“Never let go of me”
Gertjan van Olst was born in Kampen. His father had an offset printing business and his family had nothing to do with horses. When he was eight, his uncle took him to a local riding school. There, he rode and groomed the Shetland ponies. Of that time, he says: “The horses never let go of me after that.”
Youngest stud owner
When he was eleven, he went with his father to the stallion inspection held at the cattle market in Utrecht and there he found a Welsh pony stallion that had not been approved. His father lent him eight hundred guilders to buy the pony. Six months later he presented the pony for re-inspection at the Warmblood-Arab inspection and it was approved. Gertjan leased him to a stud owner and in exchange for the rental he was given a pony, thus making Gertjan probably the youngest stud owner and dealer in the Netherlands.
Gertjan the showjumper
Gertjan was a very credible showjumper and rode up to National level. At the age of fifteen he was one of the famous eight Deltaruiters from IJsselmuiden. He says of that time: “They were all well-known names in the group such as: Klaas Selles, Herman van der Scheer, Mense Toering and Willemien Blanken-van der Schee. All of them big names at that time. And there I was, as a fifteen-year-old, riding amongst them.”
Henk Nooren
Gertjan wanted to work with horses, but his mother insisted on him first having a good education. He therefore studied for his HAVO certificate. “Admittedly it took me two years longer to complete because I was always with the horses, but anyway”, he says laughing . He then went on to the Higher Agricultural School in Dronten. During this period Gertjan had several fantastic internship addresses such as with the Schreuder family in Swifterbant, the Van der Scheer family in Lelystad and the Beugel-Zwaving family in Nieuw Weerdinge.
He was then given the opportunity to start at Henk Nooren’s yard. He started at the bottom. It was hard work, seven-days-a-week from first thing in the morning to late at night. When Nooren moved to Brabant with his showjumpers, Gertjan moved with him. He rented stables nearby and with a ten thousand guilder loan from the bank (for which his father stood as guarantor) as starting capital, he started his own business. He bought and sold horses and gave lessons thereby building up his own clientele. When Nooren then moved to Limburg, Gertjan stayed in Brabant where he has remained to this day.
An own business
In the early years Gertjan bought showjumpers in the North of the country where he had many connections. He trained and competed them and sold some of them straight on. Eventually, Gertjan had so many horses that he ran out of space. In 1983 Manege de Meerberg in Teteringen came up for rent. The owner also had two stud stallions there who he really wanted to lease out with the equestrian centre. Gertjan rented the equestrian centre complex and also took over the stallions. “I had always been interested in breeding and so I just rolled into the stud business.” The business grew. As well as his horses for trading, Gertjan also had a few young stallions who he presented at the inspections and so he gradually started with breeding.
First approved stallions
In 1984 Gertjan had his first approved stallion: Zalmeco. The following year Animo followed. “That horse meant a lot to me.” Animo was one of the first KWPN stallions to compete at the Olympic Games, in Barcelona in 1992. In 1995 he was declared ‘keur’.
Expansion of the business
Gertjan now has around 300 horses, around 150 of which are at home in Den Hout. But the business is still basically the same: stallions at stud, breeding, bringing on, training, buying and selling. “Not much has actually changed over the years. The business has expanded but I am still doing the same thing. The only difference is that back then I was involved with jumping horses and have now gradually moved to dressage horses.”
Anne
His wife Anne appears on the scene. It is partly due to her that the business switched from jumping to dressage. Gertjan met Anne at the stallion inspection in Denmark where she presented Gertjan with a prize. Anne and Gertjan have now been married for over 25 years. Anne is a very successful rider who competed five times for the Danish team at the Olympic Games. Anne is in charge of the dressage and competition yard and is also responsible for the horses’ training and the training of the young riders.
Negro & Lord Leatherdale
“We gradually moved from jumping horses to dressage horses. I was particularly impressed with Ferro so I looked for his offspring. We found one in Negro. But we also needed something else. I had quite a few regular customers so I eventually had many Negro-mares in my clientèle. I wanted something new, without Jazz or Krack C. There is nothing wrong with either, but at that time Jazz and Krack C were in 90% of all KWPN-bred horses, hence the decision.”
Gertjan first saw Lord Leatherdale as a two-and-a-half-year-old at the stallion inspection in Den Bosch. He was already approved in Westphalia. “I saw him, at the back of the group, and he was jogging along so nicely. That really caught my attention.” He decided not to approach the owner that day but called him the day after the inspection and drove to Germany. The horse was very green but had already been ridden. At Gertjan’s request the horse was saddled. “He trotted away and after ten metres I knew that I wanted him.”
Lord Leatherdale was initially purchased for fifty percent and approved after a good performance test. He proved to be a hit with the Negro offspring. “We hoped as much but that had to be proved. The qualities of both stallions compliment each other well. They are actually worlds apart but they fit together well.” He is now fully-owned by Van Olst.
Since then Van Olst Horses has produced many successful stallions such as Everdale, Glamourdale, Chippendale and Inclusive.
Future
Gertjan is a satisfied person. Of course there have been set backs too. Talented horses who become injured, or worse. “You have to know that you always need to move on. You have to be good at putting things into perspective. Turn around and move on. Luckily, it is still so that if I am in a bad mood and then, for example, see Everdale in action, a horse has the effect on me of turning my bad mood into a good mood. I hope that I can continue my business for a long while yet, together with my wife and the ambitious young people around us.”
History
“Never let go of me”
Gertjan van Olst was born in Kampen. His father had an offset printing business and his family had nothing to do with horses. When he was eight, his uncle took him to a local riding school. There, he rode and groomed the Shetland ponies. Of that time, he says: “The horses never let go of me after that.”
Youngest stud owner
When he was eleven, he went with his father to the stallion inspection held at the cattle market in Utrecht and there he found a Welsh pony stallion that had not been approved. His father lent him eight hundred guilders to buy the pony. Six months later he presented the pony for re-inspection at the Warmblood-Arab inspection and it was approved. Gertjan leased him to a stud owner and in exchange for the rental he was given a pony, thus making Gertjan probably the youngest stud owner and dealer in the Netherlands.
Gertjan the showjumper
Gertjan was a very credible showjumper and rode up to National level. At the age of fifteen he was one of the famous eight Deltaruiters from IJsselmuiden. He says of that time: “They were all well-known names in the group such as: Klaas Selles, Herman van der Scheer, Mense Toering and Willemien Blanken-van der Schee. All of them big names at that time. And there I was, as a fifteen-year-old, riding amongst them.”
Henk Nooren
Gertjan wanted to work with horses, but his mother insisted on him first having a good education. He therefore studied for his HAVO certificate. “Admittedly it took me two years longer to complete because I was always with the horses, but anyway”, he says laughing . He then went on to the Higher Agricultural School in Dronten. During this period Gertjan had several fantastic internship addresses such as with the Schreuder family in Swifterbant, the Van der Scheer family in Lelystad and the Beugel-Zwaving family in Nieuw Weerdinge.
He was then given the opportunity to start at Henk Nooren’s yard. He started at the bottom. It was hard work, seven-days-a-week from first thing in the morning to late at night. When Nooren moved to Brabant with his showjumpers, Gertjan moved with him. He rented stables nearby and with a ten thousand guilder loan from the bank (for which his father stood as guarantor) as starting capital, he started his own business. He bought and sold horses and gave lessons thereby building up his own clientele. When Nooren then moved to Limburg, Gertjan stayed in Brabant where he has remained to this day.
An own business
In the early years Gertjan bought showjumpers in the North of the country where he had many connections. He trained and competed them and sold some of them straight on. Eventually, Gertjan had so many horses that he ran out of space. In 1983 Manege de Meerberg in Teteringen came up for rent. The owner also had two stud stallions there who he really wanted to lease out with the equestrian centre. Gertjan rented the equestrian centre complex and also took over the stallions. “I had always been interested in breeding and so I just rolled into the stud business.” The business grew. As well as his horses for trading, Gertjan also had a few young stallions who he presented at the inspections and so he gradually started with breeding.
First approved stallions
In 1984 Gertjan had his first approved stallion: Zalmeco. The following year Animo followed. “That horse meant a lot to me.” Animo was one of the first KWPN stallions to compete at the Olympic Games, in Barcelona in 1992. In 1995 he was declared ‘keur’.
Expansion of the business
Gertjan now has around 300 horses, around 150 of which are at home in Den Hout. But the business is still basically the same: stallions at stud, breeding, bringing on, training, buying and selling. “Not much has actually changed over the years. The business has expanded but I am still doing the same thing. The only difference is that back then I was involved with jumping horses and have now gradually moved to dressage horses.”
Anne
His wife Anne appears on the scene. It is partly due to her that the business switched from jumping to dressage. Gertjan met Anne at the stallion inspection in Denmark where she presented Gertjan with a prize. Anne and Gertjan have now been married for over 25 years. Anne is a very successful rider who competed five times for the Danish team at the Olympic Games. Anne is in charge of the dressage and competition yard and is also responsible for the horses’ training and the training of the young riders.
Negro & Lord Leatherdale
“We gradually moved from jumping horses to dressage horses. I was particularly impressed with Ferro so I looked for his offspring. We found one in Negro. But we also needed something else. I had quite a few regular customers so I eventually had many Negro-mares in my clientèle. I wanted something new, without Jazz or Krack C. There is nothing wrong with either, but at that time Jazz and Krack C were in 90% of all KWPN-bred horses, hence the decision.”
Gertjan first saw Lord Leatherdale as a two-and-a-half-year-old at the stallion inspection in Den Bosch. He was already approved in Westphalia. “I saw him, at the back of the group, and he was jogging along so nicely. That really caught my attention.” He decided not to approach the owner that day but called him the day after the inspection and drove to Germany. The horse was very green but had already been ridden. At Gertjan’s request the horse was saddled. “He trotted away and after ten metres I knew that I wanted him.”
Lord Leatherdale was initially purchased for fifty percent and approved after a good performance test. He proved to be a hit with the Negro offspring. “We hoped as much but that had to be proved. The qualities of both stallions compliment each other well. They are actually worlds apart but they fit together well.” He is now fully-owned by Van Olst. Since then Van Olst Horses has produced many successful stallions such as Everdale, Glamourdale, Chippendale and Inclusive.
Future
Gertjan is a satisfied person. Of course there have been set backs too. Talented horses who become injured, or worse. “You have to know that you always need to move on. You have to be good at putting things into perspective. Turn around and move on. Luckily, it is still so that if I am in a bad mood and then, for example, see Everdale in action, a horse has the effect on me of turning my bad mood into a good mood. I hope that I can continue my business for a long while yet, together with my wife and the ambitious young people around us.”
