The Hessian based dressage rider Simone Stanzel-Kunze tragically passed away on Friday 25 March 2011 near her home in Bad Nauheim, Germany. She leaves behind a husband and a 4-year old daughter.
Stanzel-Kunze went missing on Friday after she took her two Jack Russel Terriers for a walk. The family notified the police, who staged a search and rescue with a search detachment and helicopter but that attempt was unsuccessful. A hunter found the lifeless body of the 42-year old rider yesterday in the forest where she took her own life.
Supported by her parents, Stanzel-Kunze started her own equestrian stable in 1990. She earned her Golden Rider Badge at the 1996 CDI Frankfurt. Aboard her renowned Swedish warmblood gelding Gassendi (by Gassendi) Simone was the Hessian figurehead in the nineties, booking over 70 victories at small tour level and becoming one of Germany's most successful small tour combinations at the time.
In 2010 Stanzel-Kunze competed the Westfalian mare Rhaissa (by Rubinstein x Palisander) up to Intermediaire I.
Simone Stanzel-Kunze will be greatly missed.
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