2016 Pioneer Horseman Award Recipient Lloyd Landkamer
Lloyd Landkamer
June 5, 1955 – September 25, 2015
Lloyd Landkamer is our recipient for 2016. Lloyd passed away September 25, 2015 after a long courageous battle with cancer. His marvelous sense of humor sustained him in spite of incredible pain and discomfort. He never played the ‘woe is me’ card. Instead, in the words of one of his close friends, Lloyd “pushed himself to be better and work harder.”
Born in Lawrence, Kansas, early on, Lloyd received degrees in Animal Husbandry, Computer Science and Economics. He worked in the computer science field but soon realized that his true calling was in the horse industry. Lloyd started his career as a show secretary and sport horse breeder. He became an icon in the dressage community, both on a National and then at the International level.
His accomplishments are varied and numerous. He was widely respected due to his knowledge about many equestrian disciplines and breeds along with his experience in managing many horse shows. He was the popular manager of the dressage and para-dressage competition at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY. He was recently named to the stewarding team for the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He was the consummate volunteer. He was a ‘go-to’ leader in the sport of dressage, being an inspiration to all who knew him and worked with him.
In addition to his love of horses and dogs, he was an avid reader, loved gardening and enjoyed cooking. Along with Bill, they proudly bred and raised nationally ranked horses. Recently, one of their home bred horses, Royal Gem, an Oldenberg gelding, competed successfully under the guidance of Melissa Fladland at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida.
Tributes to Lloyd’s accomplishments were reported in numerous horse publications including Eurodressage and Dressage Today. In reading over the comments on the internet, he certainly was loved, respected, and held in high regard by multitudes of friends and horse competitors in every conceivable area of the horse community.
He is survived by his life partner of 32 years, Bill Solyntjes, and two younger brothers and a sister as well as the large dressage community who he considered his family. Bill, a U.S. Dressage Federation (USDF) bronze, silver and gold medalist, will carry on the breeding of national acclaimed horses and training program at their beloved Brandywine Farm in Hamel, MN. Unfortunately, Bill was unable to be present at the Pioneer Award Presentation on August 25th at the Minnesota State Fair’s Warner Coliseum during the evening show. Accepting in his place were Lisa and Rob Pliego. The award presentation was made by Judy Jensen, Tom Tweeten and Doug Persian from the Minnesota Horse Council.
Our sincere condolences go out to Lloyd’s family and his countless friends. Our horse industry has lost a kind and good person. He will be missed by all who knew him.