Moments that explain life

Such a moment happened in June 2003 – it was a moment that explained everything:
At that time, I rode into the main stadium of Soers, a district of Aachen, on the back of Ingmar. The first gallop on the holy turf – it was just amazing. The course is simply huge – in all directions. When you enter it at the front, you cannot even see the jumps at the back. Normally, one jump is followed by the next jump, but on this course there is simply too much space. This course went down in history scores of time and suddenly I was also part of it. These are the moments you are working towards and they explain an entire life.

I remember the buzzwords ”stable, horses and nature” when I think of my childhood.
I crawled through nettles, collected worms and romped in the mud. School was not quite my cup of tea. Honestly speaking, I was glad when it was over. However, maths and physics were still the subjects that I could make some use of. Moreover, I was often sick as a child and my mother thus often went for a walk with me so that I got a bit of fresh air. We came past paddocks almost every time and I was always fascinated by them. When I was seven years old, I was allowed to start horse riding and it quickly became clear: I wanted to learn show-jumping! When I was eight years old, I participated in my first E-jumping with my first pony Prince and came second. From that moment in time, it became even clearer: Horses and show-jumping – this has been the philosophy of my life since then.

When I was eleven years old, I won my first title with the pony team at the Southern German Hall Championship; when I was twelve, I participated in the my first European Championship in the pony saddle. This was amazing and I was very proud, but it has not always been easy. While all the other girls in my grade were listening to pop music and collecting posters, I had to practice. I did not have much time for other things. And I was three or four years younger than my team members and thus often had to hear that my father had so much money and was able to buy me the most expensive ponies. However, I think this is the reason why I sometimes had to work and practise even harder than all others. Yet, this is what I always wanted – I wanted to ride and I wanted to become better. Moreover, it was more important to me that my father always stood behind me as a person and believed in me than to have all the money. He told me again and again that I have to pull through the things I really want and that I am in a position to do so. My mother and my sister have also always been there for me – I would almost say: in good times as well as in bad times... And this is much more important than anything else in our sport: People who give you encouragement. This was true for the pony time, at the juniors and young riders stage and now it is more than ever. For the sports pressure becomes bigger and bigger. Then, it makes a difference whether you participate as a no-name or as position 19 of the world ranking – position 19 is how far I got in 2004. It is a great feeling, but it comes along with a bit of stress – expectations of your own performance.

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