Baseball has Babe Ruth, football has Joe Montana, and golf has Tiger Woods — almost every sport has game-defining athletes that current and future players all strive to emanate. Here at HorseLoverZ.com, we believe that horseback riding has its own all-stars for equestrians of all disciplines and ages to admire. We’d like to present the first in a series of profiles on talented and famous equestrians from various riding disciplines, with today’s spotlight on some of the top respected Dressage riders. Who knows, after reading about the many accomplishments of these equestrians, you’ll be inspired to buy your dressage saddle and riding equipment from top brands like Henri De Rivel and Roma.
REINER KLIMKE
Background & Personal Life
Reiner Klimke, a German dressage equestrian was born on January 14, 1936 and passed August 17, 1999. Though his long career had many highlights, he’s arguably best known for his participation on the Western Germany Olympic Team from 1960 to 1988. Described as “a real horseman in bone and marrow”, he loved to pass his knowledge on to others and was the author of several famous equestrian books including Klimke on Dressage: From the Young Horse Through Grand Prix.
His wife, Ruth, was a respected show jumping and dressage rider, and all three of his children are involved in the equestrian industry. His eldest son, Rolf, was heavily involved in the family businesses, and was his father’s constant companion. Daughter, Ingrid Klimke, has followed in her father’s footsteps and is currently considered one of the best German dressage and eventing riders of today, winning gold medals in team eventing at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. His youngest son, Michael, is also an elite dressage rider in Germany.
Why He’s Awesome
Klimke still holds the title of most Olympic gold medals for an equestrian. He’s won six gold medals and two bronze in dressage at the Summer Olympic Games, between the years 1960 and 1988, excluding the 1980 Summer Olympics when West Germany refused to attend.
Besides his Olympic medals, Klimke was a successful competing equestrian and won many titles in various shows around the world for dressage, eventing, and even show jumping. He won the individual gold in the 1967, 1973, and 1985 and rode on several winning teams for the European Dressage Championships. He was the German Eventing Champion in 1960 and 1959, as well as a victor at a Grand Prix Show Jumping course in Berlin.
LAURA TOMLINSON (BECHTOLSHEIMER)
Background & Personal Life
Laura Tomlinson (former name Bechtolsheimer) is a German-born British dressage equestrian. Born January 31, 1985, in Mainz, Germany, she moved with her parents and three brothers to Gloucestershire in South West England at the age of one. She began riding at the age of three when she received her first pony, but didn’t begin to concentrate on dressage until she was 13. The following season she was chosen to compete in her first major competition at the Pony European Championship where she won a team silver medal. She went on to attend the 2012 Summer Olympics and was recently married to professional polo player, Mark Tomlinson. She had her first daughter this past summer on July 17th.
Why She’s Awesome
In 2005, Tomlinson became the youngest British Dressage Champion at the age of 20. From there she was chosen to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics where she won 18th place in the Individual Grand Prix Special, and 6th place in the team event. She was named as British Dressage’s ‘Rider of the Year’ after the Olympics. In 2009 Tomlinson won the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special at Stuttgart. The latter was the “German Masters” and she was the only British competitor to have ever won that. She finished 2009 ranked 6th in the world.
In 2012, she helped lead the British Olympic Dressage Team to their first gold, and received the bronze for her individual routine. The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) named her the 3rd best rider in the world with her horse Mistral Hojris. Tomlinson was selected as a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the ‘2013 New Year Honours’ for services to equestrianism.
ROBERT DOVER
Background & Personal Life
Robert Dover is an American dressage rider who has competed in the Olympics and won many competitions. He was born on June 7, 1956 in Chicago, Illinois to Jewish parents, and received his first pony at the age of 13 for his Bar Mitzvah. Dover decided to specialize in dressage at the age of 19 where he saw his career take off soon after that.
Outside of competing, Dover is known as the founder of the Equestrian Aid Foundation which financially assists members of the equestrian community who have experienced a severe accident, injury, or illness. He also was the creator and star of 2007 reality television series “The Search for America’s Next Equestrian Star: Dressage”, where the final five contestants were allowed to train with Dover for a month, and the winner was chosen as Dover’s assistant. In April 2013, Dover was offered the role of Technical Advisor/Chef d’Equipe for the US national dressage team.
Why He’s Awesome
Robert Dover is known as being the most honored dressage rider in the United States of America, and a member of the United States Dressage Federation Hall of Fame. He’s competed in six consecutive Olympics, four World Championships, and seven World Cups. Between 1984 and 2004 he won the United States Olympic Team 4 bronze medals. Dover has the distinction of being the only American to win the 1987 German Aachen Grand Prix Freestyle competition in 27 years, and beat out fellow HorseLoverZ.com spotlight member, Reiner Klimke.
In 1994 he was named the U.S. Olympic Male Equestrian Athlete of the Year, and by the time he retired in 2009 he had amassed over 100 Grand Prix victories.
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Dressage is a beautiful thing to watch and to ride, and we here at HorseLoverZ.com feel that the riders mentioned above deserve their recognition as famous equestrians. We hope that these riders can inspire you as much as they inspire us!