6 reasons showjumper Peder Fredricson may be your next life crush
Nick Skelton winning the Olympic gold medal in Rio was somewhat distracting for those of us watching from the sofa at home. All eyes were firmly on Nick. And Big Star. And no one else.
Which meant we weren’t paying a huge amount of attention to Sweden’s silver medallist Peder Fredricson as he took to the podium. But now we’ve had time to breathe, we’ve realised we may have missed a trick there. Here are six reasons we are (just a little bit) in awe of him…
1. He’s no one trick pony
Thirty-four-year-old Peder may have clinched the individual silver medal for showjumping in Rio aboard H&H All In in August last year, but he made his Olympic debut as an eventer with Hilly Trip in Barcelona in 1992, when he finished 14th as an individual.
2. He juggles top-level sport and fatherhood with aplomb
Peder has three children (Carsten, Hjalmar and Bill) with his wife Lisen, who is also a showjumper. And he has high hopes for them — he’d love it if at least one of his children followed him into the sport.
3. He’s a hit with the public
Earlier this week (16 January), Peder scooped up the ‘Jerring Prize’ at the Swedish Sports Gala — Sweden’s most prestigious sports award for an athlete who has had particular success in the past year. The Swedish public cast their votes for the nominees — and Peder managed to fight off all the competition including one of the world’s best golfers Henrik Stenson.
4. He has a back-up plan
While most of us would be happy if our talents stretched to Olympic-level showjumping, Peder is also a graphic designer. He won a competition run by the FEI to design new pictograms for each of the seven sports the federation governs and he also designed the logo for the Sweden International Horse Show. Oh, and he is effortlessly eloquent, speaking German as well as Swedish and English.
Like this? You might also enjoy reading these:
Nick Skelton and Big Star win GOLD in Rio showjumping showdown
The ultimate Whitaker quiz: have you got the legendary showjumping family sussed?
5. Model-looks
There’s a reason that Peder was snapped up to be H&M’s poster boy…
6. His horses come first
Peder’s horses can kick back in the fields at his stunning yard in southern Sweden, complete with sea views — and the stable walls have windows to allow the horses to interact.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Don’t miss our exclusive interview with Peder Fredricson in this week’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine (19 January 2016)
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
A graduate from Durham University, Madeleine joined H&H in 2011 and became Features Editor — producing content across the magazine and website, including the popular inside back cover article ‘The horse that made me’ and the weekly ‘The best of my fun…’ interview. She has written on topics as diverse as hay making and headcams, to hot totty in the horse world and circus horses. Madeleine now works as a freelance feature writer for Country Life, The Telegraph, Horse & Hound, cntraveller.com, The Spectator and The Field, as well as writing obituaries for The Times.