Kleppenhus Dressage breed, educate and sell horses.
Kleppenhus Dressage was established in 1997 at the beautiful lakeside farm ”Kleppenhus” in Ebeltoft Denmark. The farm had previously been used for fish farming, but after being sold to Norwegian Cathrine Rasmussen the farm was totally reconstructed and newbuild as a breeding and training facility for dressage horses.
In 2016, after 20 years in Denmark, Cathrine relocated to Kristiansand, Norway, by the lake called Gillsvannet. Today all activities of Kleppenhus Dressage take place in Kristiansand.
Our aim is to breed 4-6 foals per year out of premium quality mares, of the best European bloodlines. We put a strong emphasis on the temperament of the stallions we select for our mares, as high rideability is of utmost importance to create a future champion.
We put great effort into giving the foals a good start in life, with plenty of exercise, good hoof care, top quality food, and lots of socializing with humans. This way we try to ensure that they grow into strong, healthy, and trusting horses.
We start working the stallions carefully when they are 2,5-year-old, and the mares at 3. This is because the stallions have their gradings earlier than the mares. If they are gelded, we wait until they are 3, then they are saddle broken, and their long educational journey as a dressage horse begins. Our aim with the horses we educate is to teach them very good basics, brick by brick -always with the result of a Grand Prix horse in mind.
It is always a bit hard to sell the horses that we have spent so much time with and have so many dreams and hopes for. But it must be done, and it is very individual at which age the horses are sold. So, if you look for a horse, whatever age, feel free to contact us.
Cathrine Rasmussen is born in Kristiansand, Norway in 1965. She started riding at the early age of 3 years old, and horses has been her passion in life ever since. She got her first horse when she was 11 years old. Her parents knew nothing about horses, so the horse that lived in the backyard was Cathrines sole responsibility. Absolutely not advisable, but luckily things went well for all involved. After finishing high school with a diploma in natural sciences, she studied psychology and economics at Indiana University, USA, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1989.
After finishing academic studies Cathrine felt the time was right to follow her dreams and find a place where she could increase her knowledge about horses and become a better rider. She found the perfect place at Hasse Hoffmanns yard in Ebeltoft, Denmark. Here she stayed for 5 years under the supervision of the late Børge Rasmussen and Hasse Hoffmann himself. This gave an invaluable foundation for her future work with horses, – and after just one year away from Ebeltoft, the lucky incidence was that Hoffmanns neighbor farm was put up for sale. Cathrine grabbed this opportunity and purchased the farm, -at the time used for mainland fish farming, and build a new horse yard there instead. That was how ”Kleppenhus” came to be. Here Cathrine was in a perfect environment to further develop her skills as a rider, be amongst good trainers and colleagues, and be conveniently situated in regards to competitions in and out of Denmark.
Cathrine has had many good horses through the years but two stand out as she has been able to compete at the big international championships with them. The first is Orlando on which she competed at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky in 2010,- European Championship in Rotterdam in 2011, and 3 Nordic Championships. The other is Fernandez on which she competed in the European Championship in Herning in 2013, 2 Nordic Championships and a string of World Cup qualifiers and other international shows.
Meet the team who is responsible for Kleppenhus Dressage and takes care of the horses.
Pedigree: Groom and Stablehand
Amalie is the show groom for Cathrine, and has been with Kleppenhus Dressage since 2019. She´s educated at Bygland VGS, specialized in horses and have previously been employed at Helgstrand Dressage.
Amalie has also taken over the role as responsible midwife greeting our new foals a very warm welcome to the world. Amalie plays a key role when it comes to socializing the foals and taking care of the horses. She has a lot of heart for the horses, and it´s safe to say the feelings are returned in full.
We are very lucky to have Odd as part of our team. He is responsible for the semen collection from our stallions, and the preparation of the semen before shipment to the customers.
Odd has massive previous experience with reproduction, with over 20 years in the game, and more than 400 mares covered yearly.
