In his forty years of training, competing, and teaching in the USA, Hokan Thorn’s life touched many in the world of Dressage. His talent, passion, and dedication to classical dressage will forever influence the horses and people whose lives he touched. Every horse he connected with was better for him, having been in their lives.

His Legacy Continues

In 2019, Thorn was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), which can affect behavior, personality, language, and movement. FTD is one of the most common dementias to strike at younger people.

Hokan dedicated his life to the future of Dressage, preserving the correct and classical training techniques he built on from his early years. After his passing, he dedicated his brain to research on the disease that took his life during what should have been the culmination of a brilliant career.

With the storm of the century barrelling down on his region in North Carolina, Hokan passed peacefully in hospice on September 29, 2024, with his sister Tina, brother Magnus, and husband Richard Ruben by his side. He is survived by his mother, Dagmar Thorn. FTD does not affect the heart, and Hokan’s heart knew and felt the love he was surrounded with.

Honoring Hokan In The Best Way – This Was His Wish

Richard and Hokan became close to the facility in Asheville dedicated to his care and those they met living with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and other cognitive conditions at Memory Care.  It had always been Hokan’s wish to support this facility. Now, in the hardest-hit region in the United States, it has become urgent that care for those still without resources are helped.

How to Give

memorycare.org is a facility that cared compassionately for Hokan during the final segment of his illness. Located in the hard-hit region of Ashville, North Carolina, this organization and the people they care for desperately need support.

• Go to the Donate Page
• Select “In Memory Of” Hokan Thorn.
• Notification  information
  Richard Ruben
  PO Box 1242
  Columbus, NC 28722
  email – rrubencfl@gmail.com

About Hokan Thorn

Hokan was born in the picturesque town of Visby on the island of Gotland, Sweden, on August 21, 1959, where he first discovered his passion for horses by riding the renowned Gotland ponies as a child. At 14 years old, he embarked on an extraordinary journey when he became the youngest apprentice ever accepted at Flyinge, the Swedish state stud at Stromsholm. While there, he was privileged to work with and ride numerous stallions, including Flyinge Flamingo, whose son, Flamenco, was later trained by Hokan for the Grand Prix in the USA.

Prodigy

Hokan furthered his training at Strömsholm, another esteemed Swedish equestrian facility that once served as the home of the Swedish Riding Army School. His journey later took him to Denmark, where he worked in a sales barn, and then to Germany.  Hokan held a position at Udo Lange’s barn in Germany and trained under Alan Gaihede before moving to the United States.  Hokan credited Udo and Alan with providing the classical approach he used successfully in dressage training throughout his career.

Life in the U.S.A.

In 1983, Hokan relocated to the U.S. to accept a position at Bari von Buedingen’s farm in Aiken. He trained Bari’s Hanoverian stallion, Domingo, whom he brought to fame after winning AHSA Horse of the Year titles.

Hokan later worked with Carole Ludwig’s stallion, Prefix, guiding him to the Grand Prix level. He also achieved remarkable success with Alexsandria Hunter’s Friesian mare, Bold Contender  (by Ulke), who was long-listed for the Olympics.

In the 1990s, he actively showed horses such as Joyce Hardesty’s Hanoverian Dacapo, Virginia Fox’s Oldenburg Imperiale (by Inschallah AA),

Additionally, he formed a successful partnership with Jennifer Brinkley’s horse, Bas, with whom he was short-listed and competed at the 1996 Olympic selection trials. During this timeframe, Hokan became a U.S. citizen, driven by his desire to represent the USA on the international stage.

Around 1998, Hokan began training his stallion, Oskar II, a Russian Trakehner, who gained considerable recognition in the US breeding community due to Hokan’s efforts. Oskar II was imported from Russia and competed very successfully at the Grand Prix dressage under Hokan Thorn. He is currently the third most popular Trakehner stallion (by number of mares bred) in the U.S. ( over 100 stallions).

Oskar II carries excellent and rare performance bloodlines. Hokan trained and competed with Oskar to the Grand Prix and successfully presented the stallion for breeding approval to the American Trakehner Association and Oldenburg registries.  Unfortunately, a trailer injury cut their journey short.

Legendary

In 2001, Hokan relocated to Charlottesville, Virginia, where he trained young horses for the legendary Holsteiner breeder Lieselott Wiendieck at Far-A-Field Acres. Wiendieck moved to the U.S. around 1984 and is celebrated for her significant contributions to the breed, including breeding the horse that earned Josef Neckerman an individual bronze and team silver medals at the 1972 Olympics. In 2004, Hokan showed a mare named Ocita that Lieselott had bred in the breeding division at Dressage at Devon. Although Hokan was usually known for his success in the performance division, he and Ocita claimed the Grand Championship at Devon together.

In the 1990s, Hokan was also featured in a VHS training video called “Classical Dressage with Hokan Thorn.

Representing the U.S.A

While in Virginia, Hokan also began training a promising young horse named Donegal (by Davingport x Grundstein), bred by Joanne Balling. Their hard work culminated in their selection to represent the USA at the 2005 World Championships for Young Horses in Verden.

The last horse Hokan personally owned and trained to Grand Prix was the KWPN gelding, Django.  Hokan and Django were a beautiful presence wherever they competed, and he had high hopes for their future before Hokan was sidelined by illness. Django was bred in the US by Kathy Childs.

In the 2000s, his FEI-level show horses were Winthrop (by Wendepunkt x Gepard), Fox (by Astronaut), Manassas, Karaat (by Fair Play x Wolfgang), Flamenco (by Flamingo x Lansiar), Coalhouse, Decorated Debut (by Dominator x Well Decorated), Stonefire (by D-Day x Roderik), Szauvognon, and many more.

Transitions

In the 2010s, Thorn was based at Katherine Pfaff’s Cross Creek Farm farm in Columbus, NC. He married his husband, Richard Ruben, in 2012.

In 2019, Thorn moved to Patti Shedlow’s China Farm in N.C. His last competition year was in 2020 when he spent the winter in Florida showing Django (by Jazz x Flemmingh) and Aragon before moving back to North Carolina, where he continued to campaign Django at the Grand Prix Level and Aragon at the small tour level in Tryon.

Hokan’s last show in his career was Tryon Fall Dressage, which took place from 30 October to 1 November aboard Django.

Hokan left an indelible mark on the equestrian world and will never be forgotten.

Editor’s note: Thank you to Linda Little and Richard Ruben for their help in developing this content, for making sure we got our facts straight, and for keeping Hokan’s wishes at the top of our priorites.