Lars Seefeld knows Freestyle! Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour on stage in Paris

Germany’s Lar Seefeld has only been with Denmark’s leading dressage rider Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour for four months and he’s already in Versailles, taking care of his boss’ Olympic gold hopeful, Mount St John Freestyle.

Freestyle, Cathrine and Lars will be in a more formal setting at Versailles this weekend.

“Cathrine called me and she was like ‘Lars I need you. I need you right now,’” Lars told HorseGrooms. (See link to full article below). “It was on Thursday. I said: ‘On Monday I want to quit my job here so actually it’s perfect.’ I don’t know why, but it was like the universe was bringing us together.”

First time Olympian, Cathrine, and Freestyle landed the second highest score – 80.792 – in the dressage qualifying round in Paris. They will take the stage for Denmark in Saturday’s Grand Prix Special team finals and return on Sunday to vie for an individual medal in the Grand Prix Freestyle.

“The funny thing is that she [had been] asking me to work for her for five years, but I couldn’t quit my job. This was the perfect timing. It’s really cool when that happens isn’t it? When everything sort of falls into place.”

Lars and Cathrine became a team through perfect timing.

Charged with looking after one of the star’s of the dressage world is a job Lars takes seriously. “We try really hard to make sure she is healthy and good in the brain so she’s really motivated,” Lars said of the mare who enjoys a lot of turnout in the paddocks.

“I think it’s important to take them out a lot. Sometimes I walk her twice a day, like in the field, and in the evening again. I also do a lot of massage work with her.” Often Lars will come in on his weekend off, just to walk Freestyle by hand.

Lars says Freestyle is “so clever. Almost as if she knows what you are saying.”

“I’m also really picky so that I’m coming in on my free weekend and I am like ‘Sorry, but I have to walk her,’ so I know everything’s been done right,” he said.

Cathrine acquired the ride on Freestyle in October 2023. She had watched Emma Blundell, founder of Mount St John, ride the mare at Emma’s base in Yorkshire, England. “Instantly, I knew that she was really special,” she was quoted in an interview for the FEI [Fédération Equestre Internationale]. “She had her ears forward and wanted to perform. She was in a fantastic place and her body felt great – it was love at first ride.”

Lars describes walking Freestyle in hand, more like walking a dog, than a horse. “She shows me where she wants to go,” he said. “And I’m like okay, I’m following you. I’m just holding the leash. So she’s the boss, but sometimes I have to tell her – we have to go my way now and you have to take care. And she’s really sweet – she’s like okay. She is a super calm horse.”

More than that she is very intelligent. “She is so clever,” Lars said. “It’s almost as if she’s human and can speak to you.”

Read more about it! Full article on Lars and his work at HorseGrooms.com