Meet Linnea Storstrøm

Linnea Storstrøm, Show jumper

“You’re nothing in this sport without horses, and your connection with your horse is therefore crucial.“

Tell a bit about your stable and where you are located 🙏🏻

My horses are at Østern Brug Riding Center in Bærum, Norway, right by the border to Oslo. It’s a quite big equestrian centre with two outdoor and two indoor arenas, and there’s a fenced track around the whole riding centre perfect for exercising your horse on a different surface than just the arena footing. You can basically hack your horse without having to leave the safeness of the stables! At Østern, we have a huge riding school, and the stables itself houses 85 horses including the school horses. So we’re quite many people at the same place, and there are of course pros and cons of having a facility where both riding school students and top athletes require different things and training systems. But we make it work, and the riding school opens opportunities for so many that might not afford to have their own horses. And most of us at Østern started out in our riding school, including me! I started when I was 5 years old.

I really love being at Østern because we have a very good social environment, which is of course very important because you need to enjoy your environment that you’re spending that much time in if you want to excel in the sport. It needs to be fun and encouraging. At our stables, we encourage each other and we always support each other at the shows and training, no matter what, through ups and downs. This is very important for me.

Tell us about your horses and their personalities 🐴

I have three horses: Flora by Gucci, Billy Violin and Billy Lambert.

Flora is a dark brown 14 year old Mecklenburger mare, and she is my best horse at the moment. She does 1.40 classes and she is a real fighter in the ring. She’s super loyal, always does her best, she’s very mature and experienced, and she always gives you that little extra effort. At home she’s extremely well-behaved and cuddly, and she knows she is the main priority – well, at least she feels that she should be prioritised at all times.

Violin is my youngster, a small and beautiful bay AES registered mare of 7 years. She’s brave and eager to learn, and she’s always ready for new tasks. She’s definitely my most cuddle-loving horse, and she will interrupt your stable duties as often as she can to get some cuddles and kisses. Very contact-seeking and curious. I’ve competed her in 1.25m so far but the goal this year is to do 1.35m.

And Billy Lambert, called Lambi, is my pretty grey gelding that I’ve had for some years now. He’s also registered in AES, and he is 10 this year but I got him as a 6 year old. Lambi is my best friend and we’ve had quite a journey of learning together because I was also very young when I got him. Lambi is like a gigantic baby and he doesn’t know that he’s past his teenage years.

Goals for the year and for your career ⭐️

My goals for the year is to do the 1.45 Grand Prix at Oslo Horse Show im October, to do well in the Nordic Championship and the National Championship, and to do the Breeders youngster show with Violin. For my career… Well, my biggest dream has always been the Olympics. It’s a huge goal, I know, but it is my goal.

“Well, my biggest dream has always been the Olympics. It’s a huge goal, I know, but it is my goal.”
Linnea Storstrøm

Highlights of your career so far 🤩

Baltic Cup in Denmark of 2023 was amazing, because I was picked to ride in the team competition and our team won, and I also won that class individually. And I feel I’ve had quite good results in championships so far, including a 2nd place in the National Children Championship, a 5th place in the outdoor National Junior Championship and a 4th place in the indoor National Junior Championship. And my first 1.40m debut in Cagnes-sur-Mer in France, that was quite a big achievement for me.

Do you have any fun facts to share with us? 😜

Before I start my competition round, I always have to kiss my horse on the neck three times. It has to be three times. And I need to have fun and make lots of funny faces to my parents while I’m at the warm up, so that I relax and have a happy attitude. I always stick my tongue out to them, and if I’m so stressed that I forget to do this and forget to kiss my horses, I can guarantee you I’m going to ride a bad round. I HAVE to remember to have fun!

I’ve been going to a mental trainer since I was 10 years old, and it has benefited me SO much both with the sport and in life in general. Mental training has taught me to deal with nervousness, stress, how to handle what life throws at you, and to focus on the right things in order to be the best possible athlete I can be.

Connected is our DNA. What does this mean to you? 💙

To me, it means to be “one with the horse”, that you are connected to your horse. You’re nothing in this sport without horses, and your connection with your horse is therefore crucial. The team behind Ecte is very good at staying in touch and providing support to their riders, which makes you feel seen. It makes you feel very connected to your brand and sponsor, because I truly feel like we’re all a team within. And the clothes – they’re all so easy to match, so you can never go wrong!