Dante Weltino OLD and Therese Nilshagen at this summers European Championships in Gothenburg - photo credit: Roland Thunholm
PRESS RELEASE
Therese Nilshagen (SWE) and her fairytale stallion Dante Weltino together with Isabell Werth (GER) are the two first riders to be presented for the exclusive new competion Saab Top 10 Dressage.
-It’s amazing! To be part of the top ten riders in the world means very tough competition, but it will be great to compete back home in Sweden and Stockholm, says Therese Nilshagen.
Top dressage rider Therese Nilshagen – Sweden’s new big star, will compete in the Saab Top 10 Dressage in Stockholm. Nilshagen, who along with black stallion Dante Weltino has taken the dressage world by storm, is now ranked among the top ten in the world. Thus she is also ready for the Saab Top 10 to compete for nearly 200 000 Euro in prize money.
Nilshagen is the girl next door, from the small village Vällingby in Sweden, who never owned her own horse. She worked at the riding school to afford to ride twice a week. Now she has gone all the way into the top of the dressage world and into the the top ten rankings.
She has educated her horse Dante herself and it was with the nice fourth and fifth places in their championship debut at the European Championships in Gothenburg this summer she seriously made a name for her self. Nilshagen also contributed strongly to the Swedish team bronze medal.
-After the European Championship we have taken some time off. Dante has got some rest and I’ve been focusing on taking a driver’s licens for trucks. But now we are in the process of training to get in shape for the Saab Top 10.
How do you think Dante will react to the large audience in Stockholm?
-He is an invidual who likes to be the center of the attention, but he has not been doing that many indoor shows this year, so I do not really know. But he’s not a difficult horse, so I’m not thinking much about it. We’re are now very much looking forward to this show!, says Therese Nilshagen.
What will you do with the prize money if you win?
– Haha, I havn’t really been thinking about the money but I really need a new car! I may try to flirt with the owners of Dante so that I can keep the Volkswagen car if we win.
Saab Top 10 Dressage
Saab Top 10 Dressage takes place over two days (2-3 December) at the Sweden International Horse Show in Stockholm. Some of the top rider will also give personal comments and advices during the national dressage competition the 1 December.
World ranking list number one Isabell Werth (GER) was the first rider to be announced for the competition.
Sweden International Horse Show 30 november - 3 december 2017, http://www.swedenhorseshow.se/