10 QUESTIONS
14 SCA SHAPE 3 2013
Calling
all horses
Tobbe Larsson travels the world
with his horses, performing to
huge audiences in arenas like
Wembley Stadium in London and
the Stockholm Globe Arena.
Relying on words instead of whip
and stirrup, he manages to control
the animals completely.
text JONAS REHNBERG
photos STAFFAN JOHANSSON
SCA SHAPE 3 2013 15
10 QUESTIONS
“I’m such a bad loser that I don’t
participate in activities I can’t be
sure of winning.”
Tobbe Larsson
Name: Tobbe Larsson
Age: 38
Lives: In a vicarage
built in 1863 in Sjörup,
Skåne, in southern
Sweden.
“I can
read and
interpret
their
signals
and communicate
with them
by using
body
language
as well as
my voice.”
16 SCA SHAPE 3 2013
W
hat’s so special about horses?
Humans and horses have a shared
history. For thousands of years they
have carried us through battle,
hunting and exploration, and this
has created a unique bond between us. They are
universal creatures and they all speak the same
language no matter where they’re from. You can
communicate with a horse from any country or
background if you know how to do it – wild horses,
too. In areas like Spain and the Middle East,
there’s a tremendous pride in owning a horse. It’s
a bit odd that it has become almost exclusively a
girls’ hobby in Sweden but in no other country.
The biggest Swedish magazine about horses even
changed its name to Penny Girl recently.
The fact that horses became my favorites is
more of a coincidence. We lived in the countryside, not on a farm but in an ordinary house. I had
animals of almost every kind there is, from guinea
pigs and dogs to stick insects, and I got my own
horse when I was seven.
Can you talk to them?
– I can read and interpret their signals and communicate with them by using body language as
well as my voice. There’s really nothing dramatic
about it. It’s like training a dog. In the past, the
horse was a member of the household, just as
dogs still are, and if you couldn’t control your
horse back then, you ran the risk of being killed
in combat. The fact that I’m dyslexic contributes
to my affi nity with animals, since communication with them is based on means other than the
written word. To me it was liberating to learn that
communication beyond writing and speaking was
possible.
Your main passion lies in so-called freedom training.
What’s that?
– It’s about controlling a loose horse without
riding it and barely touching it, relying instead on
communicating with your personality, your eyes,
voice, movements and body language. If you ride
it, you can always exert physical pressure to have
your way, but not in freedom training. You also get
very attached to freedom horses, because you have
developed a very special bond without which you
couldn’t control them so precisely.
Do horses really enjoy being trained?
– With freedom training, there’s not a chance
they would follow my instructions if they didn’t
enjoy what they were doing, since I cannot exert
any physical pressure. They also wouldn’t put up
with being on tour for eight months with up to five
shows every weekend if they didn’t think it was fun
at all. But you have to design “tricks” that the horse
can pull off -– if it’s too difficult for them, they get
tired. On the other hand, they beam with pride
when they succeed. A horse that understands what
you want it to do, and is able to do it, is a happy
horse.
Can anyone who copies your moves control the
horses in the same way?
– No. Sometimes someone from the audience
joins me in the ring to emulate my moves, but the
horse just turns to look at me like, “What’s going
on here?”
How should an amateur communicate with
a strange horse?
– Basically, horses are nice, friendly animals.
They are not naturally aggressive and don’t want
to attack you, but be careful not to stand in the
wrong place. A horse weighs half a ton and can
easily hurt you. When playing with each other,
horses may be quite rough, biting and kicking, but
humans are too fragile for that, even if we wear a
helmet and a vest. Show respect but not insecurity
or fear. Don’t be pushy. Let the horse make the fi rst
move, then let it follow you. It’s a herd animal.
I heard you are friends with the crown prince of Dubai?
– Yes, he frequently comes here for horse training. I go down there a couple of times every month.
You have your own television show. What’s it about?
– “Pony Emergency” is about horse owners
who are unable to handle their horses. Often the
10 QUESTIONS
Tobbe Larsson has a special
affinity for horses, dating
from when he got his first
one at age seven.
reason is that they have focused so much
on training for contests that they forget
the importance of everyday activities
and learning the basic but necessary
commands. Spend a lot of time with your
horse and get to know it.
Despite your equine skills, you have never
entered a professional competition. Why?
– I’m such a bad loser that I don’t
participate in activities I can’t be sure
of winning. It’s odd that I’m actually
less nervous when performing in huge
arenas than I am before a smaller crowd.
Perhaps it’s because one can’t really see
the individuals in an arena like Wembley,
which is so huge that I ride a golf cart
to the stage.
Have you ever wanted to train other
animals?
– No. I have a dog, but it can’t do
anything on command.
18 SCA SHAPE 3 2013
COZY IN THE STALL
SCA has developed stall
bedding pellets for horses
made of pure sawdust.
When moisture is added
to the pellets, they expand
to 2-3 times their original
size, quickly disintegrate
into sawdust and provide a soft but stable, as
good as dust-free bedding surface in the stall.
The bedding product has
also demonstrated highly
positive results for horses
previously suffering from
pressure sores.
Tobbe Larsson is an ambassador for SCA’s stable pellets, which he also uses for his
horses.
“It’s important to me that my
horses enjoy a comfortable and
healthy environment, and I want
my stable to be light, fresh and
easy to manage,” Larsson says.
The pellets provide the horses
with a soft, cozy bed on which
to rest. They are a completely
natural product with no artificial
additives. Stall bedding pellets are available for delivery throughout the Swedish
mainland.