The chance to train with Klaus Balkenhol is usually only available to the top Grand Prix dressage riders in the United States. But Marta Kauffman won the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a month training with Balkenhol at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation’s Excellence in Aachen Benefit, June 17, in Gladstone, N.J.
Kauffman bid $55,000 over the phone during the auction. For her donation to the USET Foundation, she’ll receive daily training with Balkenhol in Germany for a month in either October or next April or May. Horse board for one horse is included, and David and Arlene Page offered housing for Kauffman in their home in Rosendahl, Germany. Guido Klatte Horse-Transport provided one trans-Atlantic ticket for equine transport from Europe back to the United States.
Kauffman is the co-creator and executive producer of the hit TV show “Friends.” She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and composer Michael Skloff and her three children.
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Leading crime fiction author Tami Hoag won two lessons with Balkenhol when he’s in the United States, donating $4,000 to the USET Foundation for the privilege.
There was also a silent auction at the benefit dinner. All proceeds from the dinner and silent auction will be used to benefit the U.S. Equestrian Teams at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, Aug. 20-Sept. 3. The funds raised through the Balkenhol auction will directly benefit the dressage team at the WEG.
