Starting her equestrian career at a local riding school in Tallinn, Estonian FEI rider Dina Ellermann knows that her life's passion is unique in her country, but the 31-year old is proud to represent and promote her tiny nation on the international dressage scene.
"Being from a small country is always very difficult," Ellermann told Eurodressage. "There are only 1.3 million people in Estonia, so our dressage community is tiny compared to most European countries. I take great pride in representing Estonia and helping to grow the sport of dressage in our small country."
Despite her success, Dina is faced with many logistical problems in competing abroad. Not only the country's small size, but also its isolation makes her competitive life just that bit more difficult.
"Since there are only a few CDI-s held in our region, we have to travel very long distances to compete internationally. For example, the CDI Wroclaw in Poland is 1400 kms away," she stated. "This year I also did some national competitions in Finland to gain some experience for my horse."
Faced with rather short summers and long cold winters, Dina's training schedule is more challenging and difficult than for most riders, but in spite this the Estonian dressage world is growing!
"Training during the long winter can be a problem, even in the indoor arenas.
However, popularity-wise dressage is the second biggest equestrian sport in Estonia, after jumping of course. I think for sure it is the fastest growing, in terms of the number of participating riders, and also in the quality of riding and training."
Taking out the CDI Minsk in April and more recently the CDI Tallinn at the beginning of this month, Dina worked her way up with the help of various trainers since taking up dressage. She is happy now to remain with her "best trainer ever"!
"As a child I started at a riding school in Tallinn and rode school horses meant for beginners. Back then I liked to jump and do dressage as well, and even now I like to jump for fun sometimes. My first trainers were Ellu Paltser and Sirje Argus. My current trainer, Alla Gladysheva, came to our riding school one day and under her guidance I started riding dressage more seriously."
Dina's top horse at the moment is the Estonion bred 9-year old mare Landy's Akvarel (by Landcruiser out of Championesse (by Noble Champion)). This small tour horse is the number one horse in the barn, though Ellermann takes care of each of her horses with the same precision in their daily training.
"You have to handle each one of them accordingly. With Landy’s Akvarel my groom first hand-walks her and then I get on. I walk on the long rein and after that we start trotting on a long rein as well. She is a very sensitive and energetic horse and most of our work is focused on relaxation and stretching," Dina explained. "Of course I praise her a lot, as that makes her more confident and eager to perform. During the training session I do a lot of transitions and preparatory exercises for different movements. Towards the end of the session I practice some test movements and before the competitions I focus on riding the tests. I always finish each session with relaxing exercises in a long neck frame. Plus, a few times a week I work with my trainer on the ground, doing half-steps and piaffe work."
Although overall to achieve success, Dina says it comes down to knowing your horse, listening to him, and making sure that both the horse and rider stay happy and positive. "I follow this principle in all my work, every day," she said.
With four competition horses currently in work, the eldest and most advanced is Landy's Akvarel, which she has in training for just over a year. Ellermann has two rising stars for the future: the 7-year old KWPN bred Andreo (by Sandreo), which came from Team Nijhofi's breeding farm in Holland, and the 7-year old Royal Pokemon (by Royal Diamond), a Danish Warmblood born in Estonia. With Pokeman she won the 5-year old test at the St. Petersburg CDI in 2010.
The 4-year old Donna Anna (by Don Schufro) Dina considers "a very exciting young horse, and I was very happy when she took out Estonian Champion in the 4-year old division."
Dina tries to have new ones on the way at all times and is open minded about what package the dressage partner may come in. The 3-year old Larina (by Larino) is from jumper bloodlines, but has really nice basic gaits. "Landy`s Akvarel was also a jumper before, so you never know, maybe I will have a new dressage horse right there," Dina laughed.
With all of her horses bar one bred in Estonia, Dina is a good ambassador for the national breeding program and hopes that with continued success she can get more horses sold to good homes throughout Europe!
"It's nice to get horses from the Estonian breeders I know personally and they are often not as expensive as buying horses in Germany or Holland," Dina admitted. "Also I enjoy introducing the Estonian-bred horses to the rest of the world!"
Dina was glad to have recently sold two of her horses to nice homes in Finland and she hopes to continue breeding horses hersel. This year she bred two foals by Johnson.
Dina says that sport horse breeding in Estonia does not have such a long tradition as the Western European countries, with the Estonian Sport Horse registry only being founded in 2001. "We have come a long way since our beginnings and the quality stallions are now available to our breeders, but the most difficult thing is that we still do not have enough good quality brood-mares."
With her family supporting her all the way, Dina will continue raining with Alla at her stable in Estonia. She has started preparing for an even better 2013. "After the Tallinn CDI our competition season is over. The horses will have a brief rest and then we will start slowly preparing for the next season," she explained.
Hoping that Landy`s Akvarel will be ready for Grand Prix by next year, Dina tries to take everything step by step and enjoys each day with her horses. " My first goal is that I would like to get to the next level with Landy’s Akvarel and then I will set my next goal accordingly," she affirmed.
by Sarah Warne
Photos © Külli Tedre - Astrid Appels
Related Links
Scores: 2012 CDI Tallinn
Scores: 2012 CDI-W Wroclaw
Scores: 2012 CDI Vazgaikiemis