Rollkur or Not? Nicole Uphoff & Rembrandt In The Grand Prix Dressage Warm-Up At Aachen

Rollkur or Not?

Last week we posted a video of Nicol Uphoff at the Olympics. During the commentary, the announcer described and explained her use of rollkur in the warm-up at a time when the world was unfamiliar with the technique. Many of our fans felt that this description was open to interpretation. In light of our warm-up Wednesday feature here at Dressage Hub, we decided to take a closer look at Nicole Uphoff and Rembrandt in the warm-up at Aachen.

Nicole Uphoff & Rembrandt In The Grand Prix Dressage Warm-Up At Aachen

Nicole Uphoff (born 25 January 1967) is a German equestrian who competes in the sport of dressage. She won four gold medals in individual and team competitions at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics. Riding her star horse, Rembrandt, Uphoff also won numerous other international competitions, including the World Equestrian Games and the European Dressage Championships.[1] In 1985, Uphoff, riding Rembrandt, began to compete at events for young riders, and in 1986, the pair began working with Uwe Schulten-Baumer, a well-known dressage coach. In 1987, they began to compete, and win, at the international level. They rose to the top of the dressage world with unheard-of speed, due to Rembrandt’s elegance and expression in the ring. Their rise to fame resulted in a 1988 Olympic nomination.

Uphoff switched trainers four months before the Games began, leaving Schulten-Baumer to work with Harry Boldt, the German national coach.[4] Rembrandt and Uphoff were Olympic Champions twice, in 1988 in Seoul and 1992 in Barcelona. Both times they took both individual gold and a gold medal with the German team.[5] The Barcelona games resulted in Rembrandt being titled a “living work of art” by one German sports commentator.

During the last two years of his career, Rembrandt began to decline slightly, and he missed the team nomination to the 1996 Summer Olympics. Uphoff used her right as defending champion to compete as an individual,[4] and they were again part of the German delegation in Atlanta, where they placed 14th.[5] This placement was despite being pulled from competition before the last round, due to an injury, at which point they was in 8th place. Uphoff and Rembrandt also took both individual and team gold at the first World Equestrian Games in 1990. In 1993, he was injured by a kick from another horse during a victory lap at the German Championships, but recovered from the blow to take individual silver at the 1994 World Equestrian Games.[4] The German team, including Uphoff, again took gold.[6]

Uphoff and Rembrandt also competed at many other international-level events. In 1989, Rembrandt made his European Dressage Championships debut at Mondorf, Luxembourg, where they took both individual and team gold. It was the first time that the gold-medal winning German team (which had also won the previous 12 team golds) had been made up of four female riders. In 1991, at the Championships in Donaueschingen, Germany, the pair took silver in the Grand Prix Special,[7] while again riding to gold as part of the German team.[8] The silver medal was the first defeat in three years for the pair, and was dealt by another Schulten-Baumer student, Isabell Werth on Gigolo FRH.[4] At the 1995 Championships, held in Mondorf, Luxembourg, Uphoff again assisted the German team to a gold medal, while taking 5th individually.[8] The pair also won seven times at the Stuttgart German Masters international show, the last in 1995. This was a record number of wins until 2010, when Werth won for an eighth time, and Uphoff remains the only rider to have won seven masters titles on a single horse (Werth rode three different horses to her eight victories).[9]

After the 1996 Olympics and Rembrandt’s retirement, Uphoff faded from the dressage world for several years, unable to find a mount that could win in international competition. In 1999, she appeared on German television, giving dressage commentary, and was named the German Sportswoman of the Year. There was speculation that she may make a bid for the 2000 Olympic team.[2] She did not compete in the 2000 Olympics, and by early 2013, she had officially retired from competition.[13]