Joelle Beier-Kinnen, who competed for Luxembourg at the 2006 World Equestrian Games on Petit Prince, has been hospitalized and operated on for an aneurysm.
On Tuesday 12 May the 48-year old Kinnen suffered from an aneurysm while riding at the stable.
"Joëlle was suddenly getting sick when she rode her new horse," her husband Thomas Beier told Eurodressage. "After she got off the horse, she also had some problems to speak clearly. With these signs of a stroke our friends in the barn called the ambulance."
Joelle was transported to a clinic in Trier, Germany, where a CT scan of her brain was made. She was operated on to stop the bleeding on Wednesday morning.
"It became apparent that she has a aneurysm in her brain, which started bleeding. The doctors sealed the artery in the brain and put her into a coma. Most probably they will keep her in this state for the next 3 weeks to give the best chances for recovery. Only after that time it will be possible to the the impact of her injury."
Glory with Petit Prince
Kinnen's time in the international spotlight was in the 2000s with the talented Petit Prince (by Prince Thatch xx x Lanthan). She was an amateur dressage rider and a school teacher by profession.
At the time she was based in Bavaria, Germany, and ended up representing Luxembourg at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen. She was also qualified for the 2007 European Dressage Championships in Turin, but a few days before departure her horse went unsound due to a farrier issue.
In 2008 she married German jumping rider Thomas Beier and the couple moved from Bavaria to Luxembourg in the summer of 2008. Thomas still actively competes on the international amateur jumper circuit.
Kinnen retired from international dressage sport in 2009 when she ended Petit Prince's sport career at the 2009 CDI Strassen.
In the 2010s Joelle showed D'Artganon and Anando at M and small tour level at local shows in Germany and Luxembourg. Her last start competition start dates back to 2016.
FEI Steward and Dressage Come Back
Since then she has been a 2* level FEI Steward in dressage, show jumping and para dressage. She has officiated as steward at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon.
Only two weeks ago, Kinnen was featured in a Webinar with dressage judge Cesar Torrente, where she spoke on the role of Stewards in international dressage sport.
"She was looking for a kind horse after her previous young dressage horse, Fashion Love, had decided that it would rather be a jumper," Beier told Eurodressage. "So I took over Fashion Love and had to buy her a real dressage horse. With Sir Locksley she finally found what she was looking for; a horse that had proven to have strong nerves and has already been quite successful in classical and para-dressage."
Both Thomas and Joelle had planned on competing at the Hamburg Derby at the end of May, but the show was cancelled due to covid-19 restrictions.
"Our joint goal was to go to Hamburg for the Derby where she wanted to compete in the Dressage Amateur tour and I would do the same in the Jumping Amateur tour with her previous dressage horse," Thomas explained.
Related Links
Joelle Kinnen Qualified for the 2006 World Equestrian Games
Thriller Vet Check at 2007 European Dressage Championships
Individual Combinations for the 2007 European Dressage Championships