Harrison Ashton

The 24-year-old dressage star tells about swapping the influencer tag for international results and proving himself as a rider on the rise

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Harrison Ashton has this year burst onto the international dressage stage, helping Britain to under-25 team bronze and winning at the Herning World Cup, with his equine partner Million Dreams

“I THOUGHT I was going to fall to pieces before it,” Harrison Ashton laughs, recalling the nerves ahead of his team debut at the under-25 European Dressage Championships in Kronberg, Germany.

“I couldn't sleep for a week. But it wasn't panic - I was excited. I knew our preparation had been the best it could've been. I had a fantastic horse I believed in, and people who believed in me. I couldn't have done any more.”

He was right. Riding Million Dreams - the 10-year-old mare owned by Jesse Honka and his mentor, Finnish Olympian Henri Rouste - Harrison delivered personal bests in all three tests, helping Britain secure team bronze. It was all the more remarkable given the pair had only a handful of tests at that level behind them.

Compare that to his teammate and friend Annabella Pidgley, who has been stepping onto podiums since childhood and was competing in her eighth consecutive Europeans.

“I remember sitting at dinner with her and her mum about four years ago,” Harrison says. “I hadn't even really started competing yet, but I told her, ‘One day I'm going to be on a team with you.’ We joked about it - I even said I'd beat her.”

He grins. “I didn’t beat her. But I was so close. And then suddenly, there we were. On a team together. We couldn't believe it.”

But if you thought his breakout results took the pressure off, think again.

Next stop was the World Cup show at Herning, Denmark, where the pair lined up in the Lővsta Future Challenge for under-25 riders.