Dutch A-team rider Jeannette Haazen has sold her one and only Grand Prix horse Nartan to American Jane Clarke as a WEG hopeful for Clarke's chief rider Katherine Batesone-Chandler.
In their search for the right horse to qualify for the U.S. team for the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY, USA, Clarke and Bateson turned to the experienced KWPN gelding Nartan. Bateson tried out Nartan at the end of April and immediately felt a connection. The vet check was carried out at the beginning of May and the purchase was completed today.
"Sometimes in life you have to make decisions you don't want to," Haazen told Eurodressage. "Due to circumstances I had to do it, even though it's very hard for me. I'll miss him dearly. He was and still is everything for me."
The 15-year old Dutch warmblood gelding Nartan (by Jazz x Le Faquin xx) was a Dutch A-team listed horse who was in the middle of achieving his most successful results ever in his career. The Belgium based Haazen became the 2010 Dutch Indoor Champion with the huge bay gelding in February 2010 and recently won the Grand Prix Kur to Music at the 2010 CDI Hagen, the first international outdoor show of the season. In 2009 the finished seventh at the World Cup Finals in Las Vegas.
"The reason why I made the decision to sell him is because I know that, despite his progress and super scores, it won't get me where I want to be. I know I'll never have the chance to get on the Dutch team. It's sad but true. With all his excellent achievements, Nartan deserves to shine at a European or World Championships or the Olympic Games," said Haazen.
Jeannette and her husband Chris worked hard to become an official Dutch team horse, but with the rise of other super stars in The Netherlands, they were always the bridesmaid. "We kept on hoping to get on the team, but finally I realized that due to several factors, this never will happen," Jeannette admitted.
In the early 2000s power house Nartan was a rising star in the Dutch dressage world but a severe injury in 2005 short-circuited his career. The gelding made a surprising full recovery and worked his way to become an A-team horse.
Jeannette made it no secret that Nartan was for sale, recently mentioning in an interview in Sportpaard that she would sell him if the right offer came along. Jane Clarke and rider Katherine Bateson proved to be the right match.
"Of course Katherine and Nartan have to get used to each other and I'm very happy that I get the opportunity to train them for a while, so that they will understand each other better and reach unknown heights," said Haazen. "Katherine is a rider with a lot of feeling and that's what Nartan needs. This has to work!"
Bateson is thrilled with her new ride. "Nartan is one of the most beautifully classically trained horses I have ridden," the American told Eurodressage. "Chris and Jeannette have been fantastically open and generous with their information and time.They have allowed me to pack my bags and come and stay in Europe while keeping Nartan in the environment he is comfortable with. Both Jane and I decided this was the best plan to make our lives fit in with his instead of the other way round. I want to learn his daily routine as well as his competition routine that has been so successful for them."
Bateson has been in Europe since the beginning of May to compete Nartan at European CDI's in order to obtain enough qualification scores for the official American WEG selection trials held at the Festival of Champions in Gladstone, NJ, in August.
"We are working on a competition schedule which will include a few dress rehearsals and also a couple of national competitions," Bateson revealed. "Then we will move on to three internationals before the deadline for our qualification which is July 15th. Luckily he is a horse who is used to competing! Jane and I are both very excited to have such an incredible horse in our stable to add to my two other talented but green grand prix horses at home"
Haazen, who is located in Neeroeteren (Belgium) currently has no successor at FEI level, but coaches a big string of students together with her husband Chris.
"For me this is the end, which makes it even harder. I have no successor and not even a good young horse coming along. However, despite my sadness and sleepless nights, I'll be happy to see him shine in Kentucky or London. He was my horse, my buddy, my friend, my child and he will always be that to me," Jeannette concluded.
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