At the 2010 European Championships in Kronberg there was a remarkable pair in the Young Riders’ division which impressed with very good correct riding, impulsion and a harmony not often witnessed in the youth rider's division. The blond girl with the long name Sara Henrietta Bergström Kallström and her willing liver chestnut Diezel carried the yellow nordic cross on blue ground on the saddle cloth and were a pleasure to watch, although they did not reach the podium in the end.
Sara Henrietta is a fine representative of Sweden’s young dressage hopefuls who aim to follow in big footsteps of legends such as Ulla Hakansson, Louise Nathhorst or Jan Brink. Dressage is a popular sport in Sweden and this 20-year old from Gävle has the persistence and horsepower to continue a tradition of successful dressage riding in this Scandinavian country.
Though Sara Henrietta has no horsey background her mother’s love for all kind of animals took her to a riding stable at the early age of 5. At the Gävle’s Ryttarsällskap she started with grooming classes, but soon began competing in all three Olympic disciplines from 7 years on.
“I did it all, jumping, eventing, dressage, but after time passed by I concentrated more and more on dressage. Jumping was boring for me as a child and as the dressage was much more difficult for my pony I decided to concentrate on that. I am a person who loves challenges," Sara Henrietta admitted.
She took on the challenge and finished third in her first international pony competition in Milan, Italy, at the age of 13. For Sara Henrietta it was only the beginning of a remarkable series of success through all age divisions. In 2006 she won the Swedish Pony Championships, followed by gold as Junior in 2007 and 2008. The switch to the more demanding Young Riders section held no problems for the young Swede who continued her subscription to gold in 2009 and 2010.
The Road to Success with Garcia
Gold medals or meaningful placings in every sport are only the glorious result of hard work, dedication and to overcome depressing setbacks. In equine sport it is also about finding the right four-legged partners and establishing a well-working partnership with them. It was no different in Sara Henrietta’s case.
Initially trained by a friend of the family, Ulf Lind, she left school to dedicate her life to dressage riding: “When I do something I want to do it properly. So I moved to Jan Brink’s stable when I was sixteen and worked and trained there for three years.”
Sara Henrietta had just left the pony riders’ division when she moved to Sweden’s leading rider and trainer at that time. She needed to get a suitable horse which would be competitive at the Juniors level.
Jan Brink had one in his stable and was willing to sell it to his new student’s parents:
(Ginatricot) Garcia, a 10-year old mare. The chestnut lady is a Swedish warmblood by Bernstein out of a Brisad dam. She is born in 1996 and is bred by the Andersson family who are friends of Jan Brink’s sister Carina. When Garcia was 3 she was covered and got one foal before she moved on to become a dressage horse under Jan Brink’s guidance.
In autumn 2006 the chestnut mare and Sara Henrietta became a combination and soon proved to be a good match, though Garcia had not been and never will be an easy horse. “Garcia is a lady from top to toe and a crazy one. At home she’s outside in a field about 10 hours a day with a Shetland pony. Inside she owns the bad habit of making a total mess of her box and running around. This is the reason why she has to wear a kind of helmet inside which protects her from hitting her head on the walls. She never does what you ask her to do and at competitions I just can sit and smile and ask her ‘Can we turn left now?’ and so on.”
What sounds like a very special horse not easy to handle became Sara Henrietta’s great love despite her very obviously being one of those red-headed mares.
“I love her and Garcia loves the attention and always wants to be in the spotlight. She is the most jealous horse on earth. She even hates it when I am talking to Diezel. Her strong spot is that she is always uphill, but when there is too much pressure she is exploding. Everything feels so easy with her when we are a team. She is a great dancer and gives me a cool feeling!”
Working for and learning from somebody like Jan Brink was a great opportunity and helped tremendously in the progress of Sara Henrietta’s riding and career. For three years she “worked from 6 am to 6 pm, helping in the stables, riding some horses daily and training my own two. Jan Brink is a brilliant technician and as I am more a “feeling” rider we are a great combination.”
Though Sara Henrietta admires her master a lot, the idol of her teenage days, Kyra Kyrklund, is still an inspiration for her: “Kyra Kyrklund had been my idol and always will be!”
Full Throttle with Diezel
Talking with Sara Henrietta is not first and foremost about her countless successes nationally and internationally. Her achievements and titles includes those at the Swedish and Baltic championships in the different age divisions, top ten placings at European Championships and most recently her wins at CDI-JYR Babenhausen in the autumn. The young Swede loves talking about her beloved chestnuts. Especially her 2010 Young Riders' horse Diezel has a very special story.
Being one of the heavier types of dressage horses the life of the 11-year old Swedish warmblood gelding Diezel first did not herald a career in the international dressage arena. Though he is sired by the fabulous Hanoverian De Niro, who won the Hamburg Dressage Derby in 2003 and sired several Grand Prix horses, Diezel was not trained seriously in any way until he turned 9.
In 2008 Sara Henrietta’s mum discovered the liver chestnut and liked his very good walk. She bought the horse despite him being only able to trot and canter straight forward and nothing else. Sara Henrietta promised her mum to give it a try with the gelding whose dam is by the renowned SWB sire Uttini.
“He was really horrible to ride as well as crazy. When Jan (Brink) saw him he told me Diezel is the ugliest horse he has ever seen! But it took me only one month and I was so in love with Diezel I could not let anybody sell him! Jan was irritated about my decision, but as time past by he changed his opinion about my new horse," Sara Henrietta explained.
Two and a half years after Diezel joined his rider he is far from ugly anymore. Well muscled he moves with lots of expression and displays his charme in the arena.
In the Swedish village of Kungsgården Sara Henrietta’s father had built a stable with six boxes a couple of years ago. There the family keeps their daughter’s two dressage chestnuts as well as the Shetland pony, who is Garcia’s field companion.
“Diezel is a special horse, who’s sometimes scared of himself. In the stable one second he attacks me, the next he is my very best friend,” she confessed. Despite what his name might suggest, Diezel progressed rapidly over the past 30 months, improving from novice to S-level easily. The reason for his development lies in his extraordinary work ethic and his will to make it right all the time.
“Diezel loves his training (and food!) and he never stops working and trying for me. When I train him I sometimes start crying because he tries for me endlessly. If he does not understand an exercise he tries over and over again until it comes the right way.”
2010 has been the horse’s best year so far. At the European Championships for Young Riders Diezel was the best scoring horse of the Swedish team which finished fourth. He made the freestyle final in which he placed 8th with a score of almost 73%.
Whereas his stable mate Garcia took the Swedish Championships in September 2010, Diezel travelled to the CDI-JYR at the Bavarian village of Babenhausen the same month and won every Young Rider class entered! For Diezel Sarah Henrietta hopes to get an entry ticket for the World Cup Finals for Young Riders at Frankfurt in December.
Struggling with Disappointment
Many horsey children dream of having a career like Sara Henrietta. What they very often forget is how much passion, dedication and time has to be spent over years to achieve it.
The 20-year old is the first to admit that for a career like hers “you need the fire! But also a serious trainer and need I say money?”
Sara Henrietta is lucky to have parents who support her in every possible way, from buying her horses to the everyday stable duties at home or grooming duties on shows. The whole family works hand-in-hand, also Sara Henrietta’s boyfriend Christian is strongly involved and very supportive. She is also most grateful to her sponsor. The well known Scandinavian fashion label Gina Tricot sponsors Sarah Henrietta and subsequently her two horses appear with the prefix Ginatricot at shows.
Like every sportsman Sara Henrietta also had to deal with disappointments in her career. The most devastating one was her mare Garcia testing positive on the anti-inflammatory substance of Flunixin at a national show in September 2009.
Due to the rider’s great popularity in Sweden the case drew much attention and the young rider subsequently got suspended by the Swedish Federation for four months. During the investigation she immediately claimed her innocence and also started investigating the matter. The horse, which had been stabled in Garcia’s box before the competition, had been in there for some weeks while being treated for laminitis. Obviously the box had not been cleaned meticulously before Garcia’s arrival and was still contaminated.
For Sara Henrietta an unpleasant time started: “My biggest disappointment in the sport so far is the way the Swedish Federation handled my doping case. I am 20-years old, a human and not supernatural. The show organizers gave me probably Sweden’s most contaminated box where a sick horse had been stabled for a month. I went directly from Tullstorp Stables to this competition and never in my life had I expected anything like this! I am so glad I have a paper now saying I am innocent. I am totally free of allegations.”
After the positive test became public Sara Henrietta took a time-out and travelled to Spain with her boyfriend: “I went to a Spanish man who is magical with horses. So I trained my way out of the sadness, but at the same time I cried for four months.”
Forwards and Upwards in the Future
The fact that Sara Henrietta did not quit the sport after such a blow proves her love and passion for dressage and her will to achieve something after years of hard training.
She still has one season at Young Riders' level ahead of her, but of course her long time goal is to represent Sweden at international senior championships such as the Olympics.
“I am working on learning the Grand Prix. Garcia is already at Grand Prix level and Diezel is the most wonderful horse I have ever worked with. You need to think like him to make it work, but his walk, extended trot and upcoming passage are real highlights, he is a mover,” Sara Henrietta disclosed as her long-term future plans.
After her years at Jan Brink’s Tullstorp Stables Sara Henrietta is now back at school as a full time student at Komvux which is a school for adult education. She can choose by herself how much time she needs to spend for her graduation. This allows the ambitious rider to concentrate on her horses and her career at the same time.
Once in a month Sara Henrietta trailers her two chestnut the long way from her home in the north of Sweden to the south for advice and tutoring from her long-time trainer Jan Brink.
“While training with Jan I get more information in these few days than in all the remaining days before. In my seven hours drive home my head is always spinning with the new info.”
Sweden has a great tradition in the sport of dressage and while some extraordinary rider’s careers seem to come to an end, others have just begun. The shoes Sara Henrietta has to fill are big, but no doubt she is on her way leaving her own footsteps.
Article by Silke Rottermann for Eurodressage.com
Photos © Astrid Appels - Leanjo de Koster - Privat
Related Links
RIN Overrules Bergstrom Kallstrom's Suspension for Positive Medication Test
Bergstrom Kallstrom Suspended due to Positive Medication Test
Bergstrom Kallstrom, Comet of the Year at the 2009 Swedish Riders' Gala
Bergstrom Kallstrom Wins 2009 Swedish Young Riders Championships