May I introduce myself?  I am Arthur Dieusaert, I live in Meerhout (Belgium), Together with my husband Tom De Doncker.

Together we have 4 horses, 3 of which are for me and 1 for my husband.   Julius Unlimited (stallion), Lignano Sabbia D’Oro (gelding), PRINCIPESSA Sabbia D’Oro (mare).   Lignano and Principessa are half  brother and sister (same mother).

I started riding very early, I actually grew up in it!

I think I was 4 years old, Of course it was in a very playful way!

It was only around the age of 15 that I took the sport seriously.

This was thanks to my pony (Sloeber was his name) who my parents saved from the slaughterhouse.   He was barely 3 years old and the previous owners had bought him for their small children who had never ridden before.

Sloeber was not broken to saddle and when they realised that it was not a sensible idea they decided to take him to the slaughterhouse because of being dangerous!

Unbelievable right?

Through acquaintances, we were informed about this and my plea was positively received by my parents and we were able to buy him!

Sloeber was indeed not the easiest pony!

Every training session there was sand between my teeth!

People at the stables saw me as a kind of performance, People came spontaneously from the cafeteria to see how many times I would fall again during the training!   I was advised to punish him really well and beat him with a whip, but I did not want that either.  I Did not see the point of it.

We took dressage lessons twice a week and we jumped once a week.

And certainly when jumping, we were the spectacle!

Full gas on, to the obstacle!   So convincing, I was that we were going to go over the obstacles, the more surely my pony put on full brake and I went over the obstacle and my pony the other way!

Over time, my parents were worried and wondered if it had been a wise choice.

I had had Sloeber 8 months now, and by the summer an interclub match would be organised in the stables, 1st day dressage and 2nd day jumping.   Everyone in the stables was already training, and I did Laar even as we were doing.

2 weeks before the game everyone let me know that I should try it.   Ok, I accepted the challenge and I took part in the jumping class again!

And no matter how bizarre it sounds, Sloeber had understood it right.   He was still very hot while driving but barely finished monkey traces.

He did the lesson pretty well!

The weekend of the match broke.   The first day of dressage I had shown some good exercises with some rodeo moments! But on the second day I was amazed by friend and foe, we were to take the first prize, sloeber jumped as if he had been put in the cradle!

I was very pleased and my parents, were also reassured.

Would Sloeber finally see that it is also possible?……Yes he did!   Sloeber stayed himself and we became a real team together.   I was particularly proud of myself that I had not listened to the one who said to take my pony hard!   I also changed my trainer and I did as best as I could to give my pony Sloeber the best training.   Dressage and jumping, and I was completely crazy about the cross country.   A national cross country was organized every summer in our stable.   All stable riders were then given an opportunity to participate.

My dressage test was rewarded with a 23rd place.   He jumped at the canter and kicked away the jury table!   I came from 23rd place to 11th place.

The next was the cross country, There he went like a spear, And eventually we came first of the 23 participants.

I will never forget that moment, but I was last after the dressage, and that had to be better.

So I increased the training of dressage and went to a more specialised dressage trainer.   Our hard work was rewarded, Sloeber started to like it and I secretly did too!

Jumping, yes I kept doing that!

This is how I really experienced the nicest years with my pony Sloop, it meant a lot to me.

When I made the switch from pony to horse I did not get over my heart to renounce him!

I then rode Sloop between the horses but at some point you also outgrow your pony, while jumping I hit the obstacles with my feet and that was not always painless!

I rode in juniors with my new horse (also cross country) when my father told me one day she was sold to Germany!

When i was 18yrs old, my mommy told me that I could look forward to a new horse, and that I could keep it all to myself, officially!   I bought a young mare Jenny-Fair through a befriended farrier.   Elegantly beautiful and especially good to handle.   Not so much under saddle, which is what made me decide after some, time to sell her.

Then I bought another young horse that I once had in my arms as a foal, Qausar, a Pinto with excellent breeding.   He was 7 years and broken under saddle.   He experienced a lot of trouble in those 7 years.   Discarded by the group of young horses, and then in trying to train him, he saw a lot of lashes and they did the worst things with him.   so by the time i got him, I had my hands full.   My patience was rewarded, he started to trust me and I could finally start trying to ride him.

Many people opened their eyes when they suddenly saw how he was walking under the saddle – Really a future top sports horse!

Only, fate decided differently…

After about a year and a half, Qausar came out of the meadow, limping.   He was burned all over his body in third degree, from the sun.   The stall owners had put all the pasture horses on the meadow without blankets that day, (it was the first sunny and warm day of the year) and had not taken into account that Qausar was clipped!

I had to take care of him every day for three months, but that was the least I could do, He recovered very well from his burns, the vet said that i could finally start riding again.

We both enjoyed it, which was good, because it also became our last ride ever.  My world was about to collapse.

 

To Be Continued…..