Biography

German rider Andreas Ostholt (38) last came to Badminton in 2011. He was an individual member of the German squad at the 2014 WEG finishing 9^th with Badminton entry So Is Et and the combination is the reigning German Champion (runners up Ingrid Klimke and Horseware Hale Bob).

Andreas grew up around horses on his father’s farm. After competing in modern pentathlon at school, at the age of 14 he switched to horses. He is an ‘athlete solider’ and Head of the Riding Unit of the Sport Development Group at the German Military Sports School in Warendorf. He is a well-known competitor of German National Championships and German Professional Riders Championships in which he has been regularly well placed and came to international prominence in 2002 with Lady Lemon with who he first rode at Badminton in 2008. In 2011 he first won the German championships (Franco Jeus) and that year was a member of the team at the European championships and was long-listed for London 2012. He has trained pupils up to European Championship level.

Andreas’s philosophy is that ‘the basic formula for success is optimisation and good training’. He trains with Chris Bartle, Hans Melzer, Jurgen Koschel and Gunther Winkler. He is married to Sabrina and the couple has a two-year-old boy, Ludwig.

His older brother Frank represented Germany at the 2010 WEG and is married to Swedish team rider Sarah Algotsson.

So Is Et is a 13-year-old Westphalian gelding. He is by the thoroughbred Sunlight (the sire of Butts Lennox) out of a mare by the Westphalian state stud stallion Rotarier (by Ramiro). He was acquired from his breeder as a four-year-old and has been produced by Andreas.