Karin Donckers and Leipheimer Van’t Verahof. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
With seven Olympic Games, eight World Championships, and 14 European Championships on her resume, Belgium’s Karin Donckers has partnered with a slew of talented horses throughout her lengthy career, but this season brings Joris De Brabander’s talented stallion Leipheimer Van’t Verahof into the spotlight.
The name may sound awfully familiar, and it should. The 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood (Vigo d Arsouilles STX – Southern Queen xx, by South Gale xx) is a full brother to Karin’s former Olympic and World Championship partner Fletcher van’t Verahof. “Leip” is also the only stallion in Paris’ 64-entry field. He balances his busy competition schedule with an equally demanding breeding schedule, and so far, he’s got one offspring competing at International levels, the 6-year-old Next Level Leipeimer Dutch.
Fathered by 2010 Show Jumping World Champion Vigo d Arsouilles STX, Leip certainly boasts his sire’s athleticism over fences, while also benefiting from the blood of his dam, the Thoroughbred mare Southern Queen xx.
Karin Donckers and Leipheimer Van’t Verahof. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
All horses have their unique quirks, and that’s especially true of stallions in sport, but it’s no bother to Karin. “You have to respect the stallions the way they are. That’s what I have learned from them,” Karin said. And this lesson began early in life, as Karin rode whatever she could as a child. “It’s not the first time that I’ve ridden a stallion. I never had the choice to choose what I got to ride. I grew up on a farm where we didn’t have the money to buy nice ponies, so I’ve learned throughout my life to get the best out of the horse that you have.”
To date, Karin’s best CCI4*-L finish in fact has been thanks to a stallion, Lamicell Charizard, with whom she was third at Pau in 2014.
“You have to respect them more and really accept how they are. If you have a good trust relationship with them, then you have to believe that they will fight for you,” she said. “But I find it a bit different then the mares or the geldings, the geldings are a bit more easy going. The mares are a bit more of the fighters. The stallions are a bit different.”
Karin Donckers and Leipheimer Van’t Verahof. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Karin’s three-time World Championship partner “Fletch” may now be stepping aside to let his stablemate into the limelight, but the Belgian rider always knew what Leip could be capable of, as she brought him up the ranks herself.
“We worked seven years with the stallion really towards this. Even at Le Lion d’Angers when he was seven year old that I felt that he was my next championship horse,” she said.
Her Paris ride rose to the occasion today when it mattered most: delivering a personal best of 26.6 on the world’s biggest stage, a massive aid to the burgeoning Belgian team.
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