Eirin Losvik and her horse overcame the communication problems – but she is in no rush: “In the last Olympics, the bronze medalist was 62 years old”

After the lack of motivation, “Finland’s most promising rider” looks ahead with great confidence. But it took a lot of kneading and fiddling before she was back.

When you meet the event rider Eirin Losvik, it is hard to imagine that she could have communication problems. But she has had that. With his horse.

When the communication with the heart horse Daffodil’s Flamenco suddenly did not work on the cross-country course, she ended up in limbo. Despite support and help from experts, she herself had to make decisions.

Losvik had to use both creativity and mental strength to dare to change his system and his plan. The venture was successful and now she teaches others to communicate better with their horses.

– The horses are cooperative animals, but you really have to think through how you communicate with them to keep them on your side, says Losvik in Sportliv.

After a few years in Skåne, she now studies in Oslo, but is often at home in Nykarleby where she has her horses and riding students.

When Daffodil’s Flamenco turned 18, it is now with the young horse Calisto that she looks ahead. It is the first young horse she has trained herself, which has also caused headaches.

– It’s like with children, I suppose, says the horse mat with a laugh. You have to bring them up and teach them things and you don’t want to teach them wrong.

If all goes according to plan, Eirin and now 8-year-old Calisto will compete together in some future Olympics.

See Sportliv’s short documentary about Eirin Losvik at the Arena:

“Finland’s most promising rider”

When Eirin Losvik was 16–17 years old in the mid-2010s, she was often seen in the media. The promising rider was portrayed in both newspaper articles and television features.

– It was very flattering. I’ve always seen myself as someone who just goes around tinkering with their own stuff. I’m still surprised every time someone shows interest in what I’m doing and even says I’ve done something good.

At the same time, it gave motivation to show that she can become even better.

She won her first FM gold as a junior and then another three in the Young Rider class. During her youth, she represented Finland in three European Championships, but as a senior she has not yet had the chance.

After high school, Eirin chose to move to Sweden to be able to focus more on riding.

– Sweden and especially Skåne is really a horse mecca, with a lot of training, nice competition tracks and a short distance to the rest of Europe.

She rode around Europe competing on major racetracks and in major classes.

Everything went well until she and the horse Daffodil’s Flamenco suddenly in 2019 did not make it through the cross-country course in the competitions.

– The horse has its own thought and its own will, and communication often works exceptionally well, but it can also go completely wrong. That you just don’t understand each other.

Inexplicable twitch on the thread

Throughout the fall of 2019, Eirin tried to figure out where the problem actually lay. Was it an injury or was there something mental about the horse? Or was she doing something unconsciously that she herself didn’t notice but that the horse noticed?

– You knead here and there and you train and you test and if it doesn’t work, you go home and fiddle around even more. It becomes easy so that you also overthink.

In the last competition of the autumn, the crew managed to reach the finish line and Eirin could breathe a sigh of relief and was satisfied that she had managed to solve the problem. Especially as winter was coming.

– I think it is quite pleasant with the winter season when you can train at home. There is no pressure and you don’t have to perform in any way.

However, as the competition season approached, she began to feel nervous and hesitated to sign up for competitions. She felt stressed and felt that there were expectations of her, although she has always tried to think that most of it is only in her head.

– It’s something I’ve tried to work on, to focus more on my mental strength rather than letting emotions take over too much.

When the corona pandemic broke out in the spring of 2020 and all competitions were cancelled, Eirin got an unexpected excuse to continue training instead of competing. It was her salvation.

She rearranged her system and her plan. Took a small step back and decided to invest more in dressage and jumping for one season.

– It was great fun, I found a new drive and when everything gradually started working again, I felt ready to go out on the off-road course again. After that, it worked great and now I’m very motivated and think it’s great fun again.

At the same time, Eirin feels that she is now much stronger in dressage and above all in jumping, which she previously often felt insecure about.

And she is in no rush to realize her Olympic dream.

– In the last Olympics, the bronze medalist was 62 years old. Equestrian sport is fun that way, you can get many chances.

Although the 24-year-old is not looking that far ahead.

– Now I’m not going to speak for everyone, but I personally feel that I may have already become a little more cautious than when I was fifteen. There is perhaps a little more consequential thinking.

That’s why she intends to spin on as long as she has the courage.

The coach and the horse whisperer

After the difficult period a couple of years ago, Eirin felt she needed new motivation and had to take some pressure off.

With a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Lund University in her pocket, she chose to change environment and moved to Oslo, where since last fall she is attending a master’s program in entrepreneurship and innovation.

Therefore, she has spent a lot of time at home, where, in addition to riding herself, she also teaches others. It has forced her to think carefully about her own riding philosophy.

It is based a lot on being careful with the horse, not relying too much on feeling. To always think through why you do something.

– If the horse doesn’t do what you thought it should do, have you actually given the horse the help you intended to give? Or are you perhaps sitting a little crooked and actually communicating something other than what you think you are communicating?

When dealing with a horse, the same principles as in other sports do not apply. It may not help to take in with more strength or push more if you want to advance faster or jump higher.

– It’s not just about saying in a louder voice to the horse. Often it listens better if you whisper to it, touch it lightly, instead of grabbing it hard.

– Horses are very cool animals that are extremely cooperative and think it’s fun to work with. But you really have to think through how you communicate with them to keep them on your side so that you can actually work for each other and with each other.

The future wide open

When Eirin moved to Oslo, it was her intention to bring the horses there as well, but she has not yet found a place that is good enough for them. Especially as they seem to enjoy themselves very much in Nykarleby.

– They are very happy out here in the garden. We have a very quiet and small stable and when I come home and train with them I really feel that they are at their very best. You notice that it builds them and their performance when they feel good in everyday life.

Eirin also has students in Oslo and also gets to work with a friend’s horse there.

She still cannot say where she will settle down after Oslo. But it must be close to the horses and with the horses.

– The best riding and competition opportunities are in southern Sweden, but home is probably still in Nykarleby and Finland. So we’ll see.

Right now Eirin is on a study exchange in Houston, Texas, but at the end of May she will come home to Finland.

– I would like to travel to Sweden, Poland and Germany to compete this summer, but I have to check how we are in terms of training when I get home – both the horses and me.