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Bucher Porträts
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Riding School Klopsteg
The Buch riding school continues to expand
The riding school has 60 hectares of arable land where the feed for the horses grows. Agriculture has been a tradition for a long time at Am Stener Berg. For decades there has been dairy farming here. This is where dozens of cows were kept, which were used in the last century to supply the Buch clinics with particularly clean milk.
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In the nineties the diary farming came to an end. Then the land became used as a riding school again. Five years ago Ute Klopsteg moved to Buch. Since then, supported by her husband Dieter, she has been luckier than her predecessors. The riding school is booming and expanding and is attracting more visitors and members each year.
Growing up with horses
„I have been crazy about horses since my childhood“, recalls Ute Klopsteg. „I lived beside an LPG (East German Agriculture Production Cooperative), which had a riding school. This is where I learned to ride and later also took part in tournaments.“ Then Ute Klopsteg went on to train as a salesperson and qualified as a sales manager.
 Her love of horses remained with her. So, after 1990, she completed a number of courses and trained as a riding instructor. In 1994 she decided to start her own riding school. „That was with four horses in Mehrow“, Ute Klopsteg recalls.
She offered riding instruction to children and coach trips. It was not long before she took on her first horse that had been placed in retirement. Her professional attitude became well known with the consequence that the riding school in Mehrow became too small. „We went looking for a new place and finally found it in Buch at Am Stener Berg“, says Ute Klopsteg.
Today, at the Klopsteg riding school, she has 60 of her own horses as well as so-called retired horses which belong to Berlin horsemen and women without their own stable facilities. There are lots of different types of horses rannging from Haflingers to Shetland ponies as well as Arabs, Norwegians, Brandenburg warmbloods and Prussian stallions.
Jumping area rebuilt
It was not just the accommodation that had to be continuously expanded by the team at the Klopsteg riding school in recent years : the riding hall has been enlarged so that there is more space available for dressage.
With the onset of autumn and winter the riding activities are mainly carried out in this hall. However, as soon as the weather permits, the riders train in the open air. This is why a recently built jumping area as well as a riding circuit is available. These facilities are used by private riders, who stable their horses with Ute Klopsteg, as well as members of the Mehrow riding and jumping association, which has Dieter Klopsteg as its vice-president.
„Our association has been in existence for three years. We want to provide facilities for people who are interested in equestrian sports. We provide facilities for riding students to take their tests, and our riders take part in contests in Berlin and Brandenburg, and we also provide riding excursions“, says Dieter Klopsteg.
The daughter lends a hand
The Klopstegs have now also been able to increase what they offer with the help of their daughter Stephanie. „She has grown up with horses and has also completed her training in equestrian care. She will now also help me with the riding instruction“, says Ute Klopsteg. With Judith Dochow, the Klopstegs have also a new member of staff who is studying animal care and is already giving them a hand with the riding school.
The Klopsteg riding school traditionally opens its doors to the citizens of Buch in the autumn with an annual harvest celebration. This allows everyone to enjoy riding demonstrations and see the horses in action. At the end of the year, Ute Klopsteg is planning to establish her own small equestrian tournament at her riding school.
More detailed information about the Klopsteg riding school can be found on the homepage.
www.reiterhof-klopsteg.de
Photo 1: Ute Klopsteg in the hall of the riding school. She is leading out Prinz K., the horse her daughter will ride when she takes part in the jumping tournament.
Photo 2: They make sure that everything runs smoothly at the riding school: Ute and Dieter Klopsteg.
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At this site you will find portraits of Buch's citizens and institutions that we think you will be interested in. New ones will be dispalyed each month.
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