KWPN horses at the Olympics

The Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo from July 23rd through August 8th. The equestrian sport is represented in the disciplines dressage, jumping and eventing. As in previous editions, a large number of the participating horses, with both Dutch and foreign riders, are KWPN registered.

In 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, both the Olympic dressage champion Valegro (Negro out of Maifleur keur by Gershwin, breeder Joop and Maartje Hanse from Burgh- Haamstede) and the Olympic showjumping champion Big Star (Quick Star out of Jolanda prestatie sport (jumping) by Nimmerdor, breeder Cees Klaver from Schoorl), were KWPN horses. Will the Dutch-bred horses be successful at the largest sports- event in the world once again this year?

Dressage
On Saturday July 24th and Sunday July 25th, the dressage riders will start with the Grand Prix at 10am Dutch time (GMT +1). Team NL consists of Edward Gal with the KWPN approved stallion GLOCK’s Total US (Totilas out of Sondra by Sir Donnerhall, breeder Gestüt Lewitz from Steinfeld), Hans Peter Minderhoud with KWPN stallion GLOCK’s Dream Boy N.O.P. (Vivaldi out of Resia elite PROK by Ferro, breeder Tim Coomans from Oud-Beijerland) and Marlies van Baalen with Go Legend (Totilas out of Litchy elite sport (dressage) preferent prestatie PROK by Ferro, breeder Stal Wittenberg from Scherpenzeel). The Grand Prix Special, the Nations Cup final, is on Tuesday July 27th at 10.00am. On July 28th, the Kür to Music, the Individual Final, starts at 10.30am.

British rider Charlotte Dujardin, won two individual Olympic gold medals with her top horse Valegro. She rides a KWPN horse again this year: Gio (Apache out of Zenzi elite prestatie IBOP D-OC by Tango), bred by H.J. de Jong and Ad Valk. With this elegant chestnut, nicknamed “Pumpkin”, she recently won the 4* Grand Prix in Aachen. The British, winners of team silver in Rio, will compete in Tokyo with an entire KWPN bred team, in addition to Dujardin/Gio, namely Carl Hester with En Vogue (Jazz out of Nicarla elite sport (dressage) PROK by Contango, breeder A. van de Goor from Herpen) and Charlotte Fry with KWPN stallion Everdale (Lord Leatherdale out of Aliska K elite EPTM (dressage) PROK by Negro, breeder P. Kluytmans from Tilburg).

Team USA’s rider Steffen Peters (San Diego, Calif.) brought Suppenkasper (registered name Danny Boy), a 13-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Four Winds Farm and Akiko Yamazaki. Suppenkasper is by Spielberg out of Upanoeska keur prest IBOP dr (by Krack C) and bred by F. van de Poel (NL). 

The traveling reserve for Team USA, Nick Wagman (San Diego, Calif.), brought Don John, a 2nd viewing PROK 2008 gelding (Johnson pref x Lindalie keur pref by Goodtimes). Bred by P A J. Rops (NL) and owned by Beverly Gepfer. 

The nominated and reserve dressage riders for the Canadian team brought three KWPN horses: nominee Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu competes with All In (reg. Alex) 2005 gelding (Tango x Leontine pref prest by Damiro). All in is bred by H. Verstraten (NL). Nominee Chris von Martels will ride Eclips, a 2009 KWPN gelding (Apache pref x Kebora ster prest by Ferro pref), bred by J.T. Hoeks-Erdkamp (NL). The second reserve, Jill Irving, brings Arthur, a 2005 KWPN gelding (Jazz pref x Olympia-W. keur prest by Contango pref), bred by H. van Helvoirt (NL). 

Eventing
The eventing riders will start with dressage on July 31st. Merel Blom with The Quizmaster (Albaran out of Zarah-Maro stb by Casco, breeder R.M. Oechies from Delden) - who won silver at the World Championships for Young Eventing Horses in 2015 - and Janneke Boonzaaijer with Champ de Tailleur (Quidam de Revel out of Vera stb-ext prestatie by Oberon du Moulin, breeders G.W. ten Pas from Winterswijk and A.C. Hoogendoorn from Haaksbergen) will compete for The Netherlands. Also among the participants is Allstar B (Ephebe for Ever out of Narenca B stb by Ekstein, breeder F.A.J. van der Burg from Berkel en Rodenrijs), who won team and individual gold with his British rider Rosalind Canter at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, USA.

The cross-country is scheduled for August 2nd, starting at 12.45pm. According to the FEI program, the final showjumping day will be held on the same day. The team final starts at 10am and the individual final, 25 combinations, starts at 13.45pm.

Jumping
The showjumping riders will start with the individual qualification on August 3rd at 12pm. Marc Houtzager and Sterrehof’s Dante N.O.P. (Canturano out of Zidante ster IBOP (jumping) sport (dressage) D-OC by Phin Phin, breeder J.W.J. Soeter from Stokkum), Willem Greve with Zypria S N.O.P. (by Canturo) and Maikel van der Vleuten with Beauville Z (by Bustique) will represent The Netherlands. The Individual Final is on August 4th, which also starts at 12:00pm. Team Qualifier is on August 6th at 12.00pm and the Team Final is a day later, which also starts at 12.00pm.

The British Olympic show jumping team also has two successful KWPN horses. Ben Maher goes to Japan with Explosion W (Chacco Blue out of Uarina ster prestatie sport (jumping) by Baloubet du Rouet, breeder Willy Wijnen from Berlicum) and Holly Smith travels to Japan with Memphis son Denver (out of Toscin by Chico's Boy, breeders M.G. and A.A. Woertman from Harbrinkhoek).

This is just a selection of the participating KWPN horses, the complete overview can be found on this page.

Program

Below the timetable for the equestrian disciplines during the Olympics in Tokyo:

Dressage – 23th until July 28th
Eventing – July 29th until August 2nd
Jumping – August 3rd until August 7th

Dressage
Friday July 23th – veterinary inspection
Saturday July 24th – Grand Prix Team and Individual Qualifier day 1 group 1, 2 and 3
Sunday July 25th, Grand Prix Team and Individual Qaulifier day 2 group 4, 5 and 6
Tuesday July 27th, Team Grand Prix Special final
Wednesday July 28th, Individual Grand Prix Freestyle

Eventing
Thursday July 29th, veterinary inspection
Friday July 30th, dressage Team and Individual
Saturday July 31th, dressage Team and Individual
Sunday August 1st, cross-country Team and Individual
Monday August 2nd, veterinary inspection and jumping, (Team Final and Individual Qualifier) and Individual Final, 25 combinations)

Jumping
Saturday July 31st, veterinary inspection
Tuesday August 3rd, Individual Qualifier
Wednesday August 4th, Individual Final
Friday August 6th, Team Qualifier
Saturday August 7th, Team Final