Interview with Anna Buffini: The Backstage of a Dressage Grand Prix Star
Balance and harmony, combined with impeccable technique and unique elegance, are just some of the characteristics that make up Dressage, one of the most fascinating yet technically and challenging disciplines of equestrian sports.
Behind the great performances of professional riders there are many sacrifices and a lot of hard work; Anna Buffini is a great example of how passion and dedication can lead to great achievements and toward plentiful satisfactions.
The American Dressage star shared with the HSJ team the values that drive her success, reflecting on the principles and teachings on which she is building her admirable journey and her future as a talented professional rider.
Hard-working mindset, a family vocation
With a palmares full of numerous successes, Anna Buffini keep on shining on the international equestrian panorama, demostrating her abilities and strong determination on the most prestigious Dressage competitions.
“I realized dressage would be my life when I was about fourteen years old. I was a gymnast first actually, but I had to stop my carrer because I got injured, but I always loved horses so I had to ride. I started dressage without knowing what it was! I love the perfection, the harmony, I love all of the movements you teach and learn with horses, so, I just clicked into dressage from then on for the rest of my life”.
Although the world of gymnastics is part of his past, there is a kind of similarity between this sport and the discipline of Dressage. Hard work, striving for perfection, harmony of movement, but also flexibility, physical but also mental strength are indeed characteristics in common: “the strength that I have, but also the feel that I have on the saddle while I’m riding came from gymnastics, it was a perfect lead up to dressage”
This talented athlete’s aptitude for sports and her great dedication are passed down through her family, as she tells us, “I have three brothers and two sisters, not everybody does horses but all of them are extremely passionate and hardworking. My parents are very hardworking people, my mom was in the US volleyball team and my dad played professionally for his Irish college team, so they instilled in us that hard work mindset. Each of my siblings have reached sports at a very high level and have gone on to do, like, very high, achieving jobs in their life as well.”
Riders’ physical and mental preparation, a key point to achieve results
Anna is a perfect example of how consistent training, even outside of the stable, can really make a difference on the saddle, becoming a key point in achieving results in the ring.
Having a natural talent is clearly a great help but it is not enough, as she confirms, “the good thing about talent is that you can work your way to having talent a lot of times. Your hard work has to out push your talent so that when you are in your competitions, your hard work shines through and your talent, becoming the shining star of your performance”
“The hard work component is so important in any sport that you choose and for me, so fitness is extremely important to me. I wouldn’t have the opportunity that I have with the horses I ride, without working-out my body. It could be really hard when your heart rate up high gets you ready for all those extended trots you have to work through, so I make sure I have a cardio component and a strength component because those are two of the most important things on the horse”.
“I think, is for partial welfare of the horse. When you don’t work out, you don’t completely understand what your horse is going through. Understanding actually what your horse is going through mentally and physically is extremely important to me, as well”.
Therefore, it is also very important to work on the mental approach, especially when you get to high levels. What makes the difference in becoming a true professional is to work on yourself and be willing to make sacrifices to achieve your goals: “You have to sacrifice what you want for your dreams, making sure that your goal is bigger than the setbacks you will face, because, you will have a lot of hard times and maybe even a lot of failures. To be a professional, you have to keep chasing the goal and you have to be good at pursuing it.”
The collaboration with the dressage excellence Gunter Seidel
The coach plays a key role in the growth of the combination, is a figure of trust and reference both for the rider but also for the horse.
Since 2016 Anna has been collaborating with Gunter Seidel, a high-level and experienced excellence in the world of Dressage, for whom she has a deep respect, as she tells us, “I really owe everything to my trainer. I would not have been successful without him, I can say that he really changed my life. He’s so compassionate and harmonious, and that’s exactly what I wanted to be”.
Their partnership is built on respect, trust and also based on shared values: “His basic principles are harmony, treating the horse right, and just doing it the right way. Not training emotionally, but following the classic horse-riding fundamentals. These are his pillars that I have integrated into my training program, my way of riding, and that I apply to everything I do in my job.”
The full respect for the horses is the basis of everything, as she explains: “the foundation of our belief with horses, we will always sacrifice our success for the welfare of the horse. That’s our core belief we pursue together. I want to achieve my goals by treating them in the right way, providing them a happy a life, and whatever results from that, I will always be grateful.”
The special bond with her horses
“They are my life,” she says “I spend every single second I can with them, and each one is different., they all have such a specific personality. I know everything about them, I can look at them and know if they’re having a good day or a bad day. That is why I’m able to connect so well with my horses in the show ring, and I think this bond shows in my performances, which is my favorite thing about riding”.
“You can’t be a top level rider without having a bond with your horse. I think that’s actually where the magic comes from. When you see a special bond between horse and rider, it’s because of the time they spent together, knowing each other”
Diva, an essential partner along the way
“Thanks to her I was able to overcome so many difficult moments, and she really changed my career. I just cherish her for for being for being there for me throughout everything, I owe everything to her” speaking of her hanoverian mare Frh Davinia La Douce.
Among their many achievements reached together, they can boast several FEI Dressage World Cup appearances, in which she emotionally recalls their participation last year for the final in Omaha at the Free Style to Music Grand Prix, where they placed among the first six winning combinations: “It was a very special moment, I think it was the competition where our harmony really shined on the ring.”
A truly memorable moment, as she explains “the fact that she wasn’t super expensive, she was all we could afford at the time, she was the smallest and the cheapest horse there, but she could still be successful. And our harmony, our the classical style shines so much that she was able to finish top six. To me, that was one of my favorite moments I will have forever because our it was a great result of all the hard work we went through”
Sundayboy, a very special friend
The prodigious KWPN gelding, who sadly passed away in 2021 at the age of 22, accompanied Anna on the big debut in her career as a professional dressage rider, to which, among other memories, there’s the first place at the US FEI Young Riders dressage championship in 2014.
A very unique emotion, as she describe: “He was my world, we had a very special bond. He was my best friend and together we won the championship. At that moment I decided that I would go on doing this job for the rest of my life.”
Great ambitions and strong willingness to get involved
Anna Buffini represents a new generation of equestrian professionals, capable of making their mark on the world dressage scene. With a sports curriculum already full of successes, she looks ahead to a future dedicated to her career, to the young horses’ growth she managed and, of course, to the students she is passionately raising as skilled and future emerging talents.
Her ability to combine technique, elegance and a deep connection with her horses makes her a unique athlete but also a source of inspiration. Her journey is proof that dressage, with its perfect mix of art and sport, requires total dedication but offers immense satisfaction to those who, like her, are willing to give their all to achieve excellence.
Photo Credit: Stefano Secchi
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