By Yvonne Buis-Franken / KWPN
Photography: Jess Photography et al.
He may only be nine years of age, but Imhotep has already obtained impressive scores in his home country. Last summer, the Everdale son first grabbed the spotlights by securing three national titles at Small Tour level with Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin.
Several weeks ago, he made his Grand Prix debut at a national show and the breeding product of Albert van Dijk and the late Tineke Huizing immediately set the bar at 77.83%. Is this a new ace in the deck for Great Britain towards the Olympic Games of 2024?
His appealing front and remarkable blaze are undoubtedly inherited from his sire Everdale, but the red chestnut colour was passed on by that other giant, his grandsire Vivaldi. It makes Imhotep a true eyecatcher in the ring. Sum it up with an enormous dosage of power in the hindquarters and then merge it with one of the best riders in the world, and you get an extremely talented combination.
Imhotep was born in the stables of the Dutch breeders Tineke Huizing and Albert van Dijk. According to Albert: “All the horses have always been registered in the name of my wife who passed away six years ago. However, horse breeding was something we enjoyed together. We breed with two lineages, one of the mare Finosa and the other of Jottie. Imhotep descends from the latter. We bought Jottie as a foal at the auction in Borculo. She was early in the auction and was not specifically a dressage horse, featuring Wisconsin and Naturel in her pedigree. But she appealed to us, and we decided to join the bidding. She was quickly allotted to us. In hindsight, she turned out to be an excellent choice. Wisconsin is known as one of the best-moving sons of Nimmerdor. And the same can be said about Naturel by the Thoroughbred Lucky Boy xx. We always get great movers out of this lineage.”
Jottie was bred to Sandro Hit, which resulted in the mare Uni d’Ottie. She was crowned champion of Drenthe as a three-year-old, participated in the National Mare Championships and was awarded the predicates elite, preferent, and PROK. Among her progeny we find the Rhodium son Cadmium, who competed in international junior classes with Diana van de Bovenkamp under the name Corvette. She furthermore produced the National Mare Championships contestant Horacia (studbook name Hello d’Ottie, elite sport-dres by Jazz), who at six years of age represented New Zealand in the dressage World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Ermelo with Sarah Wilkinson. The daughter of Della d’Ottie (Vivaldi) is Imhotep’s dam.
Della d’Ottie
Albert van Dijk explained: “Della d’Ottie has never been under saddle. She broke her hip as a youngster in rearing at Ied van Breukelen. For a long time, her life was hanging by a thread. One day, she did not want to get up again, but the vet that was supposed to come was delayed. The other horses around her were put outside and this caused her so much stress that she decided to stand up anyway. When the vet finally arrived he thought she was too well to be euthanized. We tried it for one last time and this was the tipping point in the right direction. It just goes to show, that if the vet had not had that emergency, she would have laid there, and he would probably have said the suffering was too great. And then Imhotep would never have been born... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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