I GREW up in Finland and every Finnish person is mad about the Olympic Games. Any Finn who won a medal at the Olympics was more important than the president. The most famous athlete was probably Lasse Virén, a long-distance runner who won four gold medals. That's why when I was young, there wasn't really a sport I didn't do. But I was a bit impatient, so if I didn't become good at something quickly, I stopped.
We had an Olympics in Helsinki in 1952 and I started riding at the riding school set up in the old Olympic stables. It's also where I rented stables and started my business, and I stayed there, in the old Olympic venue, for years.
