Christian Rogge was born in the beautiful and bustling metropolis of Hamburg, Germany. His first exposure to horses was on family vacations to the German countryside where he and his two sisters started riding Shetland ponies. It was a far cry from the big Warmbloods he breeds, trains and shows today. When Christian was about eight years old, his family relocated to the country permanently allowing him to ride and compete regularly.

 

He had his sights set on showjumping and riding professionally, but his father had other plans for him. He encouraged his son to finish school and to get a business management degree from the Academy of Economic Science in Hamburg. Reluctantly, Rogge completed his business degree and today he credits that decision in helping him to start and run his own horse business, Top Line Sporthorse, LLC.

 

In 1991 he came to Texas to visit a friend who was working at Paul Kathen's Tex-Over Farm in Conroe. He returned to Cypress, Texas in the summer of 1995 where he helped turn a former horse racing facility into a a Hunter Jumper facility. Today, he trains at Hidden Lane Farm in Spring, Texas. He takes pride in his training and horse management program and his business acumen. Although Christian had been a certified riding instructor in Germany, his method didn't necessarily translate to the American riding and showing culture when he first arrived. Not only was the language a barrier, he learned right away that a large portion of the business in the United States revolves around the hunter discipline and equitation. Hunter classes do not exist in Germany.

 

He came here with a background in training upper level jumpers and learned right away how to cater to a larger clientele that includes a lot of different levels of riders with different goals.

 

Rogge attends about 25 horse shows per year including around ten events at his home facility, the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, Texas. A couple of times a year he travels to Germany to look at prospective horses. But it's the non-stop, sunrise-to-sunset horse lifestyle that he enjoys.

 

There is, however, another sport in Rogge's life that rivals his passion for horses: he's a soccer freak. He admits to having every channel you can subscribe to so he can watch games held around the world.

 

But make no mistake, this transplated German has his roots firmly planted in Texas soil.  Christian married Hailey Henderson in 2016.