– Pastor von Dietze, Nieder-Moos
Well – apparently I was, or I was just extremely fortunate. Everyone in the family rode! My brother Erco on the left, my mother riding side saddle, my father, and myself on the right.
My father had been a former Cavalry-Officer, he rode under Felix Bürkner and Alois Podhaisky as teachers and was injured in Stalingrad. He was then in a wheelchair and out of a joke his friends put him back on a horse. It proved to become the turning point in his rehabilitation and he regained the function of his leg. Until he died at the age of 91 there was hardly a day he was not in the saddle! I remember him always in his full leather riding trousers aound long-boots (that had some built in support for his weaker leg). He was involved in circles against Hitler and these stories would fill a different book. Long story short – through all the hardship he witnessed and lived through in the war and in Germany he decided to study Theology, became a Lutheran Pastor and took on a parish in a very rural area in Germany – the Vogelsberg. Nine villages and four churches belonged to the parish, and he did not have a car, just a horse and a cart to start.
Everyone in our family, including my cousins Isabelle and Felicitas v. Neumann-Cosel, learned to ride on her.
She not only served as our transportation but also worked pulling all agricultural machines when needed. She even competed in one of the first international competitions after the war.
Thekla was the best riding instructor I could have had, and she made me a lifelong addict.
My father, a remarkably creative individual, invited his friends from the old cavalry unit, the "Springende Reiter," to our village, sharing his deep conviction that "only when they will be back on the horse the dreams will fade"—an early, intuitive understanding of what is now known as therapeutic riding for conditions like PTSD.
Pastor von Dietze, Nieder-Moos, was a regular organizer of hunting events.
To achieve this, he collaborated with a saddler to custom-design special saddles, reins, and equipment to compensate for various disabilities, and many international Para-Riders used the gear he created. The legacy of his unit remains strong, as they hold an annual memorial in our village, where a special memorial place still exists at the graveyard marked by the plate of the Cavalry unit.
My Mother was an amazing independent and modern woman of her time. She studied sport and gymnastics and became a physiotherapist. During the last semesters of my dads studies she earned the money for both of them. But at that time in Germany the wife of the Pastor/Priest was not allowed to hold her own profession. Her profession was: The priests wife! Mum must have loved Dad very much to give up so much! But then in the villages she found hidden away children with cerebral palsy, down-syndrome… all those disabled children that got taken away under the Hitler regime – and the farmers kept them hidden because they loved them. My mother found them, treated them and started putting them on horseback. She always did it for free – this was her way of true Christian charity.
She herself was a very good rider and she always rode in the classic side-saddle, including hunting and jumping! She took life in her own fearless stride and touched so many peoples lives and gave them a new direction.
Besides her riding skills she was a master on the lunge line and even years after I left home, whenever I came home I was due for a seat-correction lesson on the lunge line at 9am in the morning in our small lunging indoor arena.
When in Germany the Kuratorium for Therapeutic Riding was founded my father became the first president.
After a year he handed this honor over to a pediatric professor with the words, if this is to become serious, we cannot have a priest as a president!
The mounted priest in Vogelsberg, Gottfried von Dietze, turned 65.
I grew up in amidst all this. I was the “Nestäkchen” the youngest child in the nest, and seven years younger than my brother. My cousins state that it is a miracle in itself that I grew up to become a nice person the way I got spoilt rotten.
I had a mare as a babysitter and one of my first memories is a dirty yellow pillow that was strapped under the pommel strap, as without diapers it was too hard in front of the saddle! Sitting in front of dad was “my place” and I told everyone that I am riding – he is only sitting in the rear. I rode before I could walk, was never in a Kindergarten or Preschool, but lived in the stable. Our stable grew, Dad loved the Trakehner Horses and started breeding – and his biggest pride was that one foal became a stallion in the state stud at Dillenburg.
Beyond his work in horse breeding, my father founded a local riding club and focused much of his parish youth work within the arena. As our reputation grew, we began receiving more horses for specialized therapeutic training. Our home became a hub for education, hosting regular courses for visitors eager to learn about the intersection of horsemanship and therapy.
During these courses, my mother would often keep me home from school to serve as a demonstration rider on the lunge line. While she instructed students on the nuances of a correct seat, I would physically manifest the lessons—demonstrating both the ideal position and various "incorrect" postures. This early immersion developed my unique ability to imitate and analyze any postural mistake to find its solution. Today, I am proud to pass on that legacy through my focus on the "perfect position."
Choosing to pursue physiotherapy and equestrian training simultaneously was a natural evolution for me; I often say this dual path was 'bred into me.' I feel incredibly fortunate to love what I do, though in many ways, it felt less like a choice and more like a calling I was always meant to follow.
Immediately after school, I dedicated a year to traveling in Australia and New Zealand, visiting family and exploring. This trip was deliberately intertwined with my professional aspirations, as I sought out therapeutic riding centers, then known as the RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association). I treasured a sweatshirt with their motto: Riding Develops Abilities. This global exposure to therapeutic riding, across various centers and fields (now coordinated internationally by HETI, though I still feel an affinity for the old RDA name), was an amazing experience and provided the best possible foundation for my academic studies.
I studied Physiotherapy at the University of Göttingen. Parallel to my academic course, I pursued and passed the demanding Riding Trainer A exam, the highest level qualification in Germany.
Upon graduating, I moved to Heidelberg. While waiting six months for an opening at the University's Rehabilitation Center, I began working at a lung hospital. To maintain my connection to riding, I also worked as a professional rider, first in a dressage stable and later in a show-jumping stable. I quickly realized that despite having above-average talent, the professional riding world is extremely tough, requiring significant financial backing and luck—demands I was not prepared to meet. I sought the freedom to train horses based on what I felt was right, independent of sponsors or high-stakes show results.
The opportunity to combine my two passions arrived in Mannheim. I accepted a position to work with my cousin, Isabelle v. Neumann-Cosel, at the Mannheim Riding Club. This role involved training a group of children and creating educational videos for the German Federation on playful, effective methods for teaching children to ride.
This transition solidified my dual career: I moved to Mannheim and split my time, working half-time at the riding club and half-time in a nearby private physiotherapy clinic. For over ten years, I worked under the mentorship of Joanna Mourta-Rupp, an amazing physiotherapy teacher, specializing in spinal injuries and back pain.
It was during this balanced period that I felt compelled to write "Balance in Movement." My life was perfectly split between riding and physiotherapy, and the time felt right to formalize that link into a book. I believed then, as a young professional, that I had all the answers for the world—a confidence I admit I would not possess even a year later!
My first international lecture was at an international conference for Therapeutic Riding in New Zealand. This Conference opened many new doors.
My background in therapeutic riding gave me a unique advantage: I could see a rider's abilities and not just their disabilities. This led to an invitation to train the Israeli Paralympic team before the 1996 Atlanta games, where I met my husband.
The book was a big turning point in my life. It felt like a child that learned to walk and now does its own things. Invitations to lecture at the Germany Riding School, Seminars and clinics followed. It took a while until the English Translation was published, but then many other languages followed. It took me more and more into the Sport and I realized that my experience from working with disabled riders was a huge advantage as I could see riders abilities and did not focus on their disabilities. You can only ride with- not against your body.
I found a small but dedicated equestrian community in Israel. I was able to ride with international trainers I might never have met in Germany. I went on to compete in international FEI shows and was a member of the Israeli team that twice won the FEI Challenge at the advanced level.
It soon became clear that riders with back pain were a global community, and it would be easier for me to move to Israel than for him to move to Germany. This was not an easy decision, but it proved to be the best one of my life.
We live in a kibbutz between Tel Aviv and Haifa, where we raised our three sons. The kibbutz provided the ideal environment for a working mother, with a great deal of freedom, nature, and community activities for my boys. This allowed me to continue my international travel for teaching while ensuring my sons had a wonderful childhood.
In Israel, I also established a small private physiotherapy clinic. Here, I treat patients and teach the Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis Methods. During the pandemic, I began teaching online lectures and movement classes that have since evolved into my "Equi-Chair" program.
Today, I continue to balance my life between my family in Israel and Germany, my horses, my physiotherapy clinic and international travels I feel incredibly lucky and fortunate to work in two professions I love, so I can always say: "I am in my hobby!" When I teach riding, my profession is physiotherapy, and when I am treating patients, I tell them I earn my living with horses. This is how I became a "Hobby-Professional."