Out of the shadows: Maurits Hallo

On his 7th birthday, Maurits Hallo received a helmet as a present, so that he could go take riding lessons. His mother rode horses in Nootdorp, but because that was a bit too far away from home for Maurits, he started riding at Manege Chardon. In the years that he had riding lessons, he soon realized that the chores associated with caring for horses were more his thing. “I could often be found at Manege Chardon after school and I always loved to help during the school holidays.”

Since the beginning of Bram’s driving carrier, Maurits has been Bram’s regular groom and his best friend. Over the years that hasn’t changed. “When Bram was still driving in national competitions, we were regularly away from home on Saturdays and Sundays, but not for days at a time like we are now”, Maurits tells us.

They experienced together Bram’s first competitions in pair driving with ponies, followed by many wonderful European Championships and World Championships with four-in-hand driving, with ponies and horses. Maurits is eagerly looking forward to the FEI World Cup Final in Leipzig and the World Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro later this year.

After his education in Transport and Logistics Maurits worked for a time in salaried employment. Later he started his own Trucking Company: Hallo Transport. “That is both difficult and easy to combine with Bram’s competitions”, he tells us. “You can naturally choose which days you would like to work and which you want free, but if you don’t work, you don’t have any income. That is why I sometimes arrives later to Bram’s competitions, or why I sometimes have to skip one. But that last option I really don’t like to do.”

He explains: “Bram, his sister Lianne and I as a team are hard to beat. We always go for the win. Over the years we have become super in tune with each other.”

At competitions Maurits stays busy with the harness, carriages, is the backstepper, and drives the horse truck . “Bram and I are best friends. We talk every day, either face to face or on the phone.”

Even though Maurits has been involved from a young age in the driving sport, he never wanted to drive himself. “I lost interest quickly in horseback riding. The chores surrounding the horses were much more interesting for me. It is wonderful how Bram is so busy with the business and in the sport. I have my own business, and I work out about 4 days a week. That keeps me busy enough. Bram and I talk a lot about our businesses and the driving sport.”

You can also find Bram and Maurits regularly at the gym together, so that they stay strong and fit. “We expect the best from the horses, thus you need to show up for the day fit yourself as well. To be able to lift a carriage in the marathon, so that we don’t hit an obstacle, takes a lot of timing and strength!”

“If I had to choose a highpoint, then I think I would have to say that the World Championships in Lipica were the best”, he says. “It was Bram’s first World Championship and we were so happy to be able to go. At that time, Jan de Boer and Michael Brauchle were Bram’s biggest competition. Jan won the dressage and Bram was fifth. After the marathon, Bram was in the lead by one ball, but he had nerves of steel and drove a perfect cones course. He became World Champion, up until that moment we hadn’t even dared to dream of that possibility.”

Also the European Championships in Donaueschingen 2019, where Bram won the gold medal, the winning of the FEI World Cup season 2018/2019 and the gold medal (individual and team) at the European Championships in Budapest 2021 are on the list of highlights for Maurits.

With the high points come the low points. “That was the World Equestrian Games in Tryon (USA). Bram and IJsbrand both went, and it took a huge amount of work and organization just to transport everything to the other side of the world. In the marathon both Bram and IJsbrand had faults. That was such a huge disappointment.”

Maurits is still upset about it: “all three of us were sitting on the carriage: six eyes that should have seen that we were going in the wrong gate! I find making a mistake like that much more painful than tipping over.” But Bram redeemed himself and drove a faultless cones course the day after and IJsbrand had only two penalty points. “How they managed to do that says a lot about how mentally strong they are and how the team reacted. But if had been in Bram’s shoes, I don’t know if i could have done the same.”

Maurits shares another memory: “I remember we tipped over in obstacle 1 in Nebanice, in the Czech Republic, that’s the end of the competition… but if you go through the low points together, the successes are twice as sweet.”

At this moment Maurits is looking forward to the World Championship final in Leipzig, that is late in the season, from April 6th through 10th, the most. “Since

many competitions the last indoor season couldn’t go through, it was a strange season. Since Bram won Geneve, he was qualified for the finale, but really Ijsbrand should be competing in Leipzig as well.”

Bram also has to prepare for the World Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro in Italy in September. Thus he has to have both his indoor and outdoor team in top condition! That is intense, but we are absolutely going for the win!”