Christoph Hess is a modern day master. He studied to be a teacher at university and was a rider of competitions and at auction yards before becoming an international judge for 30 years in dressage and eventing, judging everything from young horse to Grand Prix.

He worked at the German Equestrian Federation for almost 40 years being the head of training for 30 of those years and headed the Federal Performance Centre at Warendorf for over 20 years. He is currently the training ambassador for the German Equestrian Federation and coaches many eventers in dressage on their journey to the Olympics.

In 2019 he was awarded the gold German Equestrian Cross for his services to the sport. He won the “Silver Horse” at CHIO Aachen this year for his social media content. Christoph is so passionate and generous with his knowledge, and one of the most inclusive and positive people I’ve ever met. He will help anyone who has an interest.

In this interview, we discuss his foray into social media and how it can be used in a positive way. We talk about his philosophy of riding, how riding is different from all other sports and our responsibility as riders. We look at the scale of training, the ability to teach technique and feeling, his view of the sport at the Paris Olympics, the state of the sport at the moment and how we move forward with positivity, using old knowledge in a modern way and what should 95% of your money be spent on.

And what was the key to France’s Olympic silver in Versailles?