie:<\/em> http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2017\/11\/jurgen-muller-reflects\/\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n how Beatrice got into horses is next:<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What was your introduction to horses?<\/strong><\/p>\n My parents have a holiday house in the north of Germany and we would go for the holidays. I was five or six and I started to ride there because my parents didn\u2019t have anything to do with horses. They are both music teachers, so normally I should play the viola or cello, which I did when I was a very small child but then I said, \u2018Enough. Now horses.\u2019<\/p>\n I started riding at home when I was seven. I always rode dressage. I had a teacher who was very old school. You had to sit on the horses really correctly and the horses came first. You had to ride very well and she was very strict, but it was a very good way to learn, really good basics. I was there for 10 years.<\/p>\n And then you left school. Was there any thought of doing anything other than horses?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>I told my parents that first I would do the horses and then I would study, but really it was never my plan! I finished school at 19 with my Abitur. I stayed at school longer because if I was leaving home, I\u2019d need my drivers licence so I thought it was better to wait!<\/p>\n You went to Jo Hinnemann<\/strong>\u2019s?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Yeah that was my first big stable. I rode at really small shows before and I didn\u2019t have the big, super horses because if your parents don\u2019t have a horse business, ok we could buy a horse for \u20ac5000-\u20ac10,000, it is a lot of money, but not in the horse world. So until Hinnemann\u2019s I had normal horses which were super to learn on but not for the Junior or Young Rider classes. When I decided to be a professional rider I had to leave the south of Germany where I\u2019m from, because in the north it is a higher level of horses and I wanted to do it 100%, otherwise you don\u2019t have the success. So for me it was difficult to go 500km from home, but it was the right decision I think.<\/p>\n Another Bundeschamps star for Beatrice, Victoria’s Secret (Vitalis\/Fidermark).<\/strong><\/p>\n I was at Hinnemann\u2019s for two years to do my bereiter and then another two years after that. I started with all the young horses there. That\u2019s why I decided to stay a bit longer than the two years because the horses get older so I didn\u2019t want to leave! I did my first Bundeschampionate there with Lord Carnaby as a three-year-old. It all started with that horse; I won the first Bundeschampionate, the first World Championships, the first stallion show. It was the beginning of everything. This is the horse of the H\u00f6dl family so we\u2019ve been together a long time and we\u2019re good friends. And it was also nice because I\u2019ve learnt together with the horses. I have never had a finished horse. It needs more time but in the end, I think it\u2019s better.<\/p>\n Lord Carnaby<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n What was the biggest impression you took away from Hinnemann<\/strong>\u2019s yard?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s difficult to say. He\u2019s a really good teacher. I think the really big thing was that I learnt to work alone with the horses. He was not sitting there all the time saying do this and do that, even though he had his eye on us.<\/p>\n next Rebecca asks about the move to Isabell’s stable<\/em><\/p>\n Want to Breed to Vitalis, go to www.ihb.com.au<\/a> and find out how<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Then you went to Isabell Werth<\/strong>\u2019s stable. How did that opportunity arise?<\/strong><\/p>\n After four years it\u2019s long enough, you want to see something else. Isabell was always the big idol and she wasn\u2019t that far away from Hinnemann\u2019s stables, about half an hour. The H\u00f6dls said we could do something together. They had one stallion at this time so we started a co-operation with Hengst Station Schult. I was still living next to Hinnemann\u2019s place, and it was 50 minutes one way to the Stallion Station, and Isabell was 30 minutes the other way.<\/p>\n So, for the first year, I spent half a day at Isabell\u2019s and half a day at the stallion station. I had about four or five horses belonging to the H\u00f6dls and another three or four horses, then the stallion at the Schults\u2019 Station, so I rode around 10-12 horses a day. You have to wake up early!<\/p>\n What was the biggest thing you learnt at Isabell<\/strong>\u2019s stable?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>I think she is an amazing person, an amazing rider and amazing trainer. It was really interesting just to be in the arena and seeing how she\u2019s working and riding the horses. Her lessons are really special because she\u2019s not like Hinnemann who was more the Training Scale, more theoretic. Isabell is more, \u2018\u2026at this moment you have to use right leg, right hand\u2026\u2019 and you do it and then\u2026.oh, it works! She\u2019s riding with you and she tells you what she would do at that moment and then it is working. She likes really different horses. It\u2019s not just one type of horse that she does and she never says, \u201cOh this is a shit horse,\u201d she\u2019s looking and trying and seeing what she can do or what is best for that particular horse. That\u2019s the most important thing. And it was very interesting to learn the management of such a stable and how to work before a show and then show, show, show and then the big show. You have to plan the year and plan the horse. You don\u2019t go to 12 shows and then the 13th show is the most important, and the horse is tired.<\/p>\n Isabell and Bella Rose, Beatrice and Weihegold – photo – Jacques Toffi<\/em><\/p>\n Does she buy her horses young?<\/strong><\/p>\n Normally yes, but then you don\u2019t see them for the next five years because they are at home. Sometimes you feel, ok it is a nice and clever horse and it will do everything, but it can\u2019t come to the big Young Horse shows because it doesn\u2019t have a big trot and big canter.<\/p>\n What do you think makes Isabell such an incredible competitor?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think she\u2019s amazing in the head. If she\u2019s riding, the house could fall down; she\u2019s riding. I think nobody can manage bad situations like her. If you are on the top everybody wants to bring you down, and she’s been fighting for so many years, it doesn\u2019t matter to her. If she has no success for one or two years, she\u2019s working, working, working and then she has her next horse and then she\u2019s at the top again.<\/p>\n Isabell at Aachen, waving to the crowd, but keeping an eye on the scoreboard until she sees the result…<\/em><\/p>\n What have you learnt about the art of competing from Isabell?<\/strong><\/p>\n She was always a really big help as a trainer because she never pushed too much. If you come out (of the arena) and it was not so good, she would say, \u2018Oh, it was not so bad!\u2019 She\u2019s always positive. If it was ok, she\u2019d say, \u2019It was not perfect for today, but it was perfect for you and the horse.\u2019 You have to see what\u2019s possible and what\u2019s not. She\u2019s realistic.<\/p>\n Beatrice and Weihegold in the Grand Prix Special \u00a0at Salzburg, You trained Weihegold up to Grand Prix and then the ride went to Isabell. How do you feel now watching her in the medals at Rio and the Europeans?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m so proud.<\/p>\n When did you start riding her?<\/strong><\/p>\n When she was six I started with her.<\/p>\n What was she like as a youngster?<\/strong><\/p>\n She was always special. She never had the big movement. Nobody would watch her and think, \u2018Wow, she\u2019s amazing!\u2019 but if you sat on her\u2026. I never rode piaffe or passage before I rode her and I was trotting at six years old and just came with the whip\u2026.. normally you can\u2019t ride her with the whip, she\u2019s just really hot.. but I just touched her and thought, \u2018Wow! What\u2019s this?!\u2019 I felt it was special, but I didn\u2019t want to say too much because I wasn\u2019t experienced enough to comment.<\/p>\n Then she learnt in three months the changes. I got her at the end of six years, and in April she was seven and won her first M level and in June she won her first S level, in October her first Prix St Georges. She\u2019s so clever. At eight she won the N\u00fcrnberger Burg Pokal. It was amazing to qualify a horse and amazing to ride in Frankfurt, but we didn\u2019t think that she would win because she\u2019s not the most spectacular horse, but she has no problems in a special atmosphere and she comes in and is with you 150%.<\/p>\n And then she was your first Grand Prix horse?!<\/strong><\/p>\n At which point we both start giggling like schoolgirls at the crazy prospect of having Weihegold as your first Grand Prix horse and the champion she\u2019s turned out to be\u2026<\/p>\n And what<\/strong>\u2019s she like in the stable?<\/strong><\/p>\n She\u2019s really normal. The only thing is her food. She is a bit fat and likes food and if she wants to eat she bangs and bangs. But that\u2019s the only thing. You can sit a child on her and go for a walk. I would go alone in the fields with her, she\u2019s never crazy in the prize-givings. She\u2019s hot, but never crazy. But she\u2019s sensitive. You must never fight with her.<\/p>\n **There’s a YouTube video of Beatrice riding Weihegold at the end of this article<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n next the difference between riding young horses and Grand Prix horses<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Do you prefer the young horses or Grand Prix?<\/strong><\/p>\n I like it all! It\u2019s much easier to get the young horses because there are more of them.<\/p>\n But then they can be a bit crazier<\/strong>\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ja but I like that. I don\u2019t want them to kill me, but they can be fresh, it\u2019s no problem for me. I like to work with the stallions also and now I have around 15 horses from three years old to 16 years old and I have one rider, a groom and the H\u00f6dl Family to help me.<\/p>\n Dorothee Schneider, who rode the Six-Year-Old Champion, Sezuan, and Beatrice, Runner-Up with Belantis at the WYH Press Conference in 2015<\/em><\/p>\n What<\/strong>\u2019s your favourite type of horse?<\/strong><\/p>\n They have to be sensitive and intelligent and if you have three good gaits, then it\u2019s perfect. But you never have everything, so you have to see how you can manage a problem, but the most important thing is that they have to want to fight for you. They can be spooky at home, but if you\u2019re in the arena, they have to fight for you.<\/p>\n When you get on your horse everyday, what are you feeling for?<\/strong><\/p>\n Normally the horse is walked in hand first by the groom for about 15 minutes to get it a little bit warm and then I get on and start with the walking work but it\u2019s different. With the three or four-year-old horses I don\u2019t like to ride too much walk on the rein; long rein then start with the trot and canter because normally the walk is a bit difficult in the beginning. With the older horses I do more walk in the beginning then warming up for 10-15 minutes and around 15-20 minutes of working with breaks.<\/p>\n How do you usually structure your training?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think the most important thing, if you work together with Isabell, she teaches that the most important thing is to have them soft, going through the back soft. That part of the exercise is 10% of the daily work. Getting them more gymnastic.<\/p>\n With the management of the horse, we always start one week before the show to get more of the exercises from the test. But in the daily training, ok sometimes I say today more canter work, tomorrow more trot because if you train a Grand Prix horse, you can\u2019t train everything in one day.<\/p>\n So, if one day my horse needs more canter, I warm them up with of leg yield or shoulder in or half passes and then into the canter work. And you have to stop before they are too tired.<\/p>\n Beatrice and her current Grand Prix ride, Daily Pleasure. Like Isabell, Beatrice is a Bates Advocate, and proudly rides in a Bates saddle.<\/em><\/p>\n Do you take them in the field?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes. Not all horses because not all the owners want it, but I ask the owners and if they are happy, we have smaller paddocks, bigger paddocks, fields.<\/p>\n Do you ride them out as well? You<\/strong>\u2019re probably way too busy!<\/strong><\/p>\n If we have time we go out. Sometimes for relaxing days we do it. Not with the three-year-olds! But we have a big outside arena and they go to the fields as well.<\/p>\n You<\/strong>\u2019ve got your own horses now?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve got one young horse who\u2019s three years old. I\u2019ve never had my own horse, but now I have the opportunity to have a horse in my stable because in the last years if you are riding 12 super horses and then in the evening you have to drive to another stable to ride the 13th horse, and usually not the nicest because you can\u2019t afford the super horse yourself! But I found a really nice two-year-old last year so now we can try.<\/p>\n At home he is called Heinz but he has another name for the show! He\u2019s by Follow Me and I really like him, but he\u2019s at home in the field.<\/p>\n Lord Carnaby decides to show the crowd a big change at the Bundeschampionat<\/em><\/p>\n What<\/strong>\u2019s your biggest tip for people competing a young horse in a big environment, for example, the best way to handle the warm up arena at a big show?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think the biggest fault is if riders want to do it better than in the normal shows. Then the young horses get upset. Don\u2019t change anything. Be focused on that.<\/p>\n Victoria’s Secret coping with the atmosphere in the 3 and 4 year old class<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n How do you manage, say a three-year-old horse in this situation <\/strong>(we were at the Bundeschampionate)<\/em>. It<\/strong>\u2019s very stressful. Do you think a three-year-old is too young for these shows?<\/strong><\/p>\n Normally yes. I have one really good three-year-old, Daria but she is at home because of this point. She won in Verden. She\u2019s sensitive and is a super horse for the future. With stallions they start at two-and-a-half years old with the licensing so they see a lot more, but normally at three-years-old they are on the field and with my own horses and the H\u00f6dls’ horses, we start riding them at three-and-a-half just one or two times a week, and after the winter, they can do a bit more, and then it\u2019s ok to start them here as a four-year-old. If you want to go to the Bundeschampionate you have to push them a bit more, you have to ride them more and a lot of them get problems. Ok, so if you have a really good horse, perhaps it\u2019s ok.<\/p>\n What<\/strong>\u2019s the quality like at the Bundeschampionate this year compared to other years? Or is that not fair to ask seeing you<\/strong>\u2019re competing!<\/strong><\/p>\n The problem is I don\u2019t really have the time to see so many horses. It\u2019s easier to ride and not look at the others and then if they beat you, you can say, ok they must have been better. But if I see them and I know it was not better, I get angry! Normally I don\u2019t look before the show who is judging or what the marks of others are before I ride.<\/p>\n There\u2019s never been so many horses in the five-year-old class! (There were 75 starters). It\u2019s difficult because it\u2019s easier to qualify in the south or east of Germany than here. Sometimes you qualify a horse up north here with 8.0 and sometimes down south you can qualify a really normal horse with 8.5. But I saw it with the World Champion qualification here at Warendorf, there were over 40 five-years-olds and normally not more than 20 are coming here to present for the selection for the World Championship, and they were really, really good horses. Normally there are five top horses and 20 you think could have stayed at home.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/1aBelantisBetter2.jpg\")
Beatrice left Isabell\u2019s yard a year ago and has successfully started her own operation based at Gut Kostenschlag, the stable of long time friends and supporters, the H\u00f6dl Family. I caught up with her at the Bundechampionate last year, where she was busy competing three horses, including the Oldenberg stallion F\u00fcrst William HC (F\u00fcrst Wilhelm \/ Lord Sinclair I) taking out second place in the hotly contested Five-Year-Old Championship.![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/William1.jpg\")
\u00a0Beatrice and F\u00fcrst William, second in the strong Five-Year-Old Championship –\u00a0F\u00fcrst William HC (F\u00fcrst Wilhelm \/ Lord Sinclair I)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/WilliamPrizeGiving.jpg\")
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\n<\/em>they won with a score of 72.667 – photo: Kenneth Braddick<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/HannFeb19_210x297mm.jpg\")
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