1 April 2024

Exloo 2024: The International season has started

Europe's first international driving competition of the 2024 outdoor season was held last week at the Equestrian Center Exloo in the Netherlands. There were no fewer than 120 entries from 15 different countries.

Since last year’s European Championships and World Championships, Exloo has become an even more popular location for driving competitions. There are sections at two- and three-star level in all disciplines. The single driving horse 3* class was the largest with 34 combinations and was won by the Canadian Kelly Bruder. She won the dressage with a score of 45.23, drove the fastest time in obstacles five and six and remained double clear in the cones. She opened a gap of almost eight penalty points to number two, Clement Dechamps from France. Larissa Jansma took third place.

Marijke Hammink also had a successful weekend. She won all three parts with her pony team. Sietske Flobbe drove a dressage score of 52.20 with her pair of ponies, and drove the fastest time in six of the seven marathon obstacles and was therefore able to afford her 5.75 penalty points in the cones to ultimately finish at the top.

Renate Provoost and Desiree van Lambalgen also finished on the podium in their category, the single driving ponies. The difference between them was minimal; with 0.26 penalty points less than Desiree, Renate finished in second place behind the Danish Karina Blaabjerg. In addition to driving a good competition, Desiree also took care of part of the organization and the work at the show office.

Stan van Eijk won the marathon and the cones in the pair driving horses this week. That was enough for the victory, leaving Germany’s Laura Oberlin and Heinrich Kemper to finish second and third.

Boyd Exell won the four-in-hand horse class. He had several new horses with him. IJsbrand Chardon opened his outdoor season with a second place and Edwin van der Graaf finished third.

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