I started riding shortly after I started walking, seemingly having inherited the horse virus from my father. On our Shetland pony Flicka I learned the following riding preschool skills: sitting, falling, going on even when the ride passed through metre tall stinging nettle, because Flicka loved short cuts …
Later, when my legs were long enough, (at around 8 years old), I was allowed to take riding lessons at the riding club "Herrmansland Detmold e.V." with my first instructor, Mr. Werner Scheibig. It was a small, new club with only a few members, so the encouragement was intense: not only daily riding on various, in some cases rough horses, but also everything about the horse, including work in the stable, was part of the daily routine.
We soon founded a tournament group and started nearly every weekend with dressage, show jumping and eventing from A to L. Either alone or as a team throughout North Rhine-Westphalia. –A wonderful time!
Parallel to this, my father built us a stable with 3 stalls connected to the house, and "Django" Hannoveraner, V: v. Der Löwe XX and "Rico" the small horse without papers were new additions. My sister and I trained the two of them together from breaking in to class A in all equestrian disciplines and also started successfully in tournaments.
Although I had a lot of fun with show jumping and cross-country, I was especially interested in dressage. Unfortunately I had neither suitable horses nor the appropriate instructors for my dressage ambitions. I then went to Berlin for my vocational training and gave up riding for a time, because I was spoiled when it came to the horse and rider world of my old home. However, after the fall of the Wall, things started happening in the vicinity of Berlin, so in 1992 I had a look at one or the other farm on the outskirts of Berlin and was soon riding several horses for other owners. Full of enthusiasm at the possibility of now being able to further develop my dressage abilities, I frequently took part in courses, including with Egon von Neindorff.
In 1999 I was then faced with a decision: should I continue with my to date very successful career in the print and TV media segment, which would have meant going to HBO in New York to produce my own broadcast, or go to the horse stable. My heart decided in favour of the horses and I bought "Melodie", an allegedly unrideable, permanently rearing mare with whiplash, because I didn't want to just leave her to her fate at only 6 years old. Melodie inspired me to intensively occupy myself with horse needs, health, training and correction, or, in a word, "natural horsemanship".
In 2000, Philippe Karl was in the area and I decided to take part in a seminar, because to date no professional had been able to show me how to ride Melodie correctly over the back with a connection to the bit. We had nothing to lose. Based on my initial impressions, I didn't want to continue, but I decided to put my prejudices behind me and examine his approach more closely. I then went to Mr. Karl in Grabau in Schleswig-Holstein for two months. There I had the possibility to not only study his books in peace, but also to ask him lots of questions… Melodie and I both profited from this!
Back in Brandenburg, Melodie unfortunately had a serious automobile accident a short time later. I now had no saddle horse, but instead a patient with serious skin and muscle tissue damage, contusions, haematoma and vertebral joint infections with accompanying blockades.
Later, when my legs were long enough, (at around 8 years old), I was allowed to take riding lessons at the riding club "Herrmansland Detmold e.V." with my first instructor, Mr. Werner Scheibig. It was a small, new club with only a few members, so the encouragement was intense: not only daily riding on various, in some cases rough horses, but also everything about the horse, including work in the stable, was part of the daily routine.
We soon founded a tournament group and started nearly every weekend with dressage, show jumping and eventing from A to L. Either alone or as a team throughout North Rhine-Westphalia. –A wonderful time!
Parallel to this, my father built us a stable with 3 stalls connected to the house, and "Django" Hannoveraner, V: v. Der Löwe XX and "Rico" the small horse without papers were new additions. My sister and I trained the two of them together from breaking in to class A in all equestrian disciplines and also started successfully in tournaments.
Although I had a lot of fun with show jumping and cross-country, I was especially interested in dressage. Unfortunately I had neither suitable horses nor the appropriate instructors for my dressage ambitions. I then went to Berlin for my vocational training and gave up riding for a time, because I was spoiled when it came to the horse and rider world of my old home. However, after the fall of the Wall, things started happening in the vicinity of Berlin, so in 1992 I had a look at one or the other farm on the outskirts of Berlin and was soon riding several horses for other owners. Full of enthusiasm at the possibility of now being able to further develop my dressage abilities, I frequently took part in courses, including with Egon von Neindorff.
In 1999 I was then faced with a decision: should I continue with my to date very successful career in the print and TV media segment, which would have meant going to HBO in New York to produce my own broadcast, or go to the horse stable. My heart decided in favour of the horses and I bought "Melodie", an allegedly unrideable, permanently rearing mare with whiplash, because I didn't want to just leave her to her fate at only 6 years old. Melodie inspired me to intensively occupy myself with horse needs, health, training and correction, or, in a word, "natural horsemanship".
In 2000, Philippe Karl was in the area and I decided to take part in a seminar, because to date no professional had been able to show me how to ride Melodie correctly over the back with a connection to the bit. We had nothing to lose. Based on my initial impressions, I didn't want to continue, but I decided to put my prejudices behind me and examine his approach more closely. I then went to Mr. Karl in Grabau in Schleswig-Holstein for two months. There I had the possibility to not only study his books in peace, but also to ask him lots of questions… Melodie and I both profited from this!
Back in Brandenburg, Melodie unfortunately had a serious automobile accident a short time later. I now had no saddle horse, but instead a patient with serious skin and muscle tissue damage, contusions, haematoma and vertebral joint infections with accompanying blockades.
This was the occasion for me to deepen my knowledge of therapy, healing and rehabilitation training, so in 2001 I started training in veterinary physiotherapy at the FAT (institute for alternative veterinary medicine) in Gelsenkirchen. This was followed by job shadowing at the Revito in Warendorf for several months and a residence of several years in the stable of the dressage rider and veterinary physiotherapist "Nina Stark" in Hochmoor. (pupil of Klaus Balkenhol and Dr. Reinhard Klimke, among others). Here I met the English thoroughbred Racy, who I was able to help adjust to a new life as a riding horse following a career as a racehorse and recovery from a tendon injury. He has since been part of my team of horses and runs and runs and runs…
Melodie recovered well from her injuries and I bought the 3-year old, German championship-qualified, elite mare "Wolkenspiel" as my new dressage hope. With this wonderful horse I wanted to do everything well and correctly right from the start and decided to make contact with Isabell Werth. Two weeks later, in May 2004, we were in Rheinberg. However, because the day has more hours than I had horses to ride, I used every opportunity to watch: during Mrs. Werths training of everything from just broken in horses to the old pros familiar to us all, either in individual sessions or as her riders carried out their daily work. Every day I experienced a great deal of sincere devotion, feeling, ease and positive tension, during which both horse and rider were obviously having real fun. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity!
Enthusiastic and impressed, I then had to leave the stable of Mrs. Werth and go to the Hochmoor clinic due to a very unfortunate injury to my young Wolkenspiel (she slipped while grazing – pelvic fracture).
It was a matter of life and death for Wolkenspiel. I decided to leave this decision to Wolkenspiel and to help her with the best conscience and to the best of my knowledge in whatever she decided – she wanted to live!
This meant standing tied in the clinic for five months! But she was so strong and brave that I almost felt ashamed of my sadness. She enjoyed the daily massage units, the magnetic field treatments and, after a few weeks, the regular chiropractic and acupuncture treatments carried out by Dr. Andrea Sattler. Her eyes beamed, her appetite was tremendous as was her curiosity about my daily treat, whether chewing wood or carrots, whether a bundle of straw for pulling out straws or dogs to sniff, she was strong and full of life. For me this was an enriching experience in matters of happiness, the reality of the moment!
Wolkenspiel then went to the caring sport and rehabilitation stable of Nina Stark. She continued to recover there under the influence of regular physiotherapeutic applications to the extent that I was able to mount her again for the first time only a half year later. My two mares enjoyed the care at Starks for several years, while my husband and I began initial work on our own horse farm.
My husband, Stefan Lorenzen, architect, artist and golfer, was able, after a total of seven years of searching for property, planning, application, negotiation and building time, to open the "HofNudow" together with me in September 2009.
P.S. Wolkenspiel is today the head of her own small herd on the pasture, feels incredibly important and has a lot of fun with our occasional riding units.
Melodie recovered well from her injuries and I bought the 3-year old, German championship-qualified, elite mare "Wolkenspiel" as my new dressage hope. With this wonderful horse I wanted to do everything well and correctly right from the start and decided to make contact with Isabell Werth. Two weeks later, in May 2004, we were in Rheinberg. However, because the day has more hours than I had horses to ride, I used every opportunity to watch: during Mrs. Werths training of everything from just broken in horses to the old pros familiar to us all, either in individual sessions or as her riders carried out their daily work. Every day I experienced a great deal of sincere devotion, feeling, ease and positive tension, during which both horse and rider were obviously having real fun. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity!
Enthusiastic and impressed, I then had to leave the stable of Mrs. Werth and go to the Hochmoor clinic due to a very unfortunate injury to my young Wolkenspiel (she slipped while grazing – pelvic fracture).
It was a matter of life and death for Wolkenspiel. I decided to leave this decision to Wolkenspiel and to help her with the best conscience and to the best of my knowledge in whatever she decided – she wanted to live!
This meant standing tied in the clinic for five months! But she was so strong and brave that I almost felt ashamed of my sadness. She enjoyed the daily massage units, the magnetic field treatments and, after a few weeks, the regular chiropractic and acupuncture treatments carried out by Dr. Andrea Sattler. Her eyes beamed, her appetite was tremendous as was her curiosity about my daily treat, whether chewing wood or carrots, whether a bundle of straw for pulling out straws or dogs to sniff, she was strong and full of life. For me this was an enriching experience in matters of happiness, the reality of the moment!
Wolkenspiel then went to the caring sport and rehabilitation stable of Nina Stark. She continued to recover there under the influence of regular physiotherapeutic applications to the extent that I was able to mount her again for the first time only a half year later. My two mares enjoyed the care at Starks for several years, while my husband and I began initial work on our own horse farm.
My husband, Stefan Lorenzen, architect, artist and golfer, was able, after a total of seven years of searching for property, planning, application, negotiation and building time, to open the "HofNudow" together with me in September 2009.
P.S. Wolkenspiel is today the head of her own small herd on the pasture, feels incredibly important and has a lot of fun with our occasional riding units.
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