22 October 2024

Birgitta Wanatowski is a well-known trainer with extensive experience from the equestrian world. She has helped teams at all levels develop for many years and is a popular trainer. Despite having suffered from a spinal cord injury for many years, she is still involved in the equestrian industry and helps teams, regardless of discipline or horse material, to develop. A true inspiration to many and a horse enthusiast beyond the ordinary!

Birgitta, or BW as she calls herself, has been involved with horses since childhood and has tried most of the disciplines available. Her grandfather was a cavalryman and bred horses on his farm outside Vaxholm. He rode mostly for hunting and showed horses and was never a particularly active competitive rider, but BW has inherited some prize plaques from him. 

BW wanted to spend all her time and energy on the stables, but her parents required her to attend a training course. She therefore decided to study economics before moving to Karlskoga. There she started working at a stud farm that bred Arab horses and Connemara horses. When the stud farm was closed down, Birgitta started a riding club together with some dedicated pony parents in the area. It was during this period that BW trained to become a riding instructor at Strömsholm.

At the end of the 70s, Birgitta moved back to Stockholm. There she met a man who was involved in the horse racing and jumping world and who ran a breeding business of racehorses. Together they bought a farm and started a business where they ran agriculture, a veterinary clinic, and breeding racehorses. Meanwhile, Birgitta continued to give riding lessons and remained active as a trainer. Subsequently, she decided to start her own breeding business of racehorses. 

Today, BW has left the horse racing world behind and instead runs an accounting firm. She is still highly active in the sport, where she runs her own farm focusing on field race horses and has stakes in racehorses. In the company, Filippa Johansson, an ambitious field racing rider, works, training and competing several of BW’s horses. 

Birgitta now mostly stays on the ground, mainly due to an injury. In 2017, BW suffered a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed for a period; today she can walk but not ride. Birgitta says she has broken most of the bones in her body, but that doesn’t stop her from engaging in sports. 

”I myself have never been particularly interested in competing, something that has not been affected by my various injuries over the years. My driving force is to teach. It is awesome to see and be able to help a team develop. Everyone is welcome to me if you have a goal, and everything is really dressage, regardless of which branch you are active in.” 

This year Birgitta is a partner in our DressagePower Junior Trophy competition. When we asked her about her best training advice, she answered without hesitation that it is transitions.

”I tell all my students to do at least 60 transitions per ride, whether you’re riding on the track or out in the forest. Transitions build strength and allow the horse to naturally sit down with its hind legs. Working on transitions regularly will yield results in all your training.”.

Thanks BW for being a partner of the DressagePower Horse Show!