By Isabelle Eklund and Anette Sånesson (translated by Hillevi Brasch) / SWB
Photography: Sofie Gullberg Photography
On a farm between Halmstad and Laholm, in the western part of Sweden, 32-year-old Maja Bogren lives with her family, including her partner, son, and parents. Here, she is living her dream of working full-time with horses.
Maja’s journey has been shaped by persistence, lessons from setbacks, and a growing interest in young horses. Her passion for horses started early, thanks to Maja's grandfather, who bought a pony even before she was born, marking the beginning of a life filled with horses. Maja has competed in dressage, showjumping, and eventing, and it was together with her dressage-enthusiast mother that the foundation was laid. “My pony years weren’t a meteoric rise, but I learned so much. It was valuable to have to work hard,” says Maja.
Her breakthrough came when she transitioned from pony to horse as a junior and found an excellent future competition partner at Stall Linell. The horse was named Aperitif (SWB) (2006: Hip Hop (SWB) - Alicia (31) (SWB) - Magini (SWB), bred by Fredrik Linell), and with him she competed up to 1m30-1m40 in showjumping. That’s also when her interest in working with young horses grew, especially those that other riders didn’t want or dared to take on. “I saw it as a challenge to find a way to make it work with them. That’s something I’ve carried with me ever since,” Maja explains.
During her high school years, Maja spent nearly all her free time with the Linell family, where she gained invaluable experience with young horses. After graduation, she got a job working for Pia Levin, where she had the opportunity to ride and compete frequently. Maja and her partner eventually found a farm to renovate, and every-thing started to fall into place. “Today we have 13-15 horses of different ages on the farm. We breed, train, compete, and also have two retirees living the good life in a free-range paradise. My biggest collaboration today is with Horse-partner in Laholm,” says Maja...
