Text © World of Showjumping 

Course designer Frank Rothenberger might not have any shows in his calendar for the next months, but that does not mean he is not busy. “Together with my daughter Isabelle I design and produce fences, and we have a lot to do at the moment. We have several private customers in need of new fence material so we have our hands full even without a busy show calendar,” Rothenberger explains.

However, it is not easy for Rothenberger to get used to life at home. “I began to ride when I was 13, and started building courses and fences two years later. So, for the last 45 years I have been away from home almost every weekend. I don’t even know how to be home for this long!” 

“The world has changed completely. Four weeks ago I was away sailing in the south of Portugal. Our flight back was cancelled so we had to rent a car and drive home through Portugal, Spain, France and Belgium. It was a strange feeling,” Rothenberger says. 

Rothenberger is not optimistic that he will return to international course building anytime soon. "I don’t believe we will see many big shows happening this summer. I think – at least in Germany – they will start with some smaller shows with a limited number of riders and audience, then slowly it will move on from there. I do hope I’m wrong though.”

“I also think a lot will have changed in the industry until the shows are back up running. The whole horse business will run into problems. For the medium-sized stables and smaller stables I think it looks very dark. I have the feeling that the bigger stables have more financial back-up, so they might get through this better,” Rothenberger says. 

“I really hope that everything will get a bit easier soon. Even though the coronavirus won’t disappear, it will all look a bit different when we finally have a vaccine,” Rothenberger continues. 

To give the riders some inspiration, Frank and his daughter Isabel are now offering a special service. “If any riders would like to have a course plan from us, they just have to get in contact with us through www.isi-trade.com or via mail to frank@frank-rothenberger.de. We need to know the measurements of the arena and also if there are any trees or anything similar such as liverpools, water jumps, banks etc. taking up space inside the arena. Then we would like to know what level you want the course to be designed at – for young horses, small, medium, big tour or if you prefer gymnastic exercises,” Rothenberger closes off. 


No reproduction without permission, copyright © World of Showjumping