A successful Gjelsten Zanotelli cooperation

“The faster you get close to the best, the better”, Bjørn Rune Gjelsten proclaimed in 2018. Now, Ingrid is the Norwegian Champion for Young Riders and based in Belgium, being coached by world number 5: Marlon Modolo Zanotelli.

Published:
October 27th, 2021

Now 20-year-old Ingrid Gjelsten rode Icelandic horses when she and Bjørn Rune first met Gulliksen at Kingsland Oslo Horse Show about seven years ago. Now, the name Gjelsten is not only one of the most important for the Norwegian equestrian sport, it is also a name with several Norwegian championship titles to it. The first title she earned as a Junior in 2019, and then another this summer, becoming Norwegian Champion for Young Riders. At that point she had already spent all year at the Augustsson Zanotelli stables in Belgium, being coached by Brazilian rider Marlon Modolo Zanotelli (33).

Currently ranked number 5 in the world, Zanotelli is at the best of his career. So far. In 2019 he won both team and individual gold at the Pan American Games, becoming the first ever Brazilian rider to win at the championship. Consequently, he was named Equestrian Jumper of the Year by the Brazilian Olympic Committee. Coming from a horse family, Marlon’s career started in the Americas before he moved to Europe to work for Ludo Philippaerts in 2008, and then for Enda Carroll’s Ashford Farm for many years before setting up his own stables with his Swedish wife Angelica Augustsson in 2016.

Getting close
to the best

“My experience is that the faster you get close to the best, the better”, Bjørn Rune Gjelsten said when opening the Gjelsten Arena in Drammen in 2018. As the owner of the Global Champions League team Scandinavian Vikings and with Ingrid based with Zanotelli, he means serious business. Marlon met the Gjelsten family through Geir Gulliksen and says he is “very lucky to have the opportunity to work with them, it’s such a nice family supporting the Norwegian sport and shows”.

– It’s so fun to have finished school and be out in the world. I get to experience a lot. When I have time it's good to come home, as well. Moving away from home feels different, a little weird, but it’s definitely good for me.

– Ingrid Gjelsten

– I have been in Belgium since January and I like it a lot. Marlon is very nice and a great, but strict, coach. I learn a lot, all the time. The stable is an incredibly nice and social place. I love how Marlon’s mother makes lunch for us every day, that’s so nice, Ingrid says.

Marlon follows his family’s philosophy of trying to think like a horse and treat every horse as an individual. Secondly, he always tries to keep it simple, to not overcomplicate things. He works a lot on the basics, firmly believing that you can get great results from working hard on what happens in between the fences. Ingrid really gets to work a lot on improving her flatwork and basics, being fairly new to the showjumping game.

She comes into the stable at 9 in the mornings to ride her horses before having lunch with the whole team. Then she normally rides another horse before going on with her day. Together, the Gjelsten Zanotelli team both ride and work together on making plans for all the shows, picking the ones that fit Ingrid’s horses the best, whether or not it’s the same shows Marlon will compete at. At Kingsland Oslo Horse Show, Marlon coached Ingrid for the whole first week of national classes before entering the ring himself for the second, international week of the show.

– He could be the horse for her to step up to the next level

Ingrid has four horses, one being injured at the moment. With Jackson Vd Bisschop, Jovinal and Alibi De La Roque, previously ridden by fast Frenchman Julien Epaillard, she produced great rounds and won several classes at Telenor Arena during the two weeks of intensive showing. She entered Jovinal in her first 5* class, and won. Marlon also had a great week competing in Oslo, with the highlight being winning the big Rikstoto Grand Prix on Obora's Chloe in front of a full Telenor Arena.

– Ingrid is very talented. We work on the philosophy of keeping it simple and working on the basics. We have already seen nice results, so we have big hopes. She has nice horses to ride, good people around her and very nice staff, Marlon says.

– Do you have a favourite out of Ingrid’s horses? One that you particularly believe in?

– I could take all of them, to be honest, they’re very good horses. She’s very lucky and they’ve done a very good job picking her horses. Alibi, which is a fairly new horse, is going very well for her. He looks like he could be the horse for her to step up to the next level. We are very lucky to have the opportunity to work with these kinds of horses. It makes it very fun, makes it easy, so we don’t have to complicate things too much. It looks good for the future.