Newsletter: Sandra Auffarth, Master Rider – Thoughts on Masterful Riding

She is not only a champion, but probably one of the best riders in the world: Sandra Auffarth Not only does she have a complete set of Olympic medals at home for her achievements in eventing, but she also won double gold at the 2014 World Championships in Caen and has seven European Championship medals, including two silver and one bronze in individual events. She has also won five-star Grand Prix events. Recently, she competed with Quirici H Fourth Place in the GCT London Grand Prix. In doing so, she left behind several combinations that had performed well at the World Championships in Aachen. Incidentally, only one German rider finished ahead of her: the winner, Christian Kukuk, with his Olympic champion Checker, whom he removed from the Olympic squad after the World Championships in Aachen – that’s the name of the top tier of German equestrian sports – has had it removed, which has caused some unrest and Speculation led to.

The Riding Instructor on the Female Riding Instructor

Sandra’s rounds at the German Show Jumping Derby are legendary; riding Nupafeed’s La Vista—bred by her father—she was a regular winner of the Style Award. And she consistently placed in the top ten.

Now Sandra has been named a master rider. It doesn’t get much better than that. I still remember well watching one of Sandra’s derby rides alongside Achaz von Buchwaldt. He’s won the derby twice, and he, too, is a master rider. He was fascinated by Sandra—totally blown away. “Look, look—she already has the reach. I’d only just be starting to figure things out at her age.” I’m sure Achaz isn’t the only master rider in Sandra Auffarth’s fan club. Because not only on the course but also in the warm-up arena, Sandra has a plan, a strategy. “And hard work,” Achaz emphasizes. Being hardworking is one of the most important factors of all, according to the master rider.

Hard-working, harder-working, Hinners!

He also sees this as the reason for Richard Vogel’s success—a “once-in-a-century rider”—and Sophie Hinners justified. In addition to all the talent and the experience gained from riding many different horses of all ages, there is Ambition and Dedication to Training the criteria that turn a good, talented rider into an exceptional rider—whether male or female. Sophie Hinners’ performance at the Bundeschampionat was proof of what Achaz von Buchwaldt summed up so succinctly. The world team champion had Four horses advance to the finals for five-year-olds rode, three of whom made it into the top six, including the champion and the runner-up. That’s also a masterful achievement—not quite at the level of a riding master yet, but what isn’t there now might still come. And the National Champion of the Six-Year-Olds She also rode through the show jumping course faster than her competitors managed to with their horses.

Topic: National Championships

By the way: If you were expecting a comment on the new National Championship format for three- and four-year-olds—stay tuned. Dominique Wehrmann, who left Hamburg for Warendorf just two days after returning from the World Championships (I was still ironing my shirts at that point), is still doing her research. Yes, she has her own opinion. But she wants to get a comprehensive picture of the mood, a balanced assessment from all sides. And that’s just how it is—good journalism sometimes needs an extra day.

With that in mind—see you next Monday!

Jan Tönjes

jan.toenjes@equi-pages.de

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This article was first published on August 31, 2026. Every Monday, Jan Tönjes provides commentary on the week’s events in our weekly newsletter on EQUI PAGES.

Plus: News of the week from our various sections—for everyone who wants to know on Mondays what happened and what’s coming up this week!

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