ABOUT
Born: December, 26th 1969
Family: Husband Markus, Daughter Brianne (*2010)
Height: 1.62m
Residence: Thedinghausen (GER)
Higher Education: Political Science, Princeton University
Hobbies: deep sea-diving, water sports
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Meredith was born and raised in Los Angeles, California with her family which consisted of her mom Kriss, her stepfather Mike, her brother Greg, her father Richard and her stepmother Judith. Instead of following in her father's footsteps into the film industry, at seven years of age, Meredith discovered her love for horses started riding at Foxfield, a riding School in Westlake Village. One year later she competed in her first show. She went on to train with Karen Healey and had a very successful career as a young rider, both in equitation and jumper classes.
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Since Meredith was not planning on a professional riding career, she began studying politics at Princeton University in New Jersey in the late 1980s. But Meredith remained passionate about horses and so she continued to compete in shows under the tutelage of George Morris during her college years.
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In 1989, while still at Princeton, she won her first big Grand Prix on the legendary Quick Star in Wellington, Florida. This taste of success made Meredith change her mind and in 1991, at 21 years of age, she decided to take a break from her studies and went to train with Paul Schockemöhle in Mühlen, Germany. Meredith initially planned to remain only for one summer. But that summer turned into three years and eventually a lifetime. During this time, Meredith met Markus Beerbaum at a show in Munich and fell in love.
Meredith and Markus decided to start their own riding and training business in 1994 and moved to Balve, where they took over the stable of Graf Landsberg-Velen. In 1997, they bought Gerd Wiltfang’s stable in Thedinghausen where they built a beautiful home for their horses and later, their family. In June 1998, Meredith and Markus married and Meredith adopted German citizenship. Her fate was sealed.
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One year later, Meredith was the first woman ever to earn a spot on the German team at the European Championships in Hickstead. With her great horse Stella, Quick Star’s first offspring, she jumped double clear in the Nation’s Cup and won team gold. In the following years, Meredith became one of the most successful equestrians in the world and the first woman ever to be ranked number one in show jumping. Amongst many team championship medals, Meredith was able to win the World Cup Final three times (still a record) with Shutterfly, the individual gold at the European Championships, Rider of the Year three times, and the prestigious Grand Prix of Aachen.
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On February 27th 2010, daughter Brianne Victoria was born. Beside her life as an international show jumper, now Meredith devotes much of her time and love to her daughter.
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