Isabell Werth: A portrait of the dressage queen

Isabell Werth is the dressage queen - not just in Germany, but worldwide. No other dressage rider has taken home as many medals and titles as she has. Isabell Werth is a seven-time Olympic champion, nine-time world champion, has won the European Championship title twenty-one times and the German Championship title fourteen times. But the path of the most successful dressage rider Isabell Werth was originally supposed to go in a completely different direction.

News: Watch Isabell Werth's thrilling victory ride at the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023-2024 in Stuttgart. Isabell Werth takes the win in Stuttgart with a score of 76.109 percent .

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Career - from lawyer to dressage queen

Born on July 21, 1969 in Sevelen (Rhineland), Isabell Werth grew up on her parents' farm in Rheinberg. As a five-year-old, little Isabell was already on horseback and gained her first competition experience with her pony Funny. Her passion at the time was show jumping and eventing. Her focus was on horses from an early age, although not necessarily in the discipline in which she is so successful today.

At the age of 17, in 1986, she met dressage expert Dr. Schulten-Baumer Sr. laid the foundation for Isabell Werth's dressage career. The riding master, who was the father of Isabell's girlfriend, took her under his wing and let her ride and train his horses. A close working relationship developed between them. Isabell Werth celebrated her first major successes in the dressage arena with Schulten-Baumer's horse Gigolo and has been unstoppable ever since. Gigolo and Isabell were to become the most successful horse and rider pairing in the history of dressage until he was sent into well-deserved retirement after the 2000 Olympic Games.

Isabell Werth showed less discipline and stamina at school. After all, she passed her Abitur in 1989 with a final grade of 3.1. She then went on to study law "on the side", which she successfully completed in 2000 with her second state examination. However, Isabell Werth only worked as a lawyer for one year.

After 14 years, she decided it was time to stand on her own two feet and parted ways with her long-time mentor Dr. Schulten-Baumer. She moved from the law firm to the marketing department of Karstadt - her new sponsor. But she didn't last long here either: she stayed with her friend and current patron Madeleine Winter-Schulze in Mellendorf for two years before setting up her own training and show stable in her home town of Rheinberg in 2004. From then on, Isabell Werth devoted herself to horses full-time.

Isabell Werth and her partner Wolfang Urban have had a son since 2009.

Isabell Werth's greatest successes

Isabell Werth's riding and dedication to equestrian sport is characterized by strength and fighting spirit. She encourages horses with the most diverse characters and constitutions and turns them into athletes. And that pays off: The list of successes is so long that we will only focus on the greatest successes she has achieved with her horses below:

• 1992: Olympic team gold and individual silver in Barcelona with Gigolo
• 1996: Olympic team gold and individual gold in Atlanta with Gigolo
• 2000: Olympic team gold and individual silver in Sydney with Gigolo
• 2006: World Championship team gold, individual gold (Grand Prix Special), individual bronze (Grand Prix Freestyle) in Aachen with Satchmo
• 2008: Olympic team gold and individual silver in Beijing with Satchmo
• 2009: German Champion in Balve with Warum Nicht FRH
• 2010: World Championship team bronze in Kentucky with Warum Nicht FRH
• 2011 European Championship team silver in Rotterdam with El Santo NRW
• 2013: European Championship team gold in Herning with Don Johnson
• 2014: World Championship team gold in Caen with Bella Rose
• 2015: European Championship team bronze with Don Johnson
• 2016: Olympic team gold and individual silver in Rio de Janeiro with Weihegold OLD
• 2016: Stuttgart German Master with Emilio
• 2017: World Championship team gold and individual gold in Gothenburg with Weihegold
• 2018: World Championship team gold and individual gold in Tryon with Bella Rose
• 2020: Olympic team gold and individual silver in Tokyo with Bella Rose
• 2022: World Cup bronze final in Leipzig with
• 2024: Olympic team gold in Paris with Wendy

You can also find out all about Isabell Werth in our media library. You can find 4 episodes about the dressage queen Isabell Wert here:

Isabell Werth and her horses

Since working with and being sponsored by Dr. Schulten-Baumer, Isabell Werth has had a large number of horses under the saddle. With all of them, she has demonstrated her talent for being able to empathize with a wide variety of horses and to encourage and shape them according to their abilities. According to her own statements, her greatest passion is to find young talents and train them. Here, too, the list is very long, so we will concentrate on her most famous horses.

Gigolo FRH (1983 - 2009)

Isabell Werth's sporting career began with the Graditz son. She and Gigolo spent twenty years side by side, ten of them on the show ring. With four Olympic gold medals, two Olympic silver medals, four world championship titles, eight European championship titles and four German championship titles, Gigolo is considered the most successful sport horse in modern show jumping history. After the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the chestnut gelding was sent into his well-deserved retirement.

Satchmo 78 (1994-2022)

After Gigolo was retired in 2000, it was quiet around Isabell Werth for a while. In 2003, she made a comeback at the European Championships in Hickstead with the Hanoverian gelding Satchmo. But the start with this sensitive little horse was anything but smooth. Instead, the trust and favor of the gelding had to be earned first. He also had his own ideas about piaffe and the like in the tests. But as difficult as Satchmo seemed to be, Isabell didn't give up on him. When Satchmo's disobedient behavior in the 2005 competition meant his elimination from the European Championships, Isabell had her suspicions. She had the vet look at Satchmo's eyes. There the vet found the reason for the gelding's unpredictable behavior: floating particles in the fluid inside his eyes. Four months later, the pair set a world record in the Grand Prix in Stuttgart with a score of 79.958 %.

According to Isabell Werth herself, Satchmo taught her humility: on good days, the Hanoverian was very willing to perform at the highest level, but on his bad days he completely refused to do his job. Thanks to him, the dressage rider learned to keep at it and to consider and tackle all possibilities.

Why not FRH (1996 - 2015)

This Weltmeyer son, called Hannes, did not make it easy for Isabell Werth to turn him into a dressage horse due to his physique. Nevertheless, she managed to turn the giant into a real athlete. After all, they were also successful together in the dressage arenas of this world.

A hip fracture ended Hannes' sporting career. Since then, he enjoyed his retirement at Isabell Werth's facility before he was euthanized during colic surgery in 2015.

Bella Rose 2 (*2004)

Isabell Werth describes Bella Rose as her absolute favorite horse. This Westphalian mare combines everything that Gigolo, Satchmo and Weihegold brought with them. Bella Rose came to Isabell Werth's yard at the age of three and competed in her first advanced (S) level dressage tests at the age of seven. And at just nine years of age, the chestnut mare won her first Grand Prix test with a score of over 75%. Bella Rose showed that she loves big performances and comebacks at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon: after a long break for health reasons, Bella Rose and Isabell Werth rode to the top of the Grand Prix and won team and individual gold. The mare was finally retired in 2022, where she gave birth to her first foal, a colt, in 2023.

‍WeihegoldOLD (*2005)

Weihegold's talent does not lie in her strong trot. But that is precisely what makes the Oldenburg black mare an outstanding dressage instructor in Isabell Werth's opinion. Weihegold shows what dressage is really all about: rideability, rhythm and balance. And here, too, Isabell Werth managed to get the best out of the horse and win Olympic gold and individual silver with her. Weihegold retired after the 2022 World Cup.

‍ElSanto NRW (*2001)

El Santo, called Ernie, still gives Isabell Werth and her team at the stables great pleasure today. He is a very uncomplicated horse who always shows his best side. In his early career, his competition appearances were limited to two or three shows a year. And yet he showed that he was able to improve his performance from time to time up to the top of the world: Stuttgart German Master 2010 and 2011, European Championship team silver in Rotterdam 2011 and World Cup finalists in 2012, 2014 and 2015. El Santo was awarded the NRW honorary title after winning a medium dressage horse test at just six years old with scores of nine.

Today, Isabell Werth has many promising young horses in her stable, including Valdiviani, Quantaz and Emilio.

Controversies and challenges

Where there is success, there are also numerous critical voices. Isabell Werth has had to deal with these over the years. At the same time, she does not shy away from speaking out on animal welfare issues in top-class sport. For example, she criticized the pentathlon, in which riders have to go through a jumping course with other people's horses. She expressed an equally negative attitude towards obstacle races, where many dramatic falls occur.

From time to time, her opinion is also directed against the FN. For example, when Werth questioned the FN's dealings with the animal welfare organizationPeTAwhen they denounced Werth for using the curb, whip and spurs. The dressage rider justified the use of the aids by saying that performance is demanded of horses in sport and that the curb, whip and spurs are part of reacting and acting.

She also backed Ludger Beerbaum when he was attacked in 2022 for allegedly barring without permission. For Isabell Werth, tactile stimuli such as touching are part of horse training. She saw no fault in the way in which Beerbaum touched the horse during jumping.

She herself is not immune to criticism. In 2009, the dressage queen came into the spotlight not because of her top performance, but because of doping. At the Whitsun tournament in Wiesbaden, her horse Whisper was found to be taking the psychotropic drug Modecate with the active ingredient fluphenazine, which was supposed to help him with his shivering symptoms. As a result, Isabell Werth was banned by the FEI for 6 months. She decided not to open the B sample and defended herself against statements that the shivering disorder would call his fitness to ride into question.

She made the headlines again in 2012: El Santo was found to be taking a banned medication. Cimetidine, which is supposed to help horses with stomach problems, was detected in his blood. It was not El Santo who was treated, but Warum Nicht FRH, who was standing next to him in the box. Isabell Werth was found guilty at first instance. However, the proceedings were dropped in the second instance, as this was a breach of duty of care. El Santo came into contact with the medication via the bars of the box. Isabell Werth ultimately had to pay a fine of €2,000.

The most successful dressage rider probably made the biggest headline at the Grand Prix Special in Aachen 2022, when she and Quantaz were taken off because the stallion had blood on his mouth. The Danish head judge Susanne Baarup carried out the test with the white cloth, on which pink foam could be seen. As a result, Isabell Werth was disqualified and the Germans were beaten by the Netherlands in the Nations Cup.

Despite the headwinds that the dressage queen had to withstand over her decades-long career, Isabell Werth remains an inspiration for many riders. The discipline, diligence and stamina she has shown in the saddle have made her the most successful dressage rider in the world. This makes her a role model for aspiring dressage riders and riders of all riding styles. In 2008, she was finally awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf for her equestrian achievements. The then 48-year-old also came third in the 2017 Sportswoman of the Year awards.

Werth is happy to pass on her knowledge of dressage techniques and her empathy for horses to other riders. One of her best-known pupils is probably Lisa Müller, wife of soccer world champion Thomas Müller. But Isabell Werth also regularly gives lessons to selected riders at various events. You can find out how you can learn lessons in the following video: