strömsholm equestrian centre
T
HROUGH THE FOREST an hour and a half west of Stockholm you will find a National Park, which is home to one of the most unique equine centres in Europe, Strömsholm. Strömsholm is not only a training centre for thoroughbreds and home of the Swedish Grand National, but also houses one of Sweden’s three national equestrian centers focused on developing excellence for horses regardless of their sport. Whether one travels to Strömsholm for the Swedish Grand National, for studies, research, horse sports events, or just a visit, you will see horses thriving in the beautiful,
natural and historic surroundings. Training horses in Strömsholm goes back centuries. From 1621 the nearby castle of Strömsholm was a center of military horse training supplying the Swedish Army with horses. It continued for hundreds of years as the hub of Swedish equine education. In 1868, on the initiative of Karl XV, a central riding school for the army was developed with a focus on officer training. Fast forward a century, with horses of were no longer needed for the army, the site was transformed into the racing and equestrian centre of today. Not only is it a centre of horse training, but also of education and research and the
The Swedish Grand National: the big race is held at Strömsholm on the course’s one and only annual raceday Photo courtesy of Svensk Galopp and by Elina Bjorklund
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Equine Science programme is based on site. It is a three-year degree that gives the students deep knowledge in equine science, sport and management. It aims to also help research potential improvements in horse health that could aid in improving horse welfare across the number of equine sports practised at Strömsholm. This includes retraining practises that help move the racing horses very smoothly into another career at the riding school based at the facility. It means the horses, while they transition into their new career, are still in familiar surroundings. Strömsholm’s relationship with thoroughbred racing really came to prominence in 1970 with the approval to host the Swedish Grand National. In 1971 the organising committee was looking to stage a special race to enhance its June race meeting that had been a date in the calendar for many years. The committee wrote to Mrs Mirabel Topham, owner of Aintree, asking for her permission to call it the Swedish or Svenskt Grand National. She replied “Yes”, and mentioned that no one else had ever bothered to ask and promised to send a trophy. Swedes now boast it is the only officially sanctioned Grand National outside of Aintree. The trophy, known as the Topham Trophy, is a silver cup with an engraving of Captain Becher who rode in the first Aintree National. The trophy arrived in time to be awarded to Paul Cook, who had just won the Aintree race on Specify, to win the first running of the race in Sweden on Officer Kelly. The only professional thoroughbred racing trainer on the site at present (as there are a number of amateur thoroughbred trainers at Strömsholm) is Karen Kuszli, who has seven horses at the facility. This would be a small to medium-sized yard in Sweden with large trainers in Sweden having 20 horses and the three largest trainers having more than 40 horses. The facility currently houses 200 horses with the majority being equestrian horses. Kuszli trains on the long-time training centre and farm of Dennis Persson’s, which
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