Gertjan van Olst has been part of the top level of the sport for many years and has scouted numerous Grand Prix and Olympic horses at a young age. Together with eight colleagues, he recently launched a new initiative, Dutch Dressage Traders. We spoke to him about his eye for talent and how he identified horses like Valegro, Everdale and Glamourdale early on.

Gertjan has been at the foundation of many successful Grand Prix horses that have performed at the highest level, or continue to do so today. Currently, stable rider Charlotte Fry is achieving great success on the world stage with the KWPN stallions Glamourdale (Lord Leatherdale x Negro) and Everdale (Lord Leatherdale x Negro). “Both Everdale and Glamourdale came to our yard as foals. Even at such a young age, their posture, presence and movement impressed me to such an extent that I bought them when they were barely ten days old,” Gertjan explains.

Scouted as a foal
“At the age of three, they returned to us for rearing, after which my wife Anne, together with her riders, continued their development.” Gertjan explains that many of the young talents he identifies are bred from stallions of the Van Olst stud. “Most of the horses that have grown to the highest level under our guidance arrived here as foals. The same goes for these two top stallions, who are now performing so well with Charlotte.” Horses such as Illegro, Kjento and Pjethro followed the same path. “It really comes full circle: many of the foals we buy from our clients are by our own stallions, which we once discovered ourselves as foals. That makes it very special,” Gertjan says, when asked about the process behind finding a Grand Prix horse.

Supplier to the British team
One of the most famous horses that found its way to Grand Prix through Gertjan is the legendary Valegro (Negro x Maifleur). “Over the past 16 years, many Dutch horses have competed in the UK and for the British team, including quite a few from our stud. Valegro also came to us as a foal. As a young stallion he was not approved. When he was three, Carl Hester visited our yard looking for a young horse. Valegro went with him to England, but was later sent back because his stables were full. Carl asked us to train him and sell him on his behalf. As time went on, we noticed he kept improving, and when he was almost sold, I decided to call Carl. I advised him to keep the horse and continue with him, because I saw so much potential. Fortunately, he took that advice, which resulted in four Olympic gold medals and the number one ranking in the world for that horse,” Gertjan says.

“We complement each other perfectly”
The selectors behind Dutch Dressage Traders are all experts in their field: Rom Vermunt, Jeroen Witte, Marcel van Manen, Diederik van Silfhout, Jorg van Os, Peter Wetzelaer, Sjoerd van Leeuwen, Sjaak van der Lei and Gertjan van Olst. “The idea for Dutch Dressage Traders came up last year during the stallion inspection, at the first viewing in Ermelo, if I remember correctly. The plan is to organise this auction four times a year. Sometimes one colleague will contribute more horses than another. That variation is exactly what makes it strong: we complement each other, and the collection, very well. In my opinion, that makes this auction quite unique.”

Always with Grand Prix in mind
The market for dressage horses is at a high level, and Dutch Dressage Traders aims to play a prominent role within it. “We focus on a broad audience, from young horses to fully trained dressage horses. Our goal is to offer different levels in every collection.” Quality is key within the DDT collection: “We look at correctness, health, character and rideability. Those are the most important criteria for us. We are searching for complete horses, real eye-catchers. The full picture has to be right, from mindset and health to movement. And when I select a horse, I always have the highest level, Grand Prix, in the back of my mind,” says the stallion owner from Den Hout.

Auction closes Thursday evening
Bidding on the very first collection is in full swing. The auction will close on Thursday evening, April 2, from 20:00 via www.ddt.auction. For questions about the auction, please contact Sjaak van der Lei via +31 6 12 38 87 06.

Collection

Photo: Hippo Foto Media