Four Legs Move My Soul. Isabell Werth

But it seemed as if all his life, all of that was just a means to an end, so that he could follow his passion for horses. The “blind passion,” as he called it. He acquired his outstanding skills in training and schooling horses himself, simply by being a meticulous observer and by dealing with the best teachers of his time. Fritz Tempelmann, for example, and Major General Albert Stecken. Dr. Schulten-Baumer never completed a classical professional rider apprenticeship of his own. He was a highly specialized autodidact, who never stopped to continue his education.

       He regularly met with Major Stecken over dinner to philosophize about the schooling of horses. It bothers me when things that such experts continuously developed over time and through intensive discussion and passionate exchange are judged so carelessly today.

      It is said that The Doctor was an excellent jumper rider and even dared tackle the then still extremely massive Parcours des Concours Hippique International Officiel, short CHIO, in Aachen, with his erratic mare Senta. He was also inspired by Olympic show-jumping winner Alwin Schockemöhle. Those who saw him ride speak respectfully of his time in the jumping saddle. Later he focused on dressage, and of course, very soon, he no longer had time to make a name for himself on the back of a horse. He let others ride for him: first his children (especially his son Uwe and his daughter Alexa); then Isabell.

       When Dr. Schulten-Baumer came home from a business trip to Switzerland or Brazil, the entire household and barn staff remained in a tense silence. Everyone listened for the next sound as he went to the mailbox, took his letters, and closed it again. If he slammed it shut, everyone in the house and in the arena cringed. Uh-oh. In a bad mood. Sometimes, three horses would still be ridden until late in the evening—his chance to relax and recharge his batteries. His lifeline.

       The horses were always on his mind, twenty-four hours a day. He never stopped thinking about them, about their general character traits and particularities and needs. And about which methods might make them successful? That, too. All his life he didn’t seek out a horse’s weakness but his potential. To focus on that…that was the source of his happiness. That, and to discover talented horses.

       The Doctor loved shopping at horse auctions. There was hardly an auction in Verden, the heart of Hanoverian breeding, that he did not visit. Very often, we didn’t even try the horses that he was interested in. If we did try them, we always rode several horses to throw others off our track, since he was always worried that otherwise the bidding for a horse would go too high. He always went to the auction before the presentation of the sale horses, sat down (sometimes we sat there together), and observed every single prospect. How intently he looked at them! How meticulously he applied his standards! I listened and learned. A day like that was like a study trip for me. Back then, the breeding association auctions still offered the top horses for their respective age groups. Today, the best prices are already fetched beforehand.