Emmi Salminen and Ofi have started their season in incredible form. Moving up to more difficult classes has brought nothing but success: out of five starts, three wins and two placings, and the horse leads the Nordic Grand Tour. The pair will compete in the team competition in Norway and, hopefully, will also get to continue in the individual competition.
"During the early season, I've been able to move Ofi up first from Inter A classes to Inter II and the U25 age category GP classes. Before Midsummer, in Ypäjä we also rode the GP Kur class, so the only thing we haven't tried yet is the standard GP test. The U25 GP is a bit shorter than the standard GP, but the difficulty level is the same. The lines are a bit shorter, but it has just as many ones and twos changes and piaffe and passage transitions as a real GP," Emmi says.
"Ofi is the kind of horse that I've basically always known that if I can keep him healthy and keep both our heads together, then he will be better in these difficult classes. The tempis, piaffe, passage, and collection are easy for Ofi, and in these classes they are judged with a double coefficient, which is why we now get better scores than before. These tasks aren't in the easier classes, so this higher level clearly suits him, even though there is more to do in them."
The jump to Grand Prix
Moving a horse up to the next level is always quite a leap, and especially the transition to Grand Prix makes many people's pulse race and legs shake. For Salminen, however, the increase in difficulty was not frightening.
"In a way, it's a bit funny. I knew that the things that are difficult for many are actually easy for us, and even our strength. I was maybe more nervous about how we can make these things that work well at home also work in competition. But I've noticed that for us the most important thing is the feeling in the warm-up: if we get the warm-up to work and I get the horse in a good feeling, then these tricks are not a problem for us," Emmi says.
The horse has been with Salminen for five and a half years, and the whole journey has not been only celebration. In 2020, the horse developed an eye condition that ultimately led to surgery, and the horse was completely out of work for almost five months. Recovery was, however, fairly quick, and by the end of the year they even managed to do a few competitions. After that came a long on-and-off period—almost two years of battling various leg issues—but now those have been overcome, and the horse is in the best condition of his life.
St´ Ophir is now 15 years old, and he is trained conservatively. The weekly program includes 2–3 proper training sessions; otherwise he hacks out, walks a lot, trots on the lunge, or does small poles.
"He does know all the tricks. Now it's just about how well you can get him through his body and keep his mind fresh. As long as you can keep him in a good mood, you basically only need to pick up the reins and go," Salminen smiles.
Salminen says she has learned to read her horse better. The most important thing is precisely to keep the horse feeling good and not to squeeze and force things. If something feels stressful in training, they change the exercise and do something nice that is easy to succeed at.
St`Ophir's specialities are the changes: ones, twos, and threes all come easily for him. He also has a fine passage and piaffe, even though there is still work to do in their transitions. The most challenging part is the lateral work.
"Ofi has quite a short body and he's a bit of a stiff one, so shoulder-in and lateral movements are more difficult for him, but we train them too."
The pair leaves for Norway on Wednesday morning and the competitions take place over the weekend; they will be back home already next week.
"Of course the goal is to succeed at the Nordic Championships. It's really great that we have a U25 team going there. That's not something you can take for granted. There isn't any specific percentage target, but of course it would be great to make it to the final. Then later in the season there are still Nordic Tour legs, the Finnish Championships, and maybe HIHS in the autumn."
Photo: Lotta Luomajärvi
