40 SIDELINES JULY 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
offer me her horse.
I rode Becky’s mare
for the first time on
Wednesday, then
again on Thursday
and showed Friday.
Tell us about the
horse you brought
with you.
She’s
really
a
sweetheart.
She belongs to
one of my clients
and shows in the
Non-Pro
Rookie
divisions. I raised
her myself; she’s
out of a broodmare
that I own that was
quite a successful
show mare. The
mother is a full
sister to an AQHA
World Champion
who I also raised
and who was the
very first horse that
I ever bred and raised. So I know her quite well. I know the whole
family — grandma is still alive at 31 and living at home. She was
the first horse I bought when I came to the U.S.
Why did you come to this country? Did you intend to stay
here permanently?
I graduated school in 1993 in Sweden and hopped the first
plane to the States. I was 19. I had ridden a lot in Sweden and
Germany, and everyone told me, “You need to go to the U.S.A.,
go to a breeder’s place and ride a lot of young horses to get the
miles and experience.”
My plan was to come here for six months and go back to
Sweden. I went first to Bob Loomis’ place — he’s a reining icon
who has won the National Reining Horse Futurity more times than
any other rider in history, and he’s an eight- or nine-time AQHA
World Champion. I was going to stay three months there and
three months at another place, then go home to Sweden. In 30
days, Mr. Loomis offered me a job. That was an opportunity I’d
never even dreamt of as a kid.
To go work for somebody like that was so out of my reach. I
grew up on an island in the Baltic Sea off the Swedish mainland,
so that was really far-fetched. I remember buying his book and
reading it in ’92 to learn about reining, so it was like a dream to
come to his place in the first place. So I said yes [to his job offer]
and let’s see where it goes. I ended up staying there and working
for him for six years. I got so much knowledge working for him,
and we’ve remained great friends. I got to experience the horse
business on a level that I never thought was possible.
By Darlene Ricker
Swedish reining
star
Fredrik
Thomsson came to
the Kentucky Horse
Park in April 2014
on a high-stakes
mission: to qualify
for the Alltech FEI
World
Equestrian
Games 2014 in
Normandy. And that
he did. Having been
a finalist at the 2010
Alltech FEI World
Equestrian Games,
the three-star rider
handily surpassed
the two 68 scores he
needed to average
to qualify.
However, getting
to the competition
venue on time from
his home base in
Whitesboro, Texas,
about 900 miles
away, was considerably more challenging. Fred drove through
the night from his stable in Texas, having received exciting last-
minute news. The Swedish Federation and Reining Sweden had
just worked out an agreement that would allow the 2014 Kentucky
Reining Cup to be an official qualifying event for Sweden’s reining
contingent in Normandy. Had that not happened, Fred would’ve
been out of luck.
On a break between qualifying rounds at the Alltech Arena,
Fred spoke with
Sidelines
about his adventure and shared his
thoughts on Normandy.
Why did you come all the way to Lexington to qualify?
We couldn’t have qualified any earlier. This was the first shot
we had to qualify for Normandy. There were qualifiers held in
February just 45 minutes from home, but unfortunately I couldn’t
go to them because the agreement with Sweden wasn’t worked
out yet.
How wild a ride was it to get to Lexington?
For me, coming to Kentucky is a big trip to make. This time I had
just come back from a horse show Sunday night, then did a 24-
hour turnaround, loaded two rigs and headed here. But it’s a no-
brainer for me. It’s such a cool thing to be part of and to participate
in, and I cherish and take every opportunity that I get. I just enjoy
every second of it.
I arrived here Tuesday night with a wonderful mare that belongs
to one of my clients, but I also needed a second horse, so I had
to find one to borrow. (Reiner) Becky Jordan was kind enough to
e
Fredrik Thomsson:
Reining in the Medals for Sweden
Fred and Arlosa Whiz
Photo by Waltenberry
