Jessica Krieg

It all started with her mother and her brother. "My mom has always had contact with horses and my brother used to go to horseback riding therapy," she explains. At first, the focus of the Grand Prix rider was on jumping. “I thought jumping was kinda cool. That's why I mostly jumped for a long time." But an accident on the course changed the previous plans. Jessica switched from jumping to dressage. "After I taught my then jumping pony all the dressage lessons, my jumping trainer then said that it was time to look around for a dressage pony." Little by little, the path to international pony sport with her two ponies Ghost and Danilo was smoothed out. “Both ponies were an absolute dream. Everyone in their own way,” Krieg enthuses. So an appointment to the federal squad and then also the nomination for the European Championship were not far away. Already in 2010, at the age of just 14, Jessica was able to bring home the gold medal from both the European Championships and the German Youth Championships. "It was actually a really funny year," says Krieg. “Both ponies have been on the same level all season. Before the Euro, Danilo was a little ahead. But Ghost then showed by winning the gold medal at the German Youth Championships that you have to reckon with him too!” smiles Jessica. An international career at a young age is not entirely stress-free. “Of course it is sometimes stressful and exhausting, but you know what you are doing it for. My teachers at school were also very understanding and supported me. But one thing has to be said very clearly: none of this would be possible without my parents,” reports the 25-year-old gratefully.

At the same time, "Special Edition", affectionately called "Spezi", entered Jessica's life. "Spezi really lives up to his name!" laughs the blonde. "One day he's cheering and giving you a great feeling, and the next day he's already turning around in the arena after the halt at X. But that's the way he is!" Together with the impressive bay, Krieg developed from the junior tour (M**) to the international Grand Prix. "Spezi's last name is Krieg and he will never leave us," explains the multiple European champion.

Looking at Jessica Krieg's horses, from the pony to the Grand Prix horse, one thing is striking: she trained many of her successful horses herself together with her trainers up to the Grand Prix level. "I really enjoy training young horses." Especially when it comes to training, Jessica pays attention to a lot of variety. Between lunging, riding out and daily work, each horse is treated individually. She adopted this philosophy from her role model, multi-champion Ingrid Klimke. “What I particularly like about Ingrid is her philosophy. She trains her horses in so many different ways,” reports Jessica of her role model.

After graduating from high school, the “half Dutch”, as she calls herself, first studied “International Business”. But the dream of professional riding was still there. The 25-year-old has now ventured into self-employment. Jessica currently has up to eight horses in daily training. In the afternoons she also teaches her students, who are successful both nationally and internationally.

In the future, Jessica would like to continue to establish herself in Grand Prix sport, train young horses and support her students.