The deep friendship between Steve Guerdat and the owners of his horses, Sabina Cartossi and Gianluca Agustoni of the CHC Horses stable in Sementina, is crowned with a splendid Olympic medal in Paris 2024. The Jura rider, riding Dynamix, celebrated a historic silver for Ticino.
Sabina and Gianluca’s emotion for the Olympic silver
“It was an indescribable joy to see Dynamix on the podium at the Palace of Versailles. For us, it was already a great honor to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with our other horse, Venard de Cerisy.” Sabina and Gianluca,who celebrated with a special kiss with the silver medal between their teeth, are still excited about an event that kept all the Swiss fans on the edge of their seats as they supported Steve Guerdat in the final three-way jump-off that awarded the medals in the individual jumping competition, where the owners of Dynamix were thrilled on the sidelines along with Sabina’s children, Ferdinand and Isabelle, accompanied by Emma alongside dad Gianluca, all members of the Swiss delegation in Paris 2024.
“Steve is special with horses, he treats them with love and great sensitivity,” emphasizes Sabina Cartossi. ”Our trust in him is total. It’s a very deep bond and it’s constantly evolving, both personally and athletically,” adds Gianluca Agustoni. ”I fully embrace the principles on which Steve bases his life as a man and an athlete. That’s why our union is very strong.”
“Ticino Welcome” spotlight on the Swiss champion
Sporting and especially human aspects emerge from an extensive exclusive feature that the magazine “Ticino Welcome” dedicated to the elegant rider from Bassecourt (JU) in the September issue, which celebrates a global event like the Olympics also in our canton. In Paris 2024, moreover, there was a second horse from Italian Switzerland:Leone Jei, owned by Adolfo Juri from Ambrì and ridden by Martin Fuchs.
Proud of a medal for all of Switzerland
“Dynamix lived up to her class,” Steve Guerdat told “Ticino Welcome”. ”It was me who couldn’t maintain maximum concentration in the final jump-off, the certainty of a medal perhaps distracted me and the mistake on the penultimate obstacle was decisive. However, I don’t feel frustrated about missing the Olympic title because I’m proud to have won this silver medal for Switzerland.” Guerdat, born in 1982, married to Fanny and father of little Ella (4 years old), was at his sixth Olympic Games in his extraordinary career, in which he has written the history of Swiss equestrianism with the Olympic title in London 2012, three world golds, a European title and now the silver in Versailles, in addition to a team bronze in Beijing 2008.
The horse whisperer
It’s the opening title of the four pages reserved for Steve Guerdat with the owners of Dynamix, Sabina Cartossi and Gianluca Agustoni, in a “Close-up” dedicated by TW to a discipline of passion and sacrifices. ”Many people don’t realize, and maybe sometimes I forget it myself, how difficult it is to win, in any sport. My returns home, on Sundays after competitions, have often been more painful than pleasant. It was when I was able to give my daughter Ella the gold medal from the 2023 Europeans with Dynamix that it was an indescribable emotion. I literally freed myself because the mistake of 2003, when I lost the title on the last obstacle, still woke me up at night almost like a nightmare:after a twenty-year wait I was finally able to chase it away!”.
“Dynamix understands everything, she’s a genius mare”
The gift of knowing how to whisper to horses, with whom he lives in authentic symbiosis, is the secret of his long career: ”It’s something natural for me because I’ve always enjoyed spending a lot of time with them,” reveals Steve Guerdat. ”I spend most of my days with my horses and our relationship fosters natural communication, based on gestures and contact. I don’t consider myself a great trainer, but I try to create a sort of discussion with the horse to find a common language that helps us grow together.”
Dynamix remains special: ”When she arrived at my stable in Elgg six years ago, I immediately sensed her enormous potential, but I wanted to give her time to mature and develop her skills without forcing her. I always believed in her,even though the first important results only came in 2022. She’s a formidable mare, with a strong and determined character. She’s a sweetheart, incredibly kind. She’s the first horse my daughter Ella petted, the first one we dared to put her on. Dynamix is almost like a person, she understands everything. She makes me think of a gifted student who gets bored in class. I had to be careful not to bore her. That’s why the word genius suits her perfectly,” concludes the Olympic silver medalist from Paris 2024.
