Alexandra Andresen Returns to the Saddle after Back Injury

Dressage

Norway

Norway's most successful youth rider Alexandra Andresen has finally returned to the saddle after a one-year recovery from a severe back injury.

At age 23, Andresen is now a senior for small tour and an Under 25 rider at Grand Prix level, but the Norwegian has not been out to a CDI competition since May 2018.

Andresen last competed at the 2018 CDIO Uggerhalne where she showed her 10-year old Dutch warmblood Empire B (by Sting x OO Seven) in the senior small tour and the 14-year old Oldenburg Don Massimo (by Don Larino x Santander H) in the Under 25 division.

Her other two top competition horses, Belamour and Borencio, were last shown in 2017 and 2016. Westfalian stallion Belamour earned her silver and bronze at the 2013 European Junior Riders Championships in Compiegne and double individual silver at the 2014 European Junior Riders Championships in Arezzo, but was then sidelined because of injury. He returned to the arena in 2017 for three CDI's, the CDI 1* in Ermelo in August 2017 being his last so far. The mega talented but not so easy Borencio was her European Young Riders Championship ride in 2016, also the last year he has been out in the international arena.

Andresen travelled with her parents to the 2019 Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida, but did not show there. Eurodressage caught up with Norway's shooting star which has disappeared from the firmament.

Alexandra has been recovering from a back injury which kept her off horses for over a year.

"I have spinal stenosis, a degenerative disc disease, including two bulging discs with six months apart," Andresen told Eurodressage. "I got a new (second) bulging disc while riding in Florida, after just riding for one month."

The doctors did not want to operate on Alexandra, who they consider too young for such surgery, but she has been doing physiotherapy.

"I just slowly started riding again," said Andresen. "I got on Empire just two days ago."