The Danish rider Anna Zibrandtsen has taken over the reins of Olympic horse Arlando N.O.P. The rider, who recently also bought the KWPN-stallion Dorado, is aiming for the Olympic Games in Tokyo with the son of Paddox (ot of Herlanda ster pref prest by Mytens xx, breeder Teus van ’t Klooster from Eemnes).

“It is a big step to sell such a horse”, part-owner Aat Both says. “Business-wise it is very sensible decision. Arlando is really healthy and he’s got the age. But you say goodbye to a super horse. And I realize that is even more the case for Diederik. But we discussed it extensively and he stood fully behind the decision. We said, that if he did not want to sell, we wouldn’t, but he is very rational about it.”

Pretty picture

“Arlando shows a really pretty picture with Anna Zibrandtsen. It was quite unbelieveable She got on him and it clicked immediately. She could even do the one-tempi changes,  just like that! She’s got the ambition to go to Tokyo, expectations are indeed really high.” For Aat and Lia Both it is not the end of the cooperation with Diederik van Silfhout. “We already have another horse lined-up for Diederik. We expect a lot of this son of United. I am sure it doesn’t end here for Diederik, he has a number of really nice horses in his stables.”

Great value for team

De KWPN-stallion was in the Dutch team since 2014 and of great value. With the team they reached great sportive successes. For instance, the team won gold at the Europeans at Aachen. In 2016 Diederik and Arlando won the Dutch senior title Grand Prix. Icing on the cake was going to the Rio Olympics where they reached an individual 11th place.

Photo: Dirk Caremans