About us

Paul Schockemöhle started competing late - at the age of 23, after he had accompanied his brother Alwin to the Olympic Games in Mexico City/MEX in 1968 as a groom. Eight years later, he won Olympic medals himself in Montreal/CAN and in 1984 in Los Angeles/USA. And he achieved a legendary record: he became European Champion three times in a row - in Munich/GER in 1981, in Hickstead/GBR in 1983 and in Dinard/FRA in 1985, with Deister. His name will forever be associated with the Hanoverian Diskant son. A career as a dressage horse was actually intended for the dark bay horse, who was born in 1971 on the farm of his breeder Hermann Hahl. Deister, however, turned out to be too nervous and spooky. Ullrich Kasselmann was the one who brought "PS" and Deister together. At first, however, they didn't look like a couple for eternity. Paul Schockemöhle would have been only too happy to sell the gelding, who was only 1.63 metres. However, his mentality, his fighter's heart and his ability as well as persistent work eventually welded the two together. World Championship team silver as well as five of the six German Championship gold medals of "PS" and three of his five victories in the Grand Prix of Aachen/GER and Hickstead/GBR were with Deister, who was also called the "jumping money safe" with a winning amount of almost 1.5 million marks. In 1989, after silver at the German Championships in Berlin/GER, he was retired from the sport. He enjoyed his retirement in Mühlen for eleven years before he passed away in 2000, at the age of 29.  

Being a top athlete is one thing, but celebrating the same success as a trainer is something that only very few people achieve - like Paul Schockemöhle. In 1988, his own horse Deister could not compete in Seoul/COR due to injury, but the pairs he trained in Mühlen - Dirk Hafemeister with Orchidee, Ludger Beerbaum with The Freak and Franke Sloothaak with Walzerkönig - won Olympic team gold for Germany. And while we are talking about world-class riders, the current German team trainer Otto Becker/GER, the World Cup winner Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum/GER, the European Championship team bronze medallist Eddie Macken/IRL and the two-time Olympic participant Valerio Sozzi/ITA etc. also took part of their journey via the "PS” training grounds in Mühlen.

While sport was clearly his priority at first, Paul Schockemöhle also had time for his second great passion for horses after his career ended: breeding. The EU-insemination station began with Sandro Hit, who came from the Vechta foal auction in 1993 and was licensed two years later. The beautiful jet black stallion was the starting point of dressage horse breeding in Mühlen. He is a grandson of the Holstein stallion Sandro, who was used for breeding at "PS" from 1992 with six other show jumping stallions. Besides Sandro Hit, Chacco-Blue was one of Paul Schockemöhle's favourite stallions. The winner of the Grand Prix of Neumünster and third in the Grand Prix of Aachen, who died far too early of Lyme disease, thanked his discoverer with the first place in the WBFSH ranking of the best jumping sires in the world - in uninterrupted succession since 2017. And there was another stallion that "PS" was particularly fond of: the three-time dressage World Champion, Totilas, whose offspring are now conquering the Grand Prix arenas themselves. The Schockemöhle stallion collection has always set its own standards with its quality and genetic diversity, but since the cooperation with the Danish dressage stallion owner Andreas Helgstrand, it has definitely set the tone worldwide since 2019. 

Ankum: geographically only a quiet resort in the northern part of the district of Osnabrück, but thanks to Performance Sales International, or P.S.I. for short, it has been the hub of the global auction business for decades. It started over 40 years ago. At the time, the two friends Ullrich Kasselmann and Paul Schockemöhle had the bold idea to fly to the USA with around 60 dressage and show jumping horses to auction them there. While experts only shook their heads, it became a sensational success. Since November 1982, however, the carefully selected P.S.I. talents are no longer auctioned in the USA, but in Ankum. And so, year after year, horse enthusiasts from all over the world make a pilgrimage to the quiet resort. In the mid-1990s, the first bids at the P.S.I. broke through the million milestone, as word had long since spread about the top quality of the collections. The ambitious central idea of Ullrich Kasselmann and "PS" to sell horses from their own breeding in the highly exclusive framework of the P.S.I. has also long since become reality. Being a pioneer has always been Paul Schockemöhle's motto - and so he was also the first to use online auctions, thus taking into account the globalisation of the horse market. Through this virtual marketplace, young horses from the Lewitz stud and the foals of breeders using the PS stallions find new owners. For the buyers, they can conveniently bid from anywhere in the world and absolutely securely.

Paul Schockemöhle is also a motor when it comes to event management. In 1978, together with Max E. Ammann/SUI and Volvo CEO Pehr G. Gyllenhammar/SWE, he conceived the first World Cup in show jumping. The European Show Jumping Championships and the German Championships for young horses, which still take place today, also owe their existence to his initiative. Together with Ullrich Kasselmann, he promoted this very prestigious unofficial German Championship for young horses in Germany. In 1989, together with Ion Tiriac, the ex-manager of tennis legend Boris Becker, he founded the PST Marketing Agency, which adapted successful tennis event concepts for equestrian sports, such as the introduction of V.I.P. tables. PST Marketing has been and still is responsible - partly in cooperation with other partners - for the top international events in Berlin, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Bremen, Hanover, the World Cup in Neumünster and the Hamburg Derby. The latter fascinates Paul Schockemöhle the most, because here the most difficult course in the world has to be mastered. Year after year, the best riders compete for the overall victory in Germany's most important competition series, the Riders Tour, which "PS" launched in 2000. The aim was and is to offer equestrian sport a platform that is appropriate to its importance.

In 2015, Paul Schockemöhle founded the non-profit "Paul Schockemöhle Foundation". Born himself in the final phase of World War 2, his business acumen and diligence enabled him to found and establish companies in a wide variety of industries, such as animal feed, freight forwarding and logistics, construction, renewable energies, as well as horse breeding, trade and sports. He was able to live his dream of entrepreneurship and his passion for horses. He is very grateful for this, but knows only too well that not all people have the good fortune of such a fulfilled life. For this reason, Paul Schockemöhle contributed a share capital of one million euros to his "Paul Schockemöhle Foundation" in order to be able to financially support charitable causes from the proceeds. Over the years, he himself has donated further funds from his private assets to the foundation for charitable purposes, and this will continue to be done generously in the years to come.

Currently supported actions and facilities are e.g.:

• Direct personal commitment to refugees of the Ukraine war 2022:
  Paul Schockemöhle had 80 refugees picked up from the Ukrainian border immediately after the outbreak of the war, rented a hotel near his Lewitz stud for them and provided them with meals from the stud's canteen. Stud employees and other helpers continue to provide them with necessary materials and look after them in their daily lives. Another approx. 40 refugees followed in March 2022. 
• "Our children" - Steinfeld-Mühlen Foundation
  Support for economically needy young people from families in the Steinfeld-Mühlen community. 
• "Off-Road Kids" - Foundation
  Nationwide aid organization for street children, young homeless people and young people acutely threatened by homelessness in Germany. 
• "Landesverband Bayern der Gehörlosen e.V."
  Self-help organization for the deaf and hearing-impaired, representing the social, cultural, professional and health policy interests of the deaf and hearing-impaired in Germany.
• Supporting various sports clubs, especially riding clubs, through donations.
• "Riding against hunger" 
  Initiative of equestrian athletes - donations for the Welthungerhilfe.

If you would like to support the projects of the "Paul Schockemöhle Foundation", you can transfer your donation directly to the bank details below. Paul Schockemöhle guarantees that 100 percent of the funds will reach those in need! Employees of the Paul Schockemöhle companies take over the organization of the various relief actions free of charge!

Contact:

Paul-Schockemöhle-Stiftung
Paul & Bettina Schockemöhle 

Phone: +49-05492-808-0 / 808-252
Mail: PS-Stiftung@schockemoehle.de

Bank details:

Account holder: Paul-Schockemöhle-Stiftung
Volksbank Lohne-Mühlen eG, Marktstraße 36, D-49393 Lohne
IBAN: DE33 2806 2560 0003 7060 00
BIC: GENODEF1LON

You will receive a donation receipt recognized in Germany for your donation without being asked. For this purpose, please note your name with complete postal address in the purpose of use.

On the part of his foundation, Paul Schockemöhle thanks you already now for any support, of course also with smaller amounts.