American based Hungarian classical dressage rider and trainer Charles De Kunffy has passed away on 14 April 2025. He was 89 years old.

Growing Up in Turbulent Times

Born in 1936 into a noble Austrian-Hungarian family, de Kunffy saw the light of day in 1936 and grew up during World War II and Soviet occupied Hungary in the 1950s. Living in life threatening times, De Kunffy developed a deep loathing for authoritarians and dictators, something he wrote about in his memoir, “A Rider’s Survival From Tyranny.”

Photo – Charles de Kunffy (From the book cover of “Dressage Principles Illulinated” published by Xenophon Press)

He grew up on a castle near Budapest in a family that owned all types of horses: race horses, work horses and ponies. Nazis quartered with the de Kunffy family in their castle outside the town, against their will. After the Nazi’s left, the Russian communists came. De Kunffy’s father was sent to a labour camp (he survived), their castle and their 80 horses were seized.

In 1952 he was admitted to the Riding Academy in Budapest as the youngest student in the school’s history. The Soviets had revived the academy in the hopes of fielding Olympic riders, and de Kunffy was taught by instructors from various European equestrian institutions, including Vienna and Hanover, such as Pal Kemery, Jeno Kosa-Reznek, Imre Bodo and Geza Hazslinsky-Krull.

Read the full article at Eurodressage.com