Cathrine Dufour bubbles her way to the top

Words – Rebecca Ashton Pix Rebecca Ashton and Roz Neave

I first noticed 26-year-old Danish dressage rider Cathrine Dufour in 2016 at Rio, though probably I should have noticed her before then. The kind and harmonious young rider was a last minute Olympic entry (where she finished a credible 13th), with literally just a handful of Grand Prix tests under her belt. Cathrine and her chestnut gelding Cassidy have gone from Juniors and Young Riders to open championships together, although the horse was sold to her with no Grand Prix future in mind.

Individual Bronze at the Europeans and sharing the podium with Sönke Rothenberg and Isabell Werth

In 2017 the pair won individual bronze and team silver at the Europeans in Gothenburg and now she’s a regular on the podium alongside her idol Isabell Werth. I caught up with Cathrine at Aachen this year.

Are you from a horsey background?
Not at all. My parents had seen a horse but never ridden one. When I was five years old, a girl from school asked me to the local riding school. And I was like, nah…I don’t really want to do it. Then I went with her and within five minutes I was totally hooked on it. It wasn’t the riding actually, but grooming the horses, being with them, brushing them. That’s what I remember being my interest back then. It was quite fun. Then it went on from there.

When did it start getting serious? When did you decide you were going to do it for a living?
That came much later. I went for the National team when I was 11/12, so back then we knew that I could ride. I had a pony I clicked nicely with, and a nice trainer. I decided that when I was finished with the Young Riders I would stop riding because I wanted to go to Copenhagen and party all day and night and go to college.

What were you going to study at college?
Something. Anything. Drink drinks, you know! Just not horses. But then I finished Young Riders and thought, no actually I kind of love the whole riding thing, I think I might continue. So then I finished high school, and I decided to have one year off to see if I could start a business. My parents let me use one year to see if I could make the business grow and after one year, it seemed like it was going to work out quite nicely. At the same time I had Cassidy doing Young Riders trying to bring him into U25, which was not easy at all.

So I had moments when I thought, ok I had my time in the Young Rider and the Grand Prix won’t be anything for me, but luckily I had an amazing trainer, Rune Willum who really believed in me. I’ve been with him for 15 years, I just changed in December. He meant a lot to me and he taught me everything; how to manage a horse, how to put everything together…

Why did you change?
It was time for fresh eyes, a new team. Rune had me since I was a child, since I was 11, and my development has been huge. So in some ways we wanted to go different ways and I’m young, I’m still exploring and trying different things. We’re still good friends. I owe him everything.

Eyes arena side, Nathalie, team coach

I’m very happy for the new team as well, Nathalie (zu Sayn Wittgenstein, Danish team coach) and Kyra (Kyrklund). They develop me even more now with fresh eyes. They are so experienced in all ways and they have a plan for me.

How old were you when you got Cassidy?
He was seven so I’ve had him for eight years; I was 18. I had three horses qualified for the Europeans and we had to sell one, and one was old so we didn’t want to travel with him and the third one was lame so then we were looking around. Andreas (Helgstrand) called me several times saying to come and try a horse. I just wanted a video because everyone is calling saying they have the new world champion. But he didn’t send a video so we kind of just forgot about it. But Rune said you have to go and see it because he knew the horse and had tested it as a four-year-old in Denmark. Cassidy ran off with him but he was like, “Wow! What a horse.”and he knew exactly what I was looking for. I want them very, very hot, very forward moving, tending to be crazy.

Andreas called me after two weeks and said the horse was still not sold, and it would be a perfect small tour horse. It will never do the Grand Prix, but it’s going to be perfect for Junior and Young Rider because I had told him I really wanted to go for a medal because I had been 4th, 4th, 4th, 5th for so many years with the ponies and the juniors.

So we bought him 30 days before the Europeans, took him to the championships and got double silver and then we were on the international scene. That was the beginning and then three years of young riders.

Nathalie and Kyra, the piaffe-maker

So Andreas didn’t think he would do Grand Prix. Was it hard to teach him piaffe/ passage and all the Grand Prix movements?
Yeah he didn’t know what they were, and it took like a year before we really cracked the code. I don’t think it was until Kyra came into our team and said, “Well, try something else. Do this and this and this,”and suddenly we had it.

What worked?
We did things like placing the whip in different places, doing some work from the ground, holding the reins a different way, it was just actually quite basic for me now. They were just small changes that kind of made him think, “Oh right, you want me to trot on the spot! Why haven’t you told me this before?”It was a few days during two months she came in and then he started to come together. It wasn’t perfect but he started to understand.

You two obviously have the most amazing bond.
He’s my little pony. When you buy a horse when you’re very young, it’s like your pony and you have that special bond. He wasn’t bought to sell, because when you do that, you definitely have a distance, not because you don’t love them, but Cassidy is never going to leave my yard. He’s amazing and he’s been with me through everything. He’s 15 this year.

How do you manage him?
I think the fact that he did Young Rider classes for so long, it does him good now because he’s not been doing the Grand Prix for six seasons. He’s been working the small tour, which is quite easy for them, so in one way I think it’s been good because hopefully he can last longer, touch wood. Every day during the week, he’s working about twice a week and then he’s jogging two days, and then he’s out hacking and doing something else like pole work, so he’s only working hard twice a week. I think that’s enough if he’s happy and willing to work, he knows all the stuff. It’s just a matter of taking care of him, and keeping him in shape, and I can do that by going out hacking and doing hill work and all that.

Do you do that with every horse or specifically with him?
With the younger ones I work them perhaps three times a week, but still it’s the same story; maximum two days in a row and then something else; pole work, lunging, hacking. Then they’re much more clear in their mind and they think about the work I think.

And you’re really into your fitness….
Yeah I am.

Do you do it because you just love your fitness work?
No!! If I was super skinny and super strong I wouldn’t do it! I think it was about five years ago I fell off and had a very bad injury in my back so the doctors said that if I was going to ride without serious pain in my back, I needed to start doing some strength and core work. Then I started about four years ago. Now, I’m not addicted to it, but I really like it because I can feel the difference. The Special is a really long test, so when you get to the fourth extended trot, you’re like “Urgh!”Ok, my pulse now is still low and I feel comfortable in my body if I’m in good shape and it’s good for my body if I want to last a long time riding with my back.

What do you do in a workout?
Mainly strength training. Basic cardio and cross fit. I do it everyday. It’s a little more difficult when I’m away like here, but at least five days a week. I like to do it in the morning then I feel quite fresh and it’s a great start before the horses I think. I hate doing it in the afternoon.

Do you watch your diet as well?
No not really. I still eat candy and things like that! I’m not very strict. It’s mostly all to keep my back good for riding, so I won’t have pain after the fourth horse.

How many horses do you have in training at the moment?
Seven in training at the moment plus loads of students. I have Bohemian and Cassidy and I have Zundance, it’s a seven-year-old. he’s quite good quality and I like his mind. He’s a little tricky and that’s how I like them. I’m not sure if he’s going to be a Grand Prix horse though but we’ll see. But I’m looking for young horses to buy and educate. That’s my main goal this season. Hopefully Cassidy will do a few more seasons, but I need to have another one coming up.

When you’re working them hard in a session, what would you do with them? You are on them 45 minutes?
No longer. However if I have a hard session, I walk them for at least 15 minutes then I warm them up very slowly, at least half an hour, 35 minutes. I work on the Grand Prix work for 20-25 minutes going through the routine. It takes quite a lot of time because I might do like two tempis and then I walk, and then two tempis again and then I walk, so I put lots of breaks in. So from the time I sit on them until the time I get off, I’m maybe on for about one and a half hours, but there’s a lot of walk.

I noticed you had a neck strap on Cassidy when you were in the arena familiarisation at the Europeans….
Yeah I did. He was very crazy! He was so fresh. And he’s not a fan of big screens. He’s really afraid of them, like really afraid. So I had it on! He’s not afraid of flowers, arenas, but the big screens when they put the live streaming on, commercials and scores are fine, but the live streaming from the test, he gets really anxious. I think he sees himself and thinks, “I’m so big!” When I realised he was afraid of it, I put my telly from my apartment down in his box for about two weeks and it didn’t help at all. He stood in the corner of his stable. Then I brought it into the indoor and he was still scared. He didn’t get used to it.

I see he has his little toy horse hanging from his halter?
Haha. Yeah. It’s his lucky friend.

Do you watch other riders to get inspiration or do you just stay in your bubble a little bit?
I think it’s very inspiring to see how other riders are training, but I think if I’m inspired by one, it’s Isabell because of her ongoing passion to produce new horses since forever, and competing EVERY weekend. I couldn’t do it! Really I take my hat off to her. Every year she brings up a new Grand Prix horse from a normal horse; another one and another one.

Then of course if you see Laura (Graves), she’s amazing with some different exercises and then there’s Charlotte. It’s nice to see everyone, but when it comes to passion and ongoing quality of the training, it must be Isabell because she is one of a kind. She’s so sweet and she knows exactly where she is going every time. When I grow up I want to be Isabell!!

Do you take inspiration from other sports as well?
Yeah, but more with the physical training. I get inspired with how they do it and maybe also the mental stuff. I’ve done sports psych stuff since I was very young.

Do you find it hard to cope with these big shows? Especially Europeans and Olympics and shows like that?
Not anymore. I’ve learned how to cope since I was very young and you can tell the difference with some of the “grown ups” as I call them. Us young people, we have been mental training since very young and sometimes I think we cope better with the pressure than some of the older ones who think, “Mental training?” But for me it makes a difference.

I think you’re right…the younger athletes seem to be taking on all the mental and physical training.
Yeah the whole package. In a different way to the older people perhaps…not to offend them

Except for the diet, perhaps! Haha.
I better work on that! I love candy and cake so much though!

Moderation, Cathrine! Also with your social media, you’re all over it! Where do you get the time? I know you’re fast on your phone…I’ve seen that! But that’s an important part of promoting yourself I guess.
It is, but the thing is, the reason I started the whole Instagram was to share with people. Because what I miss….I want Isabell to make some training videos every day! I want to see what she’s doing!

Don’t you talk to her in the stables about that?
No no. I know she perhaps doesn’t want to share everything, but it’s like that’s what I’ve needed since I was very young. Show me one of your normal training sessions. I don’t care if you do rising trot for an hour, just show me what you’re doing. That’s the basic thing why I started Instagram to show the younger people, well this is how I do it. It might be wrong for you and you and you, but this is my journey and how I’ve done it.

It’s important and it’s the new world, you know; knowledge sharing. Putting things together. If you could take every rider in the world…take the rider who is the best at half pass, learn that from her. Then go to a passage specialist, learn from them. Do it like that, it would be amazing, but it’s so difficult to get in because they hold their cards close to their chest.

Do you get other trainers in for situations like that even though you’ve got Kyra and Nathalie?
No, but it’s only new. It’s only half a year I’ve been with them, but I think for now, they are quite different, but still they have the same style and it’s very important for me to keep this light style instead of…. other styles. It has to be a ballet and it needs to be a partnership, not forced. It’s very important for me. Maybe it takes a little longer, but that’s life.

Do you ever get to the point where you want to…I know you’ve probably been doing it long enough, you’re more professional, but you see some riders go into the warm up and they piaffe for half and hour and bang, bang, bang everything is put together…..
No I won’t but I understand why… it’s also about talking to the trainers and understanding that this is just a normal training. If the trainers understand how to put the riders at ease and support them, then I think it’s all good.

It’s getting on with your trainer too, I guess.
I think it’s very important to have that perfect communication. You know what I want, and I know what you want, and make it come together.

I’ve seen the videos you post of Cassidy’s physical therapy sessions. Can you tell us more what’s going on in these sessions.
The therapist has known him since I’ve had him. She helps him with the small issues he has and she puts sports tape on.

And that really makes a difference?
Yeah it makes the treatment last longer. If you have a muscle that you want to work a bit more, then with the specific tension of the tape you can put more pressure on it, or if you want it to relax a little more, you put the tape on a different way. She does a lot for him.

Does she do you as well?
Yes she does. It’s horrible. Haha. It hurts like hell. She’s been the physio for a Danish Olympic shot putter and she’s so tough.

What do you do on the day of a comp?
Tomorrow morning I’ll work him a little bit, 07:30 I’ll go into the main arena. It’s very important that we go into the main arena lots of times, for both of us, because I think it’s like our routine. And he’s not happy with this arena. I don’t know what it is. He can go in Gothenburg, he can go in Stockholm with 15,000 people sitting on him, but this arena….
I think it’s been better this year and tomorrow he’ll be super, but I’ll do some morning training then he’ll rest and I’ll give him a little hand walk later and then I’ll just be visualising my test like a thousand times; riding the perfect test before I get on him, then I braid him and get ready. I do everything with him myself. I bring a groom, but I do everything.

She has the best job in the world!
But really, I’ve had him since I was very young so I have my routine. Then I’ll sit on him maybe 50 minutes before.

When you’re entering the big arena, what’s going through your head?
I have a very special routine with him. He’s a very hot gentleman, so if I walk him into the arena and then I stop him and he needs to breathe. When he takes a deep breath, then we can go, otherwise he can hold his breath for like a minute in there!

Also in the entrance, I let him stand there as long as it takes until he takes that breath. Then he’s more ready. I don’t do a lot when I enter, I’m walking, a small passage and then I canter.

Do you get really nervous?
No. Of course I have the butterflies in my tummy, but in a good way. I think I’m quite settled now. I know Laura is going to be quite difficult to beat. Meanwhile, I do what I can. I can’t change the other girls’rides, so I just do everything I can, and I know Cassidy so well that if he’s really sharp they better watch out but if it’s not there, then that’s it.

What’s your advice to young riders coming up?
The most important thing if you want to do something with the sport is that you have to put a team together around you that’s really good. I’ve had my parents around me forever and they’ve been worth everything, and a trainer who can really take your hand, and say now we turn right and now we turn left. You need to be in a team where you trust people 100%. I trusted Rune, closed my eyes and said just take me. If you think that’s the path, then I’ll just put everything into that.

Then of course hard work. Whether you’re talented or not, hard work pays off. Talent can be the last 10% but the first 90% is hard work every single day. I now get up a little later, but I used to get up at 05:00, but it’s more like 06:00 now and I finish about 17:00 or 18:00 in the evening, so it’s actually quite alright. When I was in high school I’d be up at 04:00, ride a horse before school, went to school, rode again, did homework in the night.

I sometimes think people don’t realise what it takes; they think that giving three hours a day to it is a lot.
Haha. It takes quite a lot more than that! That’s life. And it’s one thing sitting on the horse, but it’s also the management, putting the thought into how you plan every single thing. I never just get up onto Cassidy. I totally plan what I’m going to do this day. When I’ve been with a trainer, I write all the notes down so I remember it. Twice a week I get videoed. It’s important for me, especially with the training now where I’m only being checked about every tenth day or so, so it’s very important that I’m videoed, “Ah no, more left rein, more right leg, whatever.”But it takes time, and if you don’t want to take that time then you won’t develop in the way you want.

I don’t watch videos of other riders all that much. If they put videos out of training sessions, then I would. I watch clinics. They’re great. Charlotte (Dujardin) has done some very nice clinics in Denmark. I don’t like clinics that are like a show, I prefer a clinic where ok, you really show me how to ride a corner. I don’t want to see your passage. Show me how to warmup. If it’s stiff to the left, which rein should I pull? Get down to total basics. That’s what I like. Charlotte showed the crowd where she’s walking through corners and it’s helping like crazy and I’ve done it ever since; warm up trot and then walk in the corners. Then the stop and go is really working. Basic things. And I really like to see Edward (Gal), although he’s not really my style, he’s done some very nice clinics where he’s pulling everything apart and rebuilding it all back together. That’s really helpful I think.

But normal training sessions? Where can you ever see that now? And here also (at Aachen), they know the stewards are on, and the crowd is here, so people are training differently. I like to see “normal”training sessions, behind the scenes.

In Denmark I’ve actually made up this thing called Dufour Club, for people who want to join me at the yard, see a normal training session. Then they asked for things like a pony riders night, so then we got about 50 pony riders and I showed how I would train pony riders, and we go through the tests and we make these different themes. All in dirty trousers, everyday stuff. We do that once a month.