Great camps. Then nothing.

In my work I see weekly how many 'good things' already exist in this sport.

Excellent trainers, training systems, vets, mental coaches.. the knowledge and the people are there. But the problem is: these 'good things', especially when it comes to supporting riders with their nutrition, mental skills or physical conditioning are missing the communication with trainers and the other professionals around the rider.

We don't need more good things (okay, maybe a few more rider focused strength & conditioning coaches would not harm but you get the point). What we need is the vision that brings all of us together around these riders.

"The problem is: these 'good things', especially when it comes to supporting riders with their nutrition, mental skills or physical conditioning are missing the communication with trainers and the other professionals around the rider."

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You can't just skip to changing the culture. You need the process first.

Vision is the starting point for top results and high performance, and it is the step this sport consistently skips, at least here in Finland. We’re missing a genuine shared understanding among trainers, riding schools and federation of what this sport actually requires from the riders and what it takes to not only help our upcoming generation to reach international top level in this sport, but to support that journey already from the riding schools.

Because the moment we start from that shared place, the conversation changes completely. When we all agree on what we’re trying to achieve by coming together and by sharing our knowledge, it doesn’t matter how big or small a country we are. We suddenly have much more force behind us.

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Are federations too slow to change?

Only once that vision is in place can you start building real processes. And process is what actually changes behaviour: not nutrition lectures once a year during a training camp, not one-off workout sessions, but individual habits & programs that live inside a rider's daily life across the year.

That continuity is what is almost universally missing, but for a small country like Finland, it is also what makes the difference if our country can keep producing multiple 5* level riders in the future. Culture that produces consistent results across generations of riders, can only form once those processes are established. You cannot just say you want to have a high performance culture if you’ve done nothing to actually improve the process underneath it.

Federations and national teams (should) understand this in principle, but they are not built to move at the speed this shift requires. So last year, Juho Norilo and I decided not to wait for the system to change from the top, but to try the power of ‘leading by an example’ and taking the risk of building something completely new by ourselves.

We built Team 360 Academy because we both believed in the same vision: riders would develop so much faster and have more successful careers if they’d be surrounded by an environment focusing on what being successful really means not only looking at the horse management and riding skill, but also rider's wellbeing and systematic development of their physical shape and mental skills.

"Process is what actually changes behaviour: not nutrition lectures once a year during a training camp, not one-off workout sessions, but individual habits & programs that live inside a rider's daily life across the year."

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What is Team 360 Academy?

After four weekends, I can say the pilot year has already been a huge success.

1. We were clear on our vision. We made sure we really had a vision everyone involved in this project would be able to clearly understand.

2. We started bringing together professionals and brand partners that believed in the same vision.

3. We focused on building the process instead of only having fancy weekends. Anyone can have a great day or two of training, but what happens when riders go home makes the real difference.

4. As a result, we’ve created this environment with a high performance culture which has massively sped up the development of these riders, and we’ve still got months to go before the end of the first season.

What we wanted to bring to the sport we love, to show to other academies, to the federations who are watching, is that a concept built around this structure works, and that small but mighty Finland is ready to lead this change rather than wait for someone else to do it.

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What is Team 360 Academy?

• 10 showjumpers, chosen through applications (August)
• Six 2-day training weekends across the year in Ratsastuskeskus Aino
• Built around belief of ‘three lines’: the horse, the rider and the combination
• Juho Norilo as the head coach for riding
• Laura Ahti as the head coach for physical & mental training
• Each weekend has riding, horse management & rider’s performance tied together
• Clear process between the camps: workout plans, home work, horse management

Follow Team360 Academy in Instagram

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