Advertise on podcast: The Horse Podcast

I caught up with Fabienne Müller-Lütkemeier at Aachen where she came third in the 4* Kur. A member of dressage royalty, the German rider’s mother is Gina Capellmann who won many gold medals for her country and her aunty is Olympic, World and European champion Nadine Capellmann. Fabienne herself represented Germany as a young rider winning copious gold medals at Europeans and as a senior has won team gold at both Europeans and World Championships. She has also competed at two World Cup Finals. With her famous family, she has been exposed to the sport and involved in the top sport since she was a youngster. In this interview Fabienne chats about why it’s important to have other trainers and what makes Hubertus Schmidt so good. Her belief is that you always learn, it’s never done. We talk about her young Grand Prix mare Valencia which she rode at CHIO Aachen (and she seems to like the “V” line with quite a few in her stable) as well as her other up and coming horses including Valencia’s sister. She explains what’s involved in a day, the training process, how the sport has changed and how to manage the modern dressage horse.

João is one of those quietly spoken, hard working gentle souls who loves his horses and loves his art. Having represented his country at European Championships and Worlds, the top Portuguese rider finally reached the peak in 2024 where he went to Paris. Unfortunately whilst at the venue, his Olympic dreams were dashed in the most awful circumstances with the illness of his stallion Drosa Fürst Kennedy. But the pair have worked their way back to the top to win 2025 Wiesbaden CDI4* before competing as part of the first ever Portuguese team at CHIO Aachen. João and Kennedy's partnership began when the horse was two and a half and the pair’s star continues to rapidly rise. It’s a real story of overcoming adversity with your best friend. Their bond is obvious. We talk about this horse of a lifetime, the daily work and the secret of his success, wife Marta with whom he runs a successful horse business in Germany…..and what is Kyra Kyrklund’s mantra?

Marieke Van Der Putten is a Dutch Grand Prix rider. The 43 year old represented her country at the World Championships at Herning in 2022 and the World Cup Finals in Omaha in 2023. From her start breaking in wild ponies to working with team Glock as a stable rider, she is now out on her own riding for RS2 and taking the Grand Prix sport by storm In this interview Marieke talks about the importance of learning to ride all horses and not just learning to ride a test, her journey from breakers to Grand Prix, a normal day, how she likes to warm up at a big show, Titanium with his tricky character and overcoming his illness at the World Cup and her current sensations including the Zonik mare Zantana and the youngster About You.

Although just recently reaching the senior classes, Semmie is no stranger to the top sport having represented Germany in 11 youth European Championships from pony to U25 since 2011 and coming away with numerous medals. With her sister Sanneke also a successful young rider, her father and mother representing Germany and Netherlands and brother Sönke part of the gold medal winning German team in Rio, she is part of a dressage dynasty. In 2019 she won the FEI Rising Star award. I caught up with Semmie at Aachen where she won the 4* Grand Prix Freestyle with Farrington. We chatted about her current top horses Flannel and Farrington, being part of the Rothenberger family, daily training, finding the way, changing tact with each horse and how every horse has shaped her as a rider, the little steps along the way and growing together with each horse. We touch on Pilates, social media and more. And why does she get so worried when no one talks while she’s training?

Ingrid Klimke needs no introduction. She has represented Germany in both dressage and eventing, she is a multi-championship medal winner including Olympic team gold. We talk about her journey with Vayron, who has been with her just a year now….the little challenges and his amazing personality. We discuss the importance of her own fitness work and riding as you get older…the wisdom and patience and gratitude that she now has. Her small tour horse Diafys. Training for dressage and eventing, how it differs and how it’s the same. The joy of young horses and how she likes to start the horses and take them to the top, keeping the training fresh and interesting for the horses. How positive she is about the next generation of young, athletic riders. Reality versus perfection and looking to the positive, something she learnt from her father. And speaking of Reiner, what were his words of wisdom for Ingrid?

DInja is a Dutch dressage amazon who has already had great successes from young horse classes to championship Grand Prix. Her greatest success at the top sport was an individual bronze in both the Special and Freestyle at the World Championships in Herning in 2022 on the stallion Hermès and she followed it up with a fourth place at the Paris Olympics in 2024. This year she already won the World Breeding Championships for Young Dressage Horses with the six year old stallion Red Viper and she has also been named with Hermès on the Dutch team for the Europeans. In our chat with discuss how her journey began. Her grandfather’s influence and commitment. What it takes to ride these amazing horses. The influence of the stallion Capri Sonne Jr and why she decided to ride stallions early on. We talk about what a day is like for Dinja, why fitness work is important to her, her management of the horses, running a stable on her own and what it takes as well as what she learnt from one of her big mentors Leunus van Lieren. Dinja discusses her plans for Hermès and insights into his quirky character and why he’s a championship horse. We chat about her Paris Olympic experience and her individual bronzes at the World Championships in Herning and we meet some of her young up and coming horses such as Mauro Turfhorst and Red Viper. It’s also interesting to hear how her training and priorities in the arena have changed over the years and how she prepares for a test. And why does Dinja have a western trainer?

Last year dressage superstar Jessica von Bredow-Werndl successfully defended her Olympic gold medals both in the teams and individual competition in Paris on her champion mare Dalera. A year on, I sat down with Jessi as she compares her experiences of both the Tokyo and Paris Olympics and post Olympics. What she experienced may not be what you imagined.Things can look very different from the outside. This is a very honest, heartfelt and insightful interview. We talk about the pressure of Paris, the rituals she used to get through. Jessi opens up about what strategies she learnt from Tokyo that helped her through Paris. She didn’t have the show she had hoped at Aachen this year with her new ride Diallo, but it’s about putting things in perspective, dealing with “failures” and the positives she learnt in the days afterwards. We discuss the differences between the horses, balancing life and how the death of her coach affected her and why the journey is so important.

It’s the “Aachen Series”! Today we chat to Team GB dressage superstar Becky Moody. This was her first Aachen experience and she brought her top star and current number two in the world Jagerbomb along with her young small tour mare Magic Dream JB. We talk about the highs and lows of the last 12 months post Olympics. The challenges of being at the top of the sport. How the horse sport is different from the other Olympic disciplines. We discuss her up and coming horses and how all horses are different, how much these top horses love their job and catering for all their different personalities and the difficulties of when the public don’t understand the journey of dressage. We also touch on her clear, logical training approach. And why does Jagerbomb enjoy a buddy at these shows?

Swedish dressage rider Patrik Kittel has been in the top sport for 25 years. A competitor in four Olympics and numerous World Equestrian Games and World Cup finals, Patrik rode to victory in the World Cup final this year in Riyadh. In this podcast we discuss taking on criticism and where the dressage sport is at the present moment; horse welfare and what do horses really need; bringing positivity to the sport and how we go about improving things in a methodical way; learning and not being afraid of mistakes; working hard and what it really takes to be at the top and how horse care has changed over the years. How did the whole journey start for Patrik and why did he chose dressage as his discipline? We talk about how to pick yourself up and be better and better; criticising yourself and the passion to keep improving; Touchdown’s personality; off the horse work and what Patrik learnt from his mental coach; the benefit of watching others and what he aims for in a training session. We also take a moment to remember Scandic And what did Isabell Werth say to Patrik to motivate him?

Christoph Hess is a modern day master. He studied to be a teacher at university and was a rider of competitions and at auction yards before becoming an international judge for 30 years in dressage and eventing, judging everything from young horse to Grand Prix. He worked at the German Equestrian Federation for almost 40 years being the head of training for 30 of those years and headed the Federal Performance Centre at Warendorf for over 20 years. He is currently the training ambassador for the German Equestrian Federation and coaches many eventers in dressage on their journey to the Olympics. In 2019 he was awarded the gold German Equestrian Cross for his services to the sport. He won the “Silver Horse” at CHIO Aachen this year for his social media content. Christoph is so passionate and generous with his knowledge, and one of the most inclusive and positive people I’ve ever met. He will help anyone who has an interest. In this interview, we discuss his foray into social media and how it can be used in a positive way. We talk about his philosophy of riding, how riding is different from all other sports and our responsibility as riders. We look at the scale of training, the ability to teach technique and feeling, his view of the sport at the Paris Olympics, the state of the sport at the moment and how we move forward with positivity, using old knowledge in a modern way and what should 95% of your money be spent on. And what was the key to France’s Olympic silver in Versailles?

Although Paris will be Jayden’s first Olympics, the Australian dressage rider is no stranger to the international sport. He competed in the Young Rider’s World Cup Final in 2008 on Widelo, World Young Horse Championships in 2013 on San Andreas and the World Games in 2022 on Sky Diamond. Having spent the last two years in the UK training under Carl Hester, Jayden’s Olympic dream has been realised as he becomes a member of the Australian team for Paris. In this interview, he talk about his journey with Quincy B, why he chose UK as a base,Carl’s influence, namely holding yourself to a higher standard, avoiding drama and doing the hard work. Jayden goes into depth on what to aim for at big championships. making your training system clear for the horse and moulding the training system to different horse and human personality types. Riding the ups and downs of the top sport. The skill of getting the score you know you can get under any circumstance. And what are the things you have to avoid in Carl’s arena?

Team GB’s newest dressage superstars Becky and her homebred Jagerbomb may have seemed like an overnight success story when they burst onto the international scene last year, but the truth is, Becky has been competing at the top level since she was nine. Great successes last year in Jagerbomb’s first year at Grand Prix meant the selectors sights were set firmly upon them, as they became the travelling reserve for the 2023 Europeans before a show full of PBs at the London International Horse Show in December. Becky is fun, thoughtful and insightful. We talk about learning from and finding the keys to each horse, attention to detail, balance versus energy in a horse’s training, the transition from Young Riders to Seniors, being in the slick machine that is Team GB and a rider and coach’s greatest skill, being a problem solver. And how did Becky teach her horses to write such entertaining blogs?

Even though still in his 20s, German dressage star Sönke Rothenberger has already had massive success in the competition arena. Following numerous successes in Pony and Young Rider Championships, the German has continued on in the Seniors with Team gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 World Championships as well as the 2017 and 2019 European Championships. He also received individual silver in the Special and Freestyle at the Europeans in 2017. I caught up with him at Aachen where he rode his new star Fendi in the 5*Grand Prix. Having recently beaten Dalera at the German Championships, all eyes were on the duo and although the test didn’t go quite to plan, we talked about learning from situations and changing conditions for the horse while keeping things in perspective and viewing the whole journey. Competition pressure, Cosmo’s amazing freestyle and how Cosmo and Fendi compare. The benefits of training your horse to Grand Prix rather than buying the finished product; buying foals, daily training, the honesty of family, Young Riders versus Seniors and perhaps the most important point, keeping your horse’s personality alive. Sönke has THE BEST analogies…he’s a joy to listen to. Don’t ride a pug at Aachen!

I catch up with dressage legend Carl Hester at Aachen CHIO. We get the lowdown on the Aachen stars Imhotep and Times Kismet and getting young horses to Grand Prix. Carl chats about his new partner Fame and En Vogue and hot horses in general; embracing science in the sport, the role of “Team GB”, getting those one percenters and the challenge of making the team with Charlotte and Lottie around.We reflect on the World Championships in Herning and what was Carl’s slip up?

Will Matthew is the overnight success that’s not an overnight success. Originating from Western Australia he now rides for and trains with Isabel Werth. I caught up with Will fresh from his Louisdor Qualifier win in Hagen beating his trainer Isabell. Riding in the top sport in Europe, Will is definitely the master of making unrealistic dreams come true, putting in the hard yards and making his own luck. We talk about riding smart and with compromise, learning from different systems and we deep dive into training with Isabell, the journey with Belantis and his current two Grand Prix horses.