At a young age, I already realized how much I was fascinated by horses.
"On horseback is where I truly felt alive."
At 9 years old, I was riding at the stables of Roger Bourquard in Glovelier. He was my first trainer and insisted on me taking the license test at an early age. I succeeded on October 27th, 1993 and was not even 11 years old at the time.
A passion for Horses
Thanks to Mr. Arthur Schmid who let me ride Lampire, which was an exceptional horse and great teacher for a young rider, I was able to progress quickly and competed at the RI, RII, RIII, JIII and MII level. This was under the guidance of Roger Bourquard who remained a loyal supporter.
In 1994, I qualified for the finals of the Swiss Junior Championships. At the end of the year, I joined the A-level of the Swiss Juniors team.
Juniors
When I was 14 years old, I returned to the stables in Bassecourt and worked with my father, who was just taking a break from his athletic career.
I spent all my vacations with Beat Mändli, who taught me a lot and who helped me quickly get integrated into the professional riding world.
In 1996, I debuted in my first S class and finished in 5th place in the Swiss Junior Championships in Dagmersellen. I was 14 years old and from then on my only passion in life was horses.
In 1997, I won my first bronze medal at the European Junior Championships in Morsele. From there I went on to compete at the Le Grand Prix de Reims / Valbonne and then won a bronze medal at the Swiss Junior Championships in Giubiasco and then enjoyed three victories at the CSI Rosenthal.
In 1998, I won the title of Swiss Juniors Champion and had celebrated several victories at the Grand Prix level at the CSIO Reims, CSI Pisa, CSI Neuendorf and CSI Vienna.
On January 15th, 1999 I won the Audi Championships in Leipzig and got my first car, an Audi A3. I was not even 17 years old at the time and sold the car right there on the spot. Then I also won twice at the CSIO St. Gallen.
In the summer of 1999, I finished in the top 3 and won a bronze medal at the Swiss Elite Championships. One week later, I won 4th place at the European Championships in Münchwilen.
Young Riders
During the 2000-2001 season, I won various Grand Prix events and also won in Ascona, Neuendorf, Vienna and at the European Young Riders Championships I placed 4th, all under the guidance of my father and Jürg Notz from Gijon.
2002 was a transitional year
The season started off with several victories, three of these at the CSIO Kerzers. At the European Young Rider Championships in Copenhagen I won a bronze medal. In this time I was under the guidance of my father and Jürg Notz.
The season ended on a somewhat less glorious note – I gave up the Swiss Championships and changed horses.
Phone call on September 24th, 2002
As I was getting in the truck to drive to Zagreb, the phone rang. Jan Tops was calling to make me an offer to ride for him as the top rider in Valkenswaard.
With this piece of good news, “the dream of every rider”, we went on to win the la Coupe des Nations de Zagreb. It was literally inevitable what would happen next. Within less that two weeks after Jan Tops’ phone call, I signed my first contract.
It was the beginning of a new adventure. I was just 20 years old and had already signed my first contract.
In the course of the first year, I was able to slowly settle into this new position. This was a long-term contract which allowed me to refine my apprenticeship as a professional rider without being under too much pressure. With Jan Tops I was able to proceed step by step. I think it was a fantastic opportunity to get into the professional riding world under such optimal conditions.
February 2006
It was this weekend in the middle of February that Steve left the stables of Jan Tops and left Holland after 41 months in Valkenswaard. The departure of “Tijl” (the number one Swiss horse in 2005 with CHF 207'985 of prize money) was the impetus for Steve to leave as well. “Since 2003, Jan Tops gave me the chance to compete at all the big championships and to win two medals. However, I was at a point in my career where I wanted to work on other things and with horses that would stay at the stables and not with those belonging to a horse dealer”, says Steve (23 years old). Monday, February 20th he arrived at Vejer de la Frontera, where he would stay for several weeks for the Sunshine Circuit. Steve added, “I will ride for Alexander Onischenko, who has given me a dozen horses to ride”. This wealthy Ukrainian, who rides from time to time and is based in Liège, wanted to put together a team. The German rider Katerina Offel and the Belgian riders Vangeengerghe and Wathelet were already riding for the Ukraine and therefore he asked Steve if he would consider doing the same. He responded, “It is not an issue at the moment. I will ride for Switzerland and in the upcoming events as well”.
Upon my return to Switzerland, after leaving Holland, I went back to Chiètres to Jürg Notz where I started riding again.
Here I would take the time to think about my situation and hope to make a good decision for the future. I wanted to take on something new, but did not yet know what.
Mr. Piaget decides to help me
For almost four years, Steve Guerdat was the best rider at the stables belonging to Jan Tops. In Holland, he established himself as a brilliant rider and regularly qualified at top international events. At the end of 2005, Steve was in the top 12 rankings worldwide and the only male there. As Jan Tops was a businessman, successful horses were not around for long and Steve’s best horses were continually being sold. In February he sold Steve’s top horse Tijl van het Pallieterland. This was too much for the young rider and so Steve left Holland. Alexander Onischenko, a wealthy Ukrainian businessman, made Steve a tempting offer: he asked Steve to come to his stables and to ride exceptional horses. There was just one condition – to ride for the Ukraine. Steve initially accepted the offer but then backed down in the last minute. He didn’t want to give up the Swiss passport and therefore returned to Switzerland, alone and without any professional outlook.
After his return to Switzerland in spring 2006, Steve was forced to start over at square one. The times where he rode 10 horses a day and competed internationally were over. It all happened so suddenly and Steve was at a low point in his career. Thanks to a long time friend of the family, Mr. Yves Piaget, who decided to invest in this young champion, Steve was able to again successfully compete at prestigious tournaments, move to new stables and have a promising new horse named “Jalisca Solier”.
April 2007
Before leaving for Las Vegas to compete in his second World Cup Final, Steve welcomed us to his new little paradise - the Rütihof – where we received a guided tour! Soon after, he would join Trésor, which had left for Las Vegas via Amsterdam 3 days earlier.
“It’s really perfect, functional, spacious, airy, here everything has been designed to ensure the well-being of the horse”, says Steve, as he gives us a tour of his new stables that are situated on the top of Herrliberg (Zurich). These 5-star stables are set in beautiful natural surroundings. Here we are in the countryside and conveniently surrounded by forests, yet the Lake of Zurich and the “Gold Coast” are at our doorstep.
Only 6 km from here is the Zurich lakeside and we are only 15 km southwest of the city itself. Across the lake by Thalwil, Beat Mändli has his stables. These two World Cup finalists from 2007 are very close in many ways. It’s amazing that they both moved here after a brief time in the canton of Fribourg: Beat Mändli was in Riaz at the Liebherrs and Steve in Chiètres with the Notz family where he enjoyed his stay for a year. Both of the riders, one from Schaffhausen and the other from the Jura (13 years apart in age), have also pursued a similar path in their professional lives and now also live relatively close to one another!
Both riders possess an extraordinary talent and have the sponsors and financial means to pursue their professional ambitions. While Beat Mändli is supported by the Theiler brothers, Stefan Stamm and several others, Steve is supported by Yves Piaget, Urs Schwarzenbach, not to mention his father and close friends.I have met some exceptional people in this profession
- Agnès and Godi Aeschbacher – my first patrons, Mr. Yves Piaget – my sponsor, Mr. Urs Schwarzenbach - sponsor and owner of the beautiful Rütihof stables. You have brought me happiness and for that I would like to THANK YOU publicly.
- “My parents who gave me the freedom”
- People who I never got to know personally, my family, my parents and above all my brother Yannick.
The big horizon
« This determined desire to persist”, remains my motto in life because it is important for me to progress and gain experience as I pursue my passion.
Thank you very much for visiting me. I look forward to meeting with you again, all of you, not to mention my fan club!
Thank you for sharing with me these unforgettable moments in my life!
