Former Dutch Junior Team Rider Evi van Rooij Injured in Riding Accident

Dressage

The Netherlands

Evi van Rooij, a former Dutch youth team rider, has been injured in a riding accident on 10 June 2025. Horses.nl first reported the news.

The 21-year old Van Rooij got thrown off a young horse and had to be transported to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a fractured vertebra in her lower back.

"The next six weeks, I'll definitely not be getting on a horse and need to rest to let this heal well," she told Horses.nl . "I'm very aware that this could have turn out worse."

Evi van Rooij is the daughter of Dutch professional rider and horse dealer Arthur van Rooij. Her younger sisters Sofie and Nina also ride dressage. Evi began her international competition career in pony sport with King Stayerhof's Jango by Kosmo van Orchid's) in 2017. She got first selected on the Dutch team for the 2019 European Pony Championships in Strzegom, where she won team silver and placed 8th in the Kur to Music Finals. She won the 2019 Dutch Pony Championships.

She made the transition to junior level in 2020 aboard Don Tango B (by Contango x Jazz), whom she rode for owners Jan and Albert van Boven and got selected to represent Holland at the at the 2020 European Junior Championships in Pilisjaszfalu, where she got team bronze and placed 23rd in the individual test. At the 2021 European Junior Championships in Oliva Nova, she earned team silver and placed fourth in the Kur. Don Tango B sold to Germany afterwards, but the the new owners ended up suing the sellers for having sold a horse with hidden defects. They won the lawsuit.

In 2022 Van Rooij moved to Young Riders level with Edea (by Johnson x Biotop) and in 2023 she competed Haley B (by Bon Bravour x Jazz). The CDI Tolbert in April 2024 was her last international Show. Van Rooij got allocated the ride on Grand Prix horse Avanti in the past but never showed him internationally and the partnership soon ended. She also got the ride on breeding stallion Fontaine TN and is yet to make her CDI debut on him.