In the six years since the death of Reiner Klimke, one of the 20th century’s most respected and beloved dressage riders and trainers, his children have never stopped urging others to live by the message of his life’s work.

And the essence of that message, said his daughter, Ingrid, is that nothing is more important than the well-being of the horse.

“My father said what he thought. Whenever he thought something wasn’t right, he said so. He knew the classical way was right and best for the horses, and he stood up for it,” she said.

Classical, to Reiner Klimke, meant a training approach that sought slow, steady progress–at whatever pace was best for each individual horse.

“My father always said, ‘Things just take time.’ He did not believe in quick tricks or things like draw reins,” recalled Ingrid. “Rather than using such things, he said it is better to go on the circle and do things like half-halts and transitions to get the horse under himself and light in your hand.”

Her father taught her that “educating” the horse is no different than educating people. It requires not only teaching the horse something new, but also giving him the time he needs to fully embrace what he’s learned.

“It’s like school–you don’t learn to read and write all at one time. It’s one step at a time. And if you have the first two steps down, then you add the third. But if the third is not working, then go back to step 1 and 2. But don’t ask again and again for the weak point,” said Ingrid.

“What you do, you must do really precisely. You focus, you concentrate, and do whatever you do really 100 percent, and then the horse also has the chance to give 100 percent.”

The responsibility that Reiner Klimke felt for defending the meticulous approach of the classical method has now fallen to his children, Ingrid and Michael, both tremendously accomplished trainers and riders. It’s a responsibility that Ingrid admitted she took on rather reluctantly at the urging of her father. But now, at age 38, she’s determined to carry forward his message as best she can.

A Responsibility
If her father were still alive, Ingrid probably wouldn’t be traveling the world giving clinics.

“When my father started doing clinics in America, we’d always ask, ‘Why do you go once a year to America when we have enough work at home and there are so many shows?’ He said ‘It’s important to go out there because you must give something back. You can’t only take from this sport. You must give your knowledge.’ And he said that other people did it before him, and that he was now responsible for doing the same.”

His argument didn’t initially sway his daughter, who even in her father’s last days showed more interest in riding than sharing knowledge.

“When he was in the hospital [after his heart attack], he told me that as soon as he was home from the hospital, I must redo the book on the Basic Training of the Young Horse with him. I told him, ‘At the moment, I don’t want to write books, I want to ride.’ He said, ‘No, it’s important. You had to learn it, and now you have to give it.’ And, so, I redid the book and brought it up to date.”

The revised book was released in Germany last year, and an English-language version is scheduled for publication this year. She had already worked with her father on a revised version of his book Cavalletti, which came out in DVD last year.

It was her father’s death that made Ingrid understand that she’d been blessed with the advantage of learning from him and that now she had a responsibility to give that knowledge to others. And among the attributes she inherited from her father is her willingness to speak out on behalf of the horses. But she recognizes that her words alone may not be enough.

Ingrid said that her father knew that people are more swayed by deeds than words. He knew that only if his classical approach brought him success as a competitive rider–one of the greatest of which was his 1984 Olympic victory with Ahlerich–would he be able to convince people that the classical approach was the best way.

She believes that his death, and the loss of many others of his generation, has accelerated experimentation with training methods he probably wouldn’t have considered classical.

“It is very difficult because there are only a few left who really follow the classical approach. When my father grew up, the classical way of the old cavalry schools was totally normal for him. Everybody followed it,” she said.

Better Horses, But. . .
Anyone who ever met Reiner Klimke could quickly see that his compassion for horses was genuine. It’s the same with his children. And, like her father, his daughter expresses concern for many of today’s equine competitors.

The current debate regarding the rollkur, or overbending, is one that Reiner Klimke would surely be involved in were he alive. And his daughter knows where he’d stand on the issue.

“When I was growing up, I followed my father all around to horse shows and saw many riders. And if you look at pictures of these older riders, many people today would say they are in front of the bit because their noses were definitely, absolutely in front of the vertical. My mother collects lots of pictures, and we’ve looked through them all and cannot find one horse in the past that was behind the vertical. Just 20, 10 years ago, it was not like this with the noses behind the vertical,” she said.

“Breeding has improved horses so much in their conformation and character. So there has been much improvement in the horses, but the riding hasn’t improved as much. Riders now have horses often behind the vertical, which means that the hind end is not really going. Everything should be uphill and expressive.”

She said that her father had an explanation for the change.

“What bothered him most was that so much had to do with money and quick success. People no longer seemed to be working out of a love for the horses. At the time that he grew up after [World War II] there wasn’t so much money, and the horses they had to work with were totally different. Now you see all these wonderful horses, but everyone tries to do it quicker and easier because of the market.

“My father said that horses must be given time and a chance. He said so many horses don’t have a chance.”

Not A New Concept
Like her father, Ingrid Klimke has achieved much in both eventing and dressage. She earned the individual bronze medal in eventing with Sleep Late at the 2005 European Championships, was a member of both the 2000 and 2004 German Olympic eventing teams, and has been the German national eventing champion. In dressage, she finished seventh in the 2002 FEI World Cup Final aboard Nector, and she has several young prospects showing much promise.

She insists that she’s determined not to stray from the principles her father taught her. She measures success by whether or not her horses are happy–a word now much in use in the dressage world. But for Ingrid, the idea that the horse should be happy in its work isn’t new. Her father lived by it.

“My father always said to us, ‘You must watch the character of the horse. You want him to fight for you.’ What he meant was that you want the cross-country horse to want to jump each jump and you want the dressage horse to really want to piaffe and passage. You don’t want them to feel that they’ve had enough of it all,” she said. “Otherwise, it no longer has anything to do with art or a partnership. It’s nothing but a quarrel to somehow survive.”

Horses, by nature, want to work with their riders. It is the riders who ruin the relationship, she said.

“They all try their best, and they are thankful if you just treat them right. And if they have a little bit of freedom and are given something to be proud of, then they will go for you forever,” Ingrid said.

It seems that she’s more proud that people who visit her barn in Muenster, Germany, see the joy in her horses than she is of her competitive successes. She notes that the riders of her father’s generation were skilled in all aspects of riding, and she’s dismayed over the modern trend toward specialization.

That’s why she remains true to her father’s program of variety. All horses are turned out each day. Dressage horses jump and hack, and jumpers do dressage. And, of course, they all do cavalletti work, which she, like her father, believes is vital for strengthening the hindquarters and back and improving balance.

“Horses get so bored only doing one thing forever. I don’t know how you can keep them interested in their work if you train every day piaffe, passage, pirouettes, and the whole program. You want them to be happy and proud to do the work. If they do it forever, they get bored and lose their brilliance,” she said.

Time is the one thing Reiner Klimke wasn’t granted in his too-short life. And, yet, Ingrid notes that time is really the greatest investment people can make in their horses.

“The more time you give, especially in the beginning, the better in the long run. It takes years to train all the Grand Prix movements, and then more time to put the movements together, and then more time for the horse to be experienced and comfortable with them. By then, the horse is 9, 10, 11 years old, and then finally, you can enjoy the fruits of all the years you’ve put in.

“But if you don’t give them time, then the damage will be done, then the horse will become weak too early, and then you must start all over again only because you couldn’t wait.”

Keep It Natural
Reiner Klimke instilled in his daughter the belief that she must care for both the mental and physical health of her horses, and for Ingrid Klimke that means the most natural lifestyle possible.

“People need to get out of the ring and get on different ground, because if you only go on the best possible ground in the arena, then horses don’t develop all of their reflexes. When they canter in the fields and do turns, it is like a pirouette. If they can do this, then when you want a pirouette in the ring, it will be more natural because they have built up the muscles and reflexes needed,” she said.

She recognizes that many people fear allowing their valuable horses the freedom to play. But, she said, that proves her father’s argument that money has intruded on the happiness of horses.

“I am persuaded that the more natural you keep horses the better for their health,” she said. “When horses are kept only inside, it affects their entire system. I think this is why dressage horses often lack condition, and when they have three days or so of showing, they start to lose their strength at the end.”

Grand Prix With Every Horse
Many of today’s riders have great success with one horse, but no more, Ingrid Klimke observed. Their “modern” training methods work for only one type of horse. On the other hand, her father and others of his generation had repeated success with all types of horses using their classical approach.

“They were brilliant riders who could make the average horse look good. I’ve seen some pictures of my father riding and doing wonderful things with normal, every day carriage-type horses,” Ingrid said.

“We’d ask him, ‘How did you do that?’ And he’d say, ‘We had to be able to educate anything to do that.’ He won classes with horses that if you saw their conformation you would think he could never have done that. But those of his generation could make every horse educated.”

As a result of today’s more structured breeding programs, dressage riders now have access to horses that, as Ingrid said, “You want to paint because every line is so beautiful.”

With these advantages of breeding, it’s no surprise that many of today’s riders can show at Grand Prix. But the real question, she asks, is could they do it again and again with an average horse?