FOCUS, THE CHARACTER

Interview with Dirk Hauser, Head Hunting for Mr.Schockemohle

“SCHOCKEMOHLE CALLS ITALIA: COME AND WORK IN OUR STABLES IN GERMANY”

Website: www.gestuet-lewitz.de

Dirk Hauser Mail: hauser@schockemoehle.com

By Giulia Iannone

Thank you to Aurelie Jeulin for the English Traslation.

Mr.Hauser, talk about yourself as you like. Can you focus on  the competitive equestrian aspect and your technical training?What do horses represent to you and your life?

“I have always been with horses. I started when I was still a child and I have always been part of the horse world. At 17 y.o, I was a top-class rider in all categories included and I was in the German national team for many years. I rode a lot of nations-cup for Germany all over the world. One of my biggest success was 4^th place in the Grand prix of Aachen. I always loved to work with horses and see them growing and evolving in the international circuit.”

How many years have you been working for Paul Schockemohle? What do you do in his stable?

“I have been working in Paul Schockemoehle’s stable for 9 years now. I started first as a trainer and later as Manager for the riding areas in the Lewitz Stud.Today, I am mainly head-hunting for the best talented riders and grooms worldwide for MrSchockemoehle in order to give them the chance to join our big Schockemoehle family.”

I think I understand that there is a project for further expansion. What do you want to let people know outside of Germany and mainly in Italy?

“Since MrSchockemoehle bought in the 90’s the Lewitz stud for sport horses, he always wanted to bring the horses to the top level and in the best way possible. By building new stables for the horses and new houses near our working place for our riders and grooms, he made the stable more modern and more adapted. Today, we are still growing, and we always try to bring the best for our people and horses. Since years, we have been working really successfully with Italian riders and horse owners, and we want to continue and increase in the future this close relationship.”

Tell us, briefly, what are the activities of Schockemohle stable and what are the other coaches or trainers who collaborate with him?

“Here in the Lewitz stud, we take time to work our young horses slowly and carefully. We try to avoid an excess of lunging and we try to prepare them step by step as future sport horses. Our trainers are all well-known professionals who collected over the years a lot of experience with teaching young horses and riders. All of them take care that the riders are well seated and balanced on the horses and that the training follows and respect the growing and the age of the horses. We try to listen as much as possible to what the horses tell us, and we make sure to check if the training is adapted to each of them.”

How many horses do you have in the stable?

The Lewitz Studhave 5000 thousands horses and foals on different yards and in our fields.

How many young riders do you have? What nationality?What technical level can you observe?  Do you tend to correct everyone towards a German Style?

At the moment, we have around 55 riders and 55 grooms from the whole Europe and all over the world trained by our 6 main trainers and 5 assistant trainers. We are riding 550 horses perday on all our yards and we would like to grow up to 650 per day. For us, the basic of all riders from all nationalities should be a correct and well balanced seat with soft hands. We realized in the last years for example that the Italian way of riding was really fitting to young horses, and this is why we do not try to bring all the riders in one way of riding, but we focus on using the best skills from each of them.

What do you think about Italian horse riding?

The Italian riding sport looks back on a long history. Riders like Raimondo D’inzeo have marked the history by his results, ideas and way of riding. We find today a lot of Italian riders on international horse shows that inspired young riders all over the world.

What interesting exchange can take place in technical terms and about equestrian passion and enthusiasm?

Even if the Italian and German riding sport have a lot in common, both sides can always bring interesting exchange to each other. The international riding sport is always growing and evolving in terms of horses, therefore the target for breeding has to follow the modern tendency. Together with our partners from Italy and worldwide, we try to find the first and new ideas in riding and breeding to fit to these tendencies

You have in the stable symbol horses, like Chacco Blue and Totilas. What personalities do they have and what do they represent for you?

A lot of international champion horses were born in the Lewitz and a lot of them got their first experience here and were trained with us.Horses like Chacco Blue who died really early put his stamp to his foals and we are really proud to see in his sons that he was a great competitor. Of course, champions like Chacco Blue, Totilas or others are a great pride but we consider all our horses equal and we care for all of them in the same way.

Why come to Germany to work for you?

If you love horses and if you would like to meet people from all over the world, the Lewitz stud should be the place for you. You have the possibility to learn everything about young horses, and grow with them. This place could open you the doors of your future career in the horse world. You can start to create your own network from the first day on, and you can work with well-known trainers and experts together.