Sandra Auffarth Named Master Rider at the National Championships

Sandra Auffarth is the 24th figure from the equestrian world to be awarded the title of Master of Equestrian Arts. She now joins the ranks of Ingrid Klimke, Dorothee Schneider, Michael Jung, Hubertus Schmidt, Martin Plewa, Klaus Balkenhold, and other distinguished trainers of riders and horses.

After all, it takes more than just success to be named a riding master. Although the title is awarded—based on recommendations from the FN and its affiliated associations—for outstanding achievements in the saddle, this is not the only criterion. It’s also about supporting other exceptional riders.

Respect from all sides

No matter who you talk to—everyone raves about Sandra Auffarth’s riding and training. The newly crowned world champion Steve Guerdat once said during the Hamburg Derby—which, so to speak, served as the launching pad for Sandra Auffarth’s second career in show jumping—that all show jumpers should follow her example. That’s because Auffarth not only rides with brilliant technique, she’s also a true horsewoman who instills confidence in her horses and wins them over.

Career

She proved this early on as a pony rider and later in junior and young riders’ competitions. She often rode horses that the family had bred themselves. That has remained the case to this day.

After graduating from high school, her training first took her to Warendorf, where she joined the “Perspektivgruppe” and completed an apprenticeship as a horse management specialist. At the same time, she pursued further training to become a sports and fitness business administrator. She completed her training and later passed the master craftsman’s examination with Stensbeck, after which she returned home to take over management of her parents’ business.

Gamechanger Wolle

The horse that helped Sandra Auffarth achieve her major breakthrough was the Selle Français gelding Opgun Louvo, better known as Wolle. Auffarth acquired him at a young age and turned him into one of the world’s best eventing horses.

Her list of achievements is long: team gold and individual silver at the 2011 European Championships; team gold and individual bronze at the 2012 Olympic Games in London; and the highlight: double gold at the 2014 World Championships.

In 2015, the two repeated their success at the European Championships, and in 2016, they capped off their competitive careers together with a silver medal in the team event and an eleventh-place finish in the individual competition at the Olympic Games in Rio.

The next horse with which Sandra Auffarth enjoyed success at championships was the chestnut Viamant du Matz, who competed in his first championship in Tryon in 2018, finished 11th at the 2019 European Championships, competed in Tokyo in 2021, and played a key role in the team’s gold medal win at the 2022 World Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro. In 2023, she added a team silver and an individual bronze. In 2024, they were nominated for the Olympics but were ultimately unable to compete.

Since then, Sandra Auffarth has focused on show jumping and has very quickly worked her way up to the five-star level. Riding Quirici H, she has already celebrated Nations Cup victories for Germany.

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Ambassador for Equestrian Sports

. The laudatory speech was delivered by FN Training Director Thies Kaspareit, himself a former Olympic team champion in eventing. He said: “What sets you apart is your ability to articulate your thoughts and feelings—whether as an instructor or while riding—so clearly that you can share them with your students or with audiences at seminars and conferences. Through everything you do, you have become a role model both nationally and internationally.”