106 SIDELINES APRIL 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
- in a good competitive way.
It’s a little bit hard to pick a particular competition as a highlight,
because they are different achievements. The frst Olympics was
a main wake-up thing to be a part of; but the success I have made
with Don Auriello is bigger than that. I have had him since he was
eight years old and now he is 11. Also, a very important highlight
for me is my sponsor, Lövsta Stuteri and the Axel Johnson Group.
Antonia Ax:son Johnson hired me to take care of her stud and ride
her horses. I’ve been there since 2000 and it changed my life. I
met her when she had a young stallion, Weltman, that she wanted
ridden. Her manager called me and we met and it just worked out
that I moved over to her place and started working for her. She
has all of these horses and for me so many possibilities.
What has been the biggest surprise of your career?
Maybe I should list Don Auriello as this. He is so different to
ride.
What is something people don’t know about you?
Well, I am extremely stubborn. That probably helps when you
work with horses. I love to solve problems. I never give up and I
like to have everything working. Not only with horses, but also, for
instance, with my mobile phone. I have to fool around with it until
I get it working. It’s just something that’s in my head. I can’t take
it when a clock or somewhere is wrong or when something isn’t
working.
If you could interview anyone, who would it be?
Leonardo Da Vinci, because he was an inventor and he had
such a mind. He invented so many things that came into use
much later. He was probably a totally crazy person, too, with a
good sense of humor. He thought of things in such a special and
different way outside the normal boundaries.
What’s the best advice you have been given?
It’s necessary to have fun with your horse. If you don’t have fun
and if you don’t love your horse, you can never achieve anything.
It has to be that cooperation, the two of you together - you have
to like to be together. It’s built on trust. It was Christensen who
said that.
What is your idea of happiness?
I think to have a life with friends and family… it’s so normal
to say, maybe, but to have a balanced life - a whole life with
everything in it is so important. Then if you can have fun, too,
along the way… If you can have people around you that you like
to be with - it’s very, very important.
About the Writer: A graduate of Purdue University with degrees in Agriculture
Journalism and Animal Science, Kim MacMillan has been writing about horses and
equestrian competition, science, agriculture, history and travel for over 30 years.
Also an accomplished photographer, she and her husband Allen own MacMillan
Photography & Media Services. They live on an 84-acre farm in Northeastern Indiana
where they raise Warmblood horses and sport ponies.
Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén and Don Auriello strut their stuff after
winning the 70,000 Euro 2013 World Dressage Masters Exquis
Freestyle competitions.
Photo by Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
Tinne Vilhelmson-
Silfvén and her
11-year-old
son Lucas and
their dog Molly
at the 2013
World Dressage
Masters.
Photo by Shelley
Higgins/MacMillan
Photography
Top three riders with the trophy from the 2013 World Dressage
Masters70,000 Euro Exquis Freestyle, left to right: Patrik Kittel,
Sweden, second; Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén, Sweden, frst; and
Steffen Peters, U.S.A., third.
Photo by Shelley Higgins/MacMillan Photography
FEI Veterinarian
Mike Tomlinson
and Tinne
confer about
Don Auriello’s
FEI passport
before the jog
for the 2013
World Dressage
Masters.
Photo by Kim
MacMillan/MacMillan
Photography