By Adriana van Tilburg / Courtesy Rolex
Photography: Ashley Neuhof and Ben Reuvekamp for Rolex Grand Slam
Breeder Peter Verdellen started the Highway TN NOP chapter almost forty years ago, and in those forty years he has bred four generations. With each generation he has added something new to the line that would make the next generation better.
Little did he know that he was creating the foundation for the success of Highway TN NOP. But the story begins with the mare Evita (Ramiro - Viola x Abgar xx, breeder: J.A. Janssen).
Peter Verdellen remembers: “Evita was born in 1986 and was staying quite close to where I lived. An old neighbour of mine told me I should go and see her, saying; ‘I know a very beautiful mare by Ramiro, she is a year-and-a-half now.’ I went to see her and I took someone with me who had a bit more knowledge about horses than I did. He liked her too, and so I bought her.
“We sterted her under saddle when she was three-years-old. She then became a sport horse being ridden by Huub Jannsen. When she was six-years-old she competed in 1m30 showjumping and advanced level eventing. Evita was used in breeding and sport at the same time – Huub still competed with her when she was in foal, and also when she had a foal on foot. She had her first foal when she was five-years-old. Huub really knew what he was doing, he always let the horses be what they were. If the horse gave him the impression that it was too much, he stopped.
“Her second foal, Klint (Ferro), became a licensed stallion and Grand Prix dressage horse under the name Ferrolan. Evita was a tall and long-limbed mare with a lot of movement. Over time I tried to use stallions that did not have such a big canter to improve the comfort of the rider. The reason I used Hemmingway for Evita was slightly down to luck as I used him with another mare and that foal turned out to be an outstanding horse.
“Hemmingway improved type and made his progeny pretty. He also added movement without giving a huge canter, so I thought he might go well with Evita. The result of this pairing was Ovita V. She became the champion foal of Limburg and I then went to the Benelux Championships in Zangersheide with her, where she became champion out of 150 fillies. She was really beautiful. She jumped up to 1m10, but she was not easy to ride and so she became a broodmare with us... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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