From 2 to 7 September, the World Para Driving Championships and European Four-in-Hand Championships were held in Lähden, Germany, at the beautiful Sandmann family estate.
National coach Ad Aarts selected six Dutch combinations for the Para Driving World Championships, including Gerard Horst with the Hackney pony Stapleford Shake A Leg. This was a boyhood dream come true
On Tuesday, 2 September, the teams arrived in Lähden,
Followed by the veterinary inspection of the horses on Wednesday, 3 September. All Dutch participants passed this inspection with flying colours. At 6 p.m., the opening ceremony of the World and European Championships took place, followed by a country evening, a culinary exchange between the participating countries. What a party and what fun!
On Thursday 4 September, the para-drivers took part in the dressage test. The dressage arena looked absolutely magnificent and, as Gerard was one of the first to ride his dressage test, there were no signs of wear on the arena. The dressage test went according to plan and without any mistakes. However, there were still some areas for improvement. We had hoped for a score of no more than 60 penalty points, but ended up with a score of 60.96 penalty points and 15th place.
On Friday 5 September, the four-in-hand teams competed in their dressage tests for the European Championships. This gave us plenty of time to follow their action and explore the marathon obstacles and route.
On Saturday 6 September, the para-drivers were the first to drive the marathon, with the advantage that the obstacles were still fresh and intact. Gerard was the first to start with Stapleford Shake A Leg. The A route was completed without any faults and within the time limits, so 0 penalty points for this part. The B course was also completed without faults, but unfortunately a ball was knocked off in obstacle 1 and the speed in the obstacles could have been a little higher. With 137.46 penalty points, 15th place was also achieved in the marathon.
On Sunday, 7 September, the final component was the cones test. It was a challenging course, both in terms of the layout of the gates and the length of the course. Not a single combination managed to complete this test without any faults. So the cones test really did matter for the final result. In the end, Gerard finished 14th in the cones test with 33.22 penalty points, 27 for knocked-down balls and 6.22 for exceeding the time limit, giving him a total of 231.64 penalty points and 14th place in the final rankings.
The World Championships were an unforgettable experience in a wonderful competition environment, well organised and with a result that we are certainly happy with.
And, not unimportantly, without the help and support of my team for this World Championships, consisting of Lynley Benneker, Raymond Letteboer, Gerard Benneker and Marcel and Mary Meiberg, and my family members for their back-up on the home front, none of this would have been possible for me.
Is the boyhood dream now finished? Well, no, this experience has left me wanting more. Especially with a new driving pony on the horizon, I am already looking forward to the World Championships in 2027.