Claes-Adam Ehrengranat
[KLAHS  AH-tumn AAH-hring-cah-not]

Ehrengranat was a Cavalry officer, exquisitely educated in both riding skills and in driving horses. In 1814 he became the head trainer at Flyinge. His influence on Flyinge set the standard for much that was to follow. Ehrengranat rearranged the breeding program and created a riding academy that soon came to be held in the highest esteem. He wrote a riding instruction book, copies of which today fetch a very nice price in the antique market for horse memorabilia. Today Ehrengranat is recognized for having founded Swedish-style biomechanical research on horses; results from this research continue to place Sweden at the top of the world’s list for this evolving science.

Ehrengranat authored the famous poem emblazoned on the main indoor ring at Flyinge: “To championship there is only one road and it is as clear as the sunshine in the blue sky -- to aim high and highest reach, but never think yourself a master.”

Ehrengranat constructed an ingenious animated mechanical horse, called “the model,” which made it possible for him to dynamically illustrate for his students the relationship between the horse’s and the rider’s bodies.

Yngve Viebke
[EENG vuh FEEB kuh]

Viebke was also a Cavalry officer with a fine education in the different equestrian disciplines. In 1942 he became head trainer at Flyinge. Like Ehrengranat he also had a very strong influence on Flyinge’s development. One could make a case for naming Viebke and the former Flyinge manager Major Olle Kellander the saviors of the Swedish Warmblood.

After World War II, the use of horses in the Swedish army rapidly decreased, raising many questions. “What is going to happen with breeding in the future? And who is going to ride and buy these horses if the military doesn’t?” These questions were answered when Viebke rode the famous Flyinge stallion Gaspari in the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960. Their performances created an instant market for Swedish horses. People began coming from all over the world to buy Gaspari’s offspring, at Flyinge and from other breeders in Sweden. Once again mares were being bred for market, but this time to produce sport horses. Viebke himself trained many Gaspari offspring that later were shown in the Olympic Games and world championships by some of the best riders in the world. Some of Gaspari’s most famous descendants are Piaff, ridden by Liselott Linsenhoff, Germany Olympic gold medallist in the 1972 games; Emir, ridden by Herbert Kuckluck; Elektron, ridden by Ilsebill Becher; Gassendi, ridden by Herbert Rehbein who won the German championships; and Herkules, ridden by Lars Andersson. Though Gaspari died in 1975, his fame lives on. This great horse from Flyinge is still considered one of the greatest sires of dressage horses in the world.

Viebke is remembered for the shows he always did at the yearly traditional “Flyinge days”, a yearly old age tradition at Flyinge when the staff show the stallions and mares for a very big audience, in the fall. One year Viebke did a random ride with three famous Flyinge stallions, riding one horse and having two on long lines in front. He was riding Piaff, having Immer in between and Gaspari in the lead. When he made them all do piaff and passage, people were stunned and thrilled. People still talk about Viebke and the magic he could make with horses. He was one of a kind.

After Rome in 1960, Viebke was ruled a professional and not allowed to show again in the Olympic Games; but Gaspari went on to compete in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He had been leased out to Hans Wikne (former head trainer at the famous Swedish military riding school Strömsholm). Recalling the experience, Wikne says of Gaspari and Viebke, “I have never ridden a horse as well-schooled that responded so easily to the aids as Gaspari did.  That testifies to an honest education.”

Today Gaspari rests under his headstone at Flyinge in the Chestnut Courtyard, the famous outdoor ring in front of the executive villa, where he and Yngve Viebke gave their famous performances. People come to remember and honor this premier Swedish Warmblood and all he’s done for his kind.

Kyra Kyrklund

Kyrklund is one of the best riders and trainers in the world today. She has competed in five Olympic Games and several world and European championships. She won a silver medal in the 1990 World Equestrian Games in Stockholm and she won the Volvo World Cup in 1991.

In 1991 she became the head trainer at Flyinge. Since then, Kyrklund has stamped Flyinge even harder on the map as one of the world’s leading international horse centers. While there, she rode her own horses as well as Flyinge stallions and had several short and long term national and international students. Kyrklund was also responsible for the dressage part of the two-year university program, as well as the special Ehrengranat Academy for students with extraordinary skills.

The Kyrklund program of rider instruction is very easily understood and her educational book and videotape have helped riders all over the world. In her enormously popular clinics, Kyrklund starts out riding a young horse and then proceeds to ride different horses at different levels, ending with a Grand Prix horse. She speaks with the audience via a headset explaining what she is doing on the horses. In Sweden she got show jumping riders to realize that the techniques of dressage are very important for the success of their riding. When some of the Swedish Olympic Team riders in show jumping chose to train with her, lots of show jumping riders began changing their attitude towards the value of dressage.

Following seven years at Flyinge, Kyrklund moved to England, in January 1999. She continues her showing career in a less public stable, concentrating her efforts on her own riding and fewer students. Few people have inspired so many  about riding and dressage as Kyra Kyrklund has with her enthusiastic and down-to-earth personality and internationally unsurpassed skills as a rider, teacher and trainer.