BY JENNEKE SMIT / KWPN
PHOTOGRAPHY: DIRK CAREMANS

Training young jumping horses is a discipline in itself, and one of the renowned riders who excels in this field is Steven Veldhuis, from his training and sales stable in Haaksbergen, in the eastern part of the Netherlands.

Many young jumping horses have flourished thanks to his honest and systematic approach to training. Each year, the Van Santvoort Makelaars Cup and the World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in Lanaken provide important goals to work towards with his young talents.
Year after year, Steven Veldhuis achieves strong results in young horse competitions as well as in international classes. His son Stef (23) has now joined the business and not only assists with the training and competition of the jumping horses, but is also involved in the trading side of the operation.

Quality and rideability

Steven has enjoyed many successes at the KWPN Championships over the years. He won the four-year-old championship with the KWPN-approved stallion Mees van de Watermolen (Vannan), claimed victory in the five-year-old Van Santvoort Makelaars Cup with the mare Porsche Knight (Komme Casall TN) last year, and also finished second with the six-year-old Oilily Lady SMH (Impala SMH) in 2025. Steven has also achieved strong results at the World Breeding Championship for Young Jumping Horses on several occasions, including a fourth-place finish with the KWPN-approved Graziano (Baltic VDL) among the six-year-olds in 2017.
In international sport, Steven Veldhuis has won, among other achievements, the CSI2* Houten Grand Prix with Installera Balia RS (Emerald van’t Ruytershof) and a 1m45 class at CSI2* Riesenbeck with Jisborn (Eldorado van de Zeshoek). “We have around 25 horses in the stable, of which around one-third are now owned by us. The other horses are trained for owners, and most of them arrive at our stable as four- or five-year-olds.
“In the early years, I mainly focused on training and correcting ‘difficult’ horses, but especially now that trading has become increasingly important for us, I prefer to work with horses that are rideable and willing to cooperate. It is a great advantage when horses have come to our stable at a young age. Of course, I will not shy away from a more difficult horse if the quality is clearly above average, but the market for uncomplicated and easy-to-ride horses is many times larger than that for more complex horses.”

A solid foundation

In preparation for the Van Santvoort Makelaars Cup, Steven ensures that his horses can handle the work that will be asked of them. “I want them to be well established at the level at which they are expected to perform, so that they do not suffer a setback after a competition. That’s why it is so important to build a strong foundation right from the start.”
In his daily training, Steven works extensively with poles on the ground and cavaletti. “I think it is very important that horses have good balance, and working with poles also improves their coordination. It also requires the horses to concentrate and think for themselves, and they will need that in the ring later on. As a rider, you have to make sure the horses learn to carry themselves properly, and that is something I clearly focus on in daily training. They also have to learn to stay engaged behind through a turn so that they can push off effectively when approaching a fence. Horses are prey animals, and their natural reaction is often to run away from the hind leg, so that is definitely something I work on.
“They also need to learn to bend through the middle section of the body and make proper use of their abdominal and back muscles. These are fundamental principles that I work on with the horses every day. I want the horses to truly understand what I am asking of them, rather than simply carrying out the same instruction over and over again. For example, when I jump cavaletti, I am not focused on riding the perfect distance because I want them to think for themselves and judge the distance. I want them to learn, in a relaxed way and not out of flight instinct, to seek out the pole or fence themselves. Once they start thinking along with you, jumping really becomes a great game for both horse and rider.”...

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