Home side rider Willem Greve topped the horse swap class results in ’s-Hertogenbosch tonight, the Dutch national champion beating representatives of the reigning medallists in all three senior championships.
This contest, the HeadFirst Group Prize – Best of Champions, re-created the format used in the final of the World Championships until 2014, where four riders each jump a round on each other’s horses. With the riders warming up each mount in the ring and commentary and interviews by 2014 world champion Jeroen Dubbeldam plus top rider Harrie Smolders, it made for a fascinating evening for the crowd at the Dutch Masters show.
Willem, second-placed Philipp Weishaupt (European individual silver medallist) and third-placed Henrik von Eckermann, the current world champion, all sat on four faults after the initial rounds and had to jump off their own horses to settle the placings.
The winner’s ride was Isabel de Rijcker’s Hadewyn Van’t Ravennest, Philipp piloted Madeleine Winter-Schulze’s Cupido 130 and Henrik put Dufour Stables AG’s Calizi into the competition. Fourth-placed Maikel van der Vleuten, the Olympic individual bronze medallist from Paris, brought forward Gabriela Roger Ibars’ Lalique.
“They were all different, but four really nice horses,” said Willem. “Mine was a bit fresh – she jumped best in the last round with Maikel, but also she gets a bit tense and she doesn’t know this ring but she handled it well.
“I knew Calizi was hot, but she’s very hot! She was a challenge, but you can feel that she has enormous motivation and drive. The first impression of Cupido was a big horse and a bit slow, you didn’t expect him to have such a quick reflex – the feeling was very comfortable and careful. Maikel’s horse was actually very easy.”
In the jump-off, Willem finished in 30.75sec to beat Philipp into second on 31.14sec. Henrik – who is riding in a hand brace after incurring an injury in a fall – took a risk to fence two and had it down for third.
Horse swap class results: the faults
The three riders who jumped off all incurred four faults in the initial rounds on the same horse, Willem’s ride Hadewyn Van’t Ravennest, and in the same line.
With Willem, the 10-year-old mare took the front bar off the oxer out of the double at fence 6b. Philipp cleared the double, but then the mare hit the white plank that topped fence seven, five strides later.
Philipp explained: “I watched Willem go – he came a bit long and open to the combination and it got a bit short for him. I tried to give her the room she needed in the combination, but it meant I had to squeeze a bit to the oxer out, which made the five strides a bit short. It wasn’t so smooth, that’s why I had the plank down.”
Henrik jumped the mare third and she just had a light touch on the same plank.
“I tried to help her with the plank and maybe tried to help her too much and disturbed her instead,” he said. “I should have trusted her quality and maybe she’d have jumped it better.”
Willem, Philipp and Henrik all went clear on all three of the other horses in the initial rounds.
Maikel was last to jump Hadewyn Van’t Ravennest and the first to go clear on the horse. He was also clear on his own Lalique and on Philipp’s Cupido 130, but his round on Henrik’s ride, the keen grey mare Calizi, scuppered his chances when he had eight faults, knocking the upright out of the double at 4b and the final fence.
Henrik said: “She’s not an easy horse in that you need to know her a little bit. She’s so sensitive, if you squeeze a little too much in the wrong moment, she really goes forward. Maybe Maikel should have stayed upright a little more and not gone too early [with his body before the fences]. You have to do it with your seat and body as she’s very sensitive to your legs and hand.”
Both Cupido 130 and Lalique jumped clear with every rider and they were awarded best horse sashes.
‘Unbelievable publicity’
Summing up the horse swap class, Willem said: “I think it was unbelievable publicity for our unbelievable sport. We saw horsemanship, friendship, colleagues, people were listening.
“From what I heard, Harrie and Jeroen did an amazing job to give some insight, but in a way that not only professionals can understand, but also people at home in the living room, so they could really get interested in how beautiful but also difficult our sport is.
“I think we’ve seen four great horses tonight with four great horsemen and this was unbelievable PR for our sport.”
- Check back tomorrow for full analysis of the horses and each round in the class. To stay up to date with all the breaking news from major shows throughout 2025, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website
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