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‘I didn’t want to be boxed in as the influencer’: Harrison Ashton on the leap of faith that made him a British team medallist

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The 24-year-old dressage star talks about his life before becoming a social media star, swapping the influencer tag for international results and proving himself as a rider on rise, in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers

Rising dressage star Harrison Ashton and his under-25 team bronze-medal-winning ride, 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 team-mate 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.”

“I always wanted to ride and compete,” says Harrison Ashton. Credit: Cindy Voss

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 Lövsta Future Challenge for under-25 riders.

“I have to be honest, I was more nervous for Herning than I was for the Europeans,” Harrison says. “Because it had gone so well. I thought, ‘This cannot go wrong now.’ I couldn’t have the Europeans look like some fluke.”

Once again, they rose to the occasion – winning the competition and setting another personal best in the freestyle.

One thing becomes clear as we talk: no one piles on the pressure quite like Harrison does himself.

“The difficult ones teach you just as much – sometimes more”

Before the interview, most of what I knew about him came from social media. With nearly half a million followers and a feed full of polished, well-lit highlights, it’s easy to assume the riding was secondary – especially for someone who hadn’t competed much until recently.

But in person, that idea falls away quickly. He’s driven, warm, unguarded, often laughing at himself. And above anything else, he’s determined not to be boxed in as “the influencer”.

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