What a result in the 5 year old class for Van Olst Horses in the Pavo Cup! In the 5-year-olds Everest managed to win and Nacho became 2nd!

During the semi-finals on Thursday, Everest managed to make the most impression as the last starter in the field. With an absolute top test he managed to convince the jury members of his qualities and received a total of 89.8 points! The NRPS approved gray stallion was bred by Van Olst Horses. His father is Especial, Everdale x Vivaldi, who made his debut in the international Grand Prix in Ermelo last week and his mother is the Negro mare Fresia. She is also the dam of 2 more NRPS approved stallions and also the full sister of the well-known dressage horse Elegance, who has participated in all major international championships under Beatric Ferrer Salat.
The impressive Nacho scored 86.8 points in the semi-finals, which was good for 4th place. Nacho s. Negro was bred by Sandra Makenschijn from Chaam out of the Krack C mare Benetton.
During this semi-final, Zandra Birkeland rode the NRPS-approved Ilegro s. Inclusive x Negro x Gershwin. This dark brown horse was bred by the Hanse family from Burgh Haamstede together with Van Olst Horses out of the full sister of the very famous Valegro. Ilegro therefore has the same dam as Nalegro, who is approved by the KWPN, and who took part in the finals of the World Championship for young dressage horses last week.

Secret Lover and O’Frederic competed in the four-year-olds on Thursday. These KWPN approved stallions left a very good impression and Secret Lover finished in 5th place with 85.6 points. Both stallions managed to qualify for the final on Saturday, just like the horses mentioned above.

On Saturday, O’Frederic was the first to start and once again managed to present himself very well. With a total of 83.2 points he managed to finish in a very creditable 10th place.
Immediately afterwards Lottie was allowed to take place in the saddle of Secret Lover. The black stallion ran very actively through the test in which the sharp use of the hind leg was very noticeable. the duo reached a score of 88.8 points, which was good for third place in this final! The scores of the semi-final and the final are added together and Secret Lover came in 4th place!

In the five-year-olds, Ilegro was the first to enter the track. Under the saddle of Zandra he impressed with his great trot and the total points came to 82.6. which was enough for a very creditable 8th place in this final and a nice 12th place in the final standings.
Then it was the turn of the black Nacho. With even more ease than Thursday and even more impressive in the trot and canter, he managed to score a total of 88.4 points and at that time good for first place in the standings. Everest was allowed to run his test immediately after Nacho. In the adjacent ring the final had started for the 6-year-olds and when the result was announced there was very understandable applause. This resulted in some tension at Everest, so that he galloped once in the test and later jumped away again. Nevertheless, he made a very good impression on the judges and with 88 points he was just behind Nacho. Until the end of the class they remained on 1 and 2 and they were both allowed to continue to the last part of this final day. Running over by guest judge Daniel Bachmann Andersen.
It was Nacho’s turn first and the Danish rider was full of praise: “This horse fits me well, also in terms of size”, is Bachmann Andersen’s first reaction. “He has been trained fantastically, my compliments to Lottie for that. Particularly in his canter, he can widen and close very easily, in this he is already comparable to a six or seven-year-old. This horse has a great future ahead of him and I give him 92 points.”
Then it was Everest’s turn: “This horse is fantastic to ride, Phoebe did a very good job with him. It is light in the hand and concentrates on its work. After his busy schedule of the past week, he is not tired either. His canter is really a highlight, he can switch fantastically. I give him 95 points.”

And with that, victory for Everest and second place for Nacho was a fact!

Last weekend Nalegro and Everest were allowed to go to the World Championships for young dressage horses in Ermelo. This prestigious event was once again organized in Ermelo and the creme de la creme of the young dressage horses was present here.
In the first round, Nalegro was the first of these two five-year-olds to start. Nalegro, ridden by Lottie and bred by the Hanse family from Burgh Haamstede and Van Olst Horses, had a good solid test in which unfortunately some tension was involved in the canter. With 8.26 points they eventually finished in twelfth place, which was good for direct placement in the final.
Everest was the next horses and ridden by Phoebe Peters. Everest was bred by Van Olst Horses out of Fresia s. Negro and his father is the gray Especial who made an incredibly good international debut in the CDI Tour in Ermelo. For Phoebe Peters it was her debut in international sport after she became European champion with the ponies. Everest showed himself with a lot of energy, showed his good qualities and impressed the jury. His point total was 8.02, which meant a 15th place and unfortunately not directly through to the final.
For the combinations that were not directly through to the final, a consolation final was scheduled on Friday, with the best three combinations going through to the final on Saturday. In ring 2, Everest and Phoebe once again showed their skills in this consolation final. Again he showed his good qualities but unfortunately he also had two small moments where his energy took over. Nevertheless, a very good test by this young stallion who was rewarded with 78.2%.

On Saturday it was Nalegro’s turn for the final of the five-year-olds. He seemed more at ease than on the first round and the quality oozed from it! With his characteristic powerful hind leg, he again showed that he had a lot of talent for heavy work. A score of 79.6% was the result.

Superlatives are not enough for the very impressive Glamourdale (Lord Leatherdale out of Thuja pref by Negro) who again showed his best side tonight under Charlotte Fry. With a difference of about 1.2%, the gold went to the KWPN stallion, the final score was 82.508%.

The sky is the limit
She still can’t believe it, but 26-year-old Charlotte Fry has just become world champion. “I sat on him for the first time when he was six. I had never been on such a horse before, the sky really felt like the limit then and it still does. As a seven-year-old he won gold at the World Championships, which was already fantastic. Even then I knew he was a real show twink, he loves all the attention. Then we started working towards the Grand Prix and he just keeps getting better and stronger. He really is a horse in a million, and I am so looking forward to the future. This is only his first championship and there is still so much to improve on. When you think about it, it’s almost a little scary that a horse this fantastic has the potential for even more.”

Tuesday is a rest day, after which the closing Freestyle will be held on Wednesday. Lottie will ride her new Freestyle “Best of Britain” where the greatest hits in British history come together in an amazing choreography.

Below an overview of photos of this great moment and the winning test can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/W-Im49hWbSk

photos: Jon Stroud, Lilly Forado, EQWO.net, Digishots

We recently wrote an article on this website about the home-bred horses of Van Olst Horses. But some horses that are now in the spotlight were not yet mentioned in this article.

Don Joe, the son of Diego out of the Lord Leatherdale x Almox Prints bred mare Cinderella, recently made his Grand Prix debut and scored 73% in his second appearance at this level! At 9 years old, he is still young for this level, but under the saddle of Charlotte Fry he is already making a very good impression.

The next horse is Niro’s Enjoy, a large dark brown son of the German foundation stallion De Niro, here combined with the mare Enjoy who descends from Lord Leatherdale x Negro. During the NAF Dressage Talent Berlicum he won the class for 4-year-old dressage horses with a total score of 189 points. Guest rider Marten Luiten gave him the ultimate 10!

Below is the article we previously published:

Van Olst Horses also breeds a few foals every year. Did you know that the mare Iris, who won the Prix St Georges class in Someren last weekend ridden by Anouk Ivits, was also bred by Van Olst Horses? This daughter of Lord Leatherdale is bred out of the Negro x Monaco mare Eternal Flame who is a full sister of Elegance. Under Beatriz Ferrer Salat, he took part in the Tokyo Olympics and the European Dressage Championships in Hagen last year.

Another full sister of Eternal Flame and Elegance is the Small Tour mare Doortje Subtilia.

The next full sister of these 3 horses is the mother of no less than three NRPS approved stallions: Evegro (by Everdale) is ready to compete in the Prix st. Georges and recently purchased by Lotje Schoots, Irvin (by Inspire) is the second son and the third son is Everest (by Especial). Everest recently passed his performance test with a very good score and previously won the KWPN Young Dressage Talents for three-year-olds in Oosteinde with a 10 for his canter. Everest will be available to breeders via fresh semen this year.

Nalegro descends from a completely different line. Nalegro is the Painted Black son who has just been approved by the KWPN with no less than 85 points. What is special about this stallion is that he was bred out of the full sister of the most successful dressage horse ever: Valegro. Olympic medals, medals at World Cups and European Championships and winner of the World Cup final. He has won everything there is to win under Charlotte Dujardin.

But it is not only dressage that is bred. Gertjan’s ‘old’ love, the breeding of jumping horses, is also being practiced. During the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, the class for 7 year olds was won by Kadansa B under Sabrina Lefebvre. Kadansa B was bred by Van Olst Horses and Thomas Bezouw out of the Carthino Z  x Animo mare Didansa. Didansa is a full sister of the Grand Prix show jumper Cigo B.