7 minute read
THE OUTSIDE REAIN
Images: Therese Nilshage and Dante Weltino OLD showing the crowd their wonderful partnership at Horses & Dreams 2018.
FEATURE
From riding school to dressage star
Swedish dressage rider Therese Nilshagen and her beautiful black stallion have won the hearts of fans and admirers around the world, by UTE RAABE.
The black stallion powers across the arena. His extended canter is as uphill and ground-covering as you could wish for, yet he collects just as effortlessly for a beautiful, balanced pirouette. In the saddle is Sweden’s brightest star in dressage, Therese Nilshagen, guiding her imposing mount with a light hand, a loose curb rein and seemingly invisible aids.
It is impossible not to marvel at the performances of Therese and Dante Weltino OLD. The stunning Oldenburger breeding stallion and the petite blonde Swede have risen through the ranks to the top echelons of the sport and, along the way, have won many fans and admirers around the world. Next month Australian equestrians will get the opportunity to see Therese for the very first time, as the international dressage star for P.S.I. Dressage & Jumping with the Stars, Australia’s Young Dressage Horse Championship. Definitely time to get to know her a little better before her visit.
As of January 2019 Therese and Dante were ranked number 12 in the FEI World Ranking List and the pair have been regulars in the placings at the top European shows for the past two years. Their breakthrough moment came in the 2017 European Championships in Gothenburg, where Therese’s fine riding earned her a close fourth place in the Grand Prix Special and a fifth place in the Freestyle. She also contributed strongly to the Swedish Team Bronze Medal. At the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon the pair again placed in the top ten in the Special and qualified for the Freestyle, but that event was cancelled due to the approaching
hurricane. Most recently Therese and Dante scored 80.09% for fourth place in the World Cup Freestyle in Mechelen, riding another stallion, DSP Dominy, Therese has also won gold at the famous Bundeschampionate in the hotly contested Five-Year-Old Championship. Not a bad resume for a former law student aspirant, who never even owned her own horse!
You might think that this comet-like rise must have been supported by a family happy to promote their daughter financially - and with the right horse to help her career. But the opposite is true. Therese negotiated her career the tough way, from humble riding school beginnings to the world summit. She has demonstrated that it is possible to succeed, even if you don’t have large financial resources in the background.
Therese is your quintessential down-toearth girl — blonde, bubbly, passionate and direct. She grew up in the small village of Vällingby in Sweden. Her family was by no means horsey, but her grandmother was fond of horses and when her older sister began to take riding lessons at the local equestrian club, Therese soon joined as well. Her parents could only afford for her to ride once a week, so Therese started helping out at the stables to be able to ride more often. After school she worked with Louise Nathorst, a former Swedish team member and medal winner, again in
exchange for lessons.
After graduating from school she moved to Germany in 2003 to learn German and also improve her riding. The plan was to stay for a year and then return to Stockholm to commence a law degree. However, fast forward to 2019 that degree is no closer and Therese can’t
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Therese began her education at the legendary Grönwohldhof Stud - of Karin Rehbein and Donnerhall fame - where she spent seven years under the guidance of renowned German Grand Prix rider Falk Rosenbauer. A year at the busy Hof Kasselmann stables followed, a place that is famous for producing young talent on both two and four legs. Since 2012 Therese has been the head rider at the prestigious dressage stable and stud, the Dressage Horse Performance Center Lodbergen — a position that has secured her the rides on Lodbergen’s flagship stallions Dante Weltino OLD, For Romance OLD and DSP Dominy.
Lodbergen was newly founded in 2008 through the initiative of a circle of friends around the successful Oldenburg breeder and stallion keeper, Harli Seifert, and combines breeding and sport at the highest level. It is now a highly modern training center with an affiliated stallion station, known for its horse-friendly approach and training methods. Daily time out on pasture is a must for Lodbergen’s horses.
Therese is a rider who has learned how to carefully train and develop a young horse through the levels, something she has proven with Dante Weltino and others over the years. She also belongs to that rare species of professionals, someone who would rather leave a showground than risk a start if the conditions might be harmful for her horses.
The partnership with the horse is what Therese values most about the sport. “You are working with your horse with the aim of eventually speaking the same language. I am fascinated by the level of communication and connection you can establish with such a large animal,” she says. “It can be a challenge sometimes, but horses are such amazing, intelligent creatures, who give so much back. Each horse is different, some mature more quickly and are happy to cope with a little more work, others need more time. You need lots of time, patience and sympathy with horses.”
Working with the breeding stallions at Lodbergen poses its own challenges, but she loves her job, “It is a lot of fun.
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I have enjoyed my biggest successes on stallions, and when you can turn a stallion’s special characteristics into something positive, then they have so much more expression and power in the arena. That is what I am always working on.”
She also loves spending time with her horses outside of schooling them. When we talk, it’s her day off but she’s nevertheless in the stables grooming a horse. “You have to try to understand your horse, not just in the saddle, but also from the ground,” she says. “It’s something that is very important to me, and I am sure that you will be rewarded by the horse a thousand times. I know how my horses feel by the way they stand and look at me. That’s my main advice to other riders, spend time with your horse and be patient, patient, patient.”
For the past three years Therese has been training with German dressage icon Klaus Balkenhol, who is known as a veteran of classical dressage, but also as one of the foremost champions of safeguarding horses’ strength and well-being in line with their physical and mental capacities.
Therese is looking forward to her first visit to Australia, “The Opera House and Sydney Harbour are always such an amazing sight, but someone has told me that Melbourne is even more beautiful
and I hope I can squeeze in a bit of tourist time too.”
