BY JENNEKE SMIT / KWPN
PHOTOGRAPHY: FEMKE PALSTRA; DIRK CAREMANS
For more than 50 years, the Van de Lageweg family has firmly believed that quality wins. A strong broodmare band underpins their impressive record of breeding successes.
Alongside their rigorously selected mare lines, they have enriched their breeding programme with several highly interesting Grand Prix mares. This ensures that VDL Stud has access to the best breeding stock on every front.
From the outset, Wiebe-Yde van de Lageweg begins with a strong statement. “Please put this in large letters at the top of the article: It really is not true that breeding only makes sense these days if you use Grand Prix mares. We firmly believe that mares that have not proven themselves in sport can still produce horses that are every bit as good”.
Always striving for the best
The Van de Lageweg family’s breeding programme earned them the title of ‘KWPN Breeder of the Year’ back in 2009, and their success continues to grow. In addition to an extensive list of international showjumpers, their homebred horses consistently excel at inspections. One reason for taking a closer look at their breeding programme with Wiebe-Yde is the double victory they celebrated last August when three-year-old Techerry VDL (Chacco-Blue) claimed the coveted National Mare Championship title, while their homebred Mattias son Wingman VDL received the highest assessment at the National Foal Championship.
Year after year, VDL Stud dominates regional and national inspections. This is the result of rigorous selection, an exceptionally high-quality herd, and a commitment to continually comparing their own horses with the wider population. The Van de Lageweg family leaves nothing to chance and always aims for the highest possible standard. They never shy away from competition. This approach has already brought them more than 10 National Mare Championship titles, seven of them with homebred mares: Zendence (Indoctro, 2007); Gouvernante VDL (Bacardi VDL, 2014); Hufonia (Cantos, co-breeder Arend van Ittersum, 2015); Lannamieka VDL (Grand Slam VDL, 2019); Mette VDL (Etoulon VDL, 2020); O’Dame VDL (Etoulon VDL, 2022); and Techerry VDL (Chacco-Blue, 2026).
The National Mare Champions of 2024 and 2025 also came from the VDL stables. Both Serusa R (Hardrock Z) and Artuna E Z (Aganix du Seigneur) were purchased as foals, as were the 2018 champion Kalimero.D (Harley VDL) and the 2016 champion It’s A Girl GR (Etoulon VDL).
Purchasing Grand Prix mares
In 2018, their breeding programme received a substantial boost through the purchase of several Grand Prix mares. “From the very beginning, we have always kept our eyes and ears open for interesting mares and stallions to add to our breeding stock. Janko has many contacts in America, and at one point he had the opportunity to buy four Grand Prix mares in a single deal. Naturally, we did not want to let that opportunity pass, but things did not go smoothly at first. One of them turned out to have an ovarian problem, which meant she never came into season and, therefore, never became pregnant. Another mare’s microchip number did not match, so she could not be imported. Fortunately, the other two mares more than made up for those setbacks in the end: Derly Chin de Muze and Banda de Hus.”
Born in 2003 and bred by Joris De Brabander, the For Pleasure daughter Derly Chin de Muze (damsire Nabab de Rêve) competed at the highest level with Eric Lamaze, even taking part in the Olympic Games. She is the fourth consecutive mare in her pedigree to have competed at 1m50/1m60 level. Before her sporting career, she had already produced four offspring that would go on to compete at the highest level, including the major prize-money winners Killer Queen VDM (Eldorado van de Zeshoek) and Japatero VDM (Eldorado van de Zeshoek). Her first offspring following her sporting career, Rural Juror SCF (Presley Boy), also made his 1m60 debut at just nine years old. The first offspring VDL Stud bred out of her was born in 2019. Two years later, she produced, among others, Always Remember Jack VDL Z (Aganix du Seigneur), who was awarded premium status at the KWPN Stallion Show and is now active in both sport and breeding under the name Aston VDL...
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