The Deutsche Bank equestrian academy Anna-Christina Abbelen, one of the most successful young dressage riders in Germany, and her friend, the show jumper Christoffer Lindenberg, will soon be offering riding and lessons on the Rodderberg in Bonn.
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From June 1st at the latest, and possibly also from mid-May, Anna-Christina Abbelen and Christoffer Lindenberg have leased a stable lane on Karl Schneider’s estate on Rodderberg in Bonn. They will bring their own horses, but also offer horse riding and lessons for customers.
Born in Denmark, Christoffer Lindenberg has been in Germany for twelve years and has managed the Warstein riding facility for ten years. Before that he worked as a trainer at Paul Schockemöhle. Anna-Christina Abbelen had initially moved with her horses from her longtime trainer Heiner Schiergen to Munich in Krefeld to study there, but most recently also had her horses in Warstein.
“We noticed that we don’t get in the way of the work of show jumping and dressage horses at all, on the contrary, that we complement each other well,” Anna Abbelen told St.GEORG. “That’s how the idea came about.” Her boyfriend wanted to have fewer horses in the future, but more focus on each one.
Anna-Christina Abbelen herself has just finished studying economics in Munich and now has to write her master’s thesis. And for that, too, the move suits her: “This summer I’m writing my master’s thesis at a company in Cologne.” What is known to be not far from Bonn. Afterwards she wants to spend a semester abroad in Maastricht. “It’s not that far from Bonn either.”
Professionally, Anna Abbelen wants to concentrate on the horses in the coming years: “Because of my allergy (Anna-Christina Abbelen is allergic to horse hair, note d. Red.) it was always not entirely clear whether this was possible. But at least for the U25 period and as long as I’m young, I just want to ride and make a living, ”said the 23-year-old. And then? “I always say that things come the way they want to come anyway.”
successes
In any case, with her studies Anna-Christina Abbelen now has every opportunity to orientate herself later. However, their equestrian references are also impressive. Already in the pony saddle, she won her first team gold medal at young European championships. This was followed by four gold medals in the junior class, two of them in the individual classification, and one silver. The young riders also won precious metal, where they belonged to the victorious European Championship team in all three seasons of this age group and also brought home two silver medals.
The lion’s share of this yield came from the now 15-year-old Rhineland gelding Fürst On Tour, who was later sold to Hong Kong and who, in 2018, also won Hong Kong Chinese Jacqueline Wing Ying Siu’s gold in the championship category when she won the individual ranking of the Asian Games.
Abbelen’s second successful horse from junior and young rider days was the Württemberg mare First Lady, which she rode at her last European Championship. She is now successfully under Eileen Henglein.
Anna Abbelen herself was able to quickly gain a foothold on the Grand Prix level in the U25 tour after the Young Rider days. For this, she had the 17-year-old Hanoverian Henny Hennessy at her side, who was trained by Manuela Gorski and then switched to Heinfeld Schiergen and the Abbelen family with her first S successes on her account in Krefeld. Anna had ridden him with her from time to time. Heiner Schiergen promoted him parallel to Grand Prix. Most recently, however, Anna Abbelen rode him alone at the tournament, was successful with him at the Piaff sponsorship award, presented him at the CDI4 * of the CHIO Aachen and was second in the Grand Prix Freestyle in Münster before Corona put an end to the tournament season. Anna belongs to the selection of the Deutsche Bank Equestrian Academy.
In the future, in addition to her own horses, she also wants to introduce training horses for customers and give lessons. And very close to their old home.