Blue Hors Team Rider Sophia Ludvigsen Gets Ride on Olympic Atterupgaard Orthilia

Dressage

Denmark

Danish young rider and Blue hors team member Sophia Ludvigsen has proven that hard work pays off. The Danish stallion station rewarded her commitment and success with the ride on none other than international Olympic Grand Prix mare Atterupgaards Orthilia.

Atterupgaards Orthilia is an 18-year old Danish bred Oldenburg mare by Gribaldi x Donnerschlag x Rambo. She is bred by Kristine Munch Sinding.

Success from the Start

As a 3-year old mare Orthilia was a Brilliant ring finalists at the 2009 Oldenburg Elite Mare Show in Rastede.

As a 4-year old she finished sixth in the Danish Young Horse Championships and was also a finalists as a 6-year old under Maria Falkner Hansen and Katrine Sandholt Moller.

With Cathrine Dufour she made her international show debut at small tour level at the 2013 CDI Addington and won the 2013 Danish Young Riders Championships in Ringsted.

Double Team Silver

Orthilia sold to Fiona Bigwood in Great Britain in October 2013.

The new duo debuted at Grand Prix level and were members of the British team that won silver at both the 2015 European Championships in Aachen and 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Individually Bigwood and Orthilia were 17th in the Kur to Music finals.

Sold to Denmark

In February 2017 Bigwood made the surprising decision to sell the successful mare to Denmark as a schoolmaster for Danish Agnete Kirk Thinggaard, who had been looking for a successor for Jojo AZ. Unfortunately the mare struggled with niggling injuries in 2017 and 2018 and Thinggaard only showed her a few times with a come back in the summer of 2020.

Agnete decided to put horses on the backburner and passed on the ride to Blue Hors team member Nanna Skodborg Merrald, who became extremely successful in the international arena with the elegant mare, never scoring under 72%.

They won team bronze at the 2021 European Championships in Hagen and finished 12th in the Kur to Music finals. They showed on the 2021-2022 World Cup circuit in Lyon, London and Neumunster and finished 5th in the 2022 World Cup Finals in Leipzig and represented Denmark in the 2022 CDIO Aachen Nations' Cup.

Schoolmaster for Ludvigsen

With Nanna Merrald at the 2021 European Championships

A fresh and fit Orthilia has now started a new chapter as schoolmaster for Danish young rider team member Sophia Ludvigsen, who joined the Blue Hors Talent Program in November 2020.

Ludvigsen was first allocated the ride on Blue Hors Quintana (by Quantensprung x Desperados), which took her to team bronze at the 2021 European Junior Riders Championships and into the Under 25 division. In 2022 Blue Hors Elliott (by Erlando x Romanov) brought her into the Young Riders division and earned her team silver and an 11th place in the Kur finals at the 2022 European Young Riders Championships. They concluded the year by winning the 2022 Danish Young Riders Championships.

Ludvigsen's talent and commitment have not gone unnoticed and Blue Hors rewarded her efforts with a third horse, Atterupgaards Orthilia.

Ludvigsen and Blue Hors Elliott at the 2022 European
Young Riders Championships in Hartpury

"We believe that one of the most effective ways to learn is through mentoring, where an experienced person shares their experience. In the stables at Blue Hors we have such a personality, with lots of experience that she generously shares - Atterupgård's Orthilia," Blue Hors stated.

"Orthilia has already proven that with her great experience and attitude to work, she has made it easy for Nanna to use her as a stepping stone into the big dressage scene and she is now ready to help new talents on their way. Today Sophia has Orthilia with her for her Under 25 collection. Sophia is pleased to have such an experienced teacher who can help her develop and create even more positive results in the future."

Sophia is thrilled to have Orthilia as her new dancing partner. "She's the world's best schoolmaster," she said.