Since everyone likes the Amateur portraits from the podcast a lot, but some prefer to read rather than listen, here’s our new series: Amateur portraits. We start off with German equestrian Antonia Meyer who told us all about her and her horse Smile Me Seven.
Summer break is over and we are back with another episode of „No Life Like Showlife“. This time our guest was one of the most decorated Amateur riders in Europe: Lea Henzgen. She told us all about her mares Under The Influence and Definately A Hottie, her former heart horse Doc Laptop and her hobbies and interests aside from horses. Lea also shared what it’s like to show alongside her brother Aaron, the highs and lows in her show career and her future goals and plans.
2020 – it’s probably not the year most of us have many fond memories of. For the sister duo Sandra Rüd and Christine Baier, however, the year had another bad surprise in store – besides the whole pandemic stuff. But – we can tell you this much – their story has a happy ending.
Congratulations are in order for Alena Helmcke and Shes Doolins Nikita: The 2001 black tobiano mare is the first European horse to be induced into the APHA Hall of Fame. It is the climax of a great story of success given that “Niki” has won 32 medals at the Euro Paint during her career, making a total of 1053 APHA points. However, it is also a sad story, because in 2013 Niki passed away.
“Queen of the show” – if anyone can be called that, it’s Lea Henzgen. She has had an unbelievably successful Bavarian Championship, taking home three Golden Series titles with her mare Under The Influence: in Western Horsemanship, Trail and Showmanship.
It’s something many riders dream of: having their horses living next to their house. Imagine waking up every day, looking at green pastures with your favorite horses on them. This dream is going to come true for Julia Pirkenseer and her husband Thomas: They are currently building a house next to the little barn Julia’s parents run. We have talked to the AQHA competitor about the project.
Imagine this: You really want to talk to someone, but they can’t hear you or understand you. Most riders have experienced situations like this with their horses. However, we all know that if we are willing to learn their language, we can understand them. The same goes for communicating with deaf people. They might not hear you, but they can understand you and you can have great conversations. Angela Tuscher is a multiple EWU German Champion, an Americana Champion and she is also a sign language interpreter. We have talked to her about the similarities between riding and sign language, she told us why deaf people can sense horses‘ moods easier and how to respectfully communicate with deaf people.
Some hate it, some love it: the fact that our Western horses become more specialized year by year. While some enjoy the fact that they can have a top notch Western Pleasure or Reining horse, others prefer a Quarter Horse, Paint Horse or Appaloosa that can do it all, from Halter over Western Horsemanship to cattle classes. But how important is a specialized horse to win big at the big shows? Does it take certain bloodlines to win the trophy or will blood, sweat and tears do the job? We have talked to two young ladies, Robyn Barkey and Lena Reim, who have been successful in AQHA allround classes at the big shows – with horses that do not come from Western Pleasure/allround bloodlines.
The Showlife has exclusively learned that Fei Ehmann, owner of Only A Glamourgirl, has purchased Futurity Champion Heskeboshotmarlana.
It is not unusual to see a Western rider try out some jumps or participate in a dressage class. This article, however, is about a way of riding that usually doesn’t cross paths with the Western industry: polo. Ines Grund is the owner of the allround mares Glamourgirl, Best Of Glamourgirl and Loves To Lope, but she is also a passionate polo player. In fact, she loved polo before she became addicted to the allround classes. Together with her friend, Wolf Jage, she explained this fast and fascinating sport to us.
