Alice rode her first European Championship with the exceptional Why Not as a junior in 1987 in Pratoni del Vivaro. She also rode Why Not that same year at the European Championships for National Riders in Oud-Heverlee in Belgium, where her future husband Gert Naber also participated, on his horse Owijntje. At the same time, Alice also completed her Schoevers training as a secretary, but it was always going to be full time with horses rather than in the office for her. There are too many other wonderful championships to mention.
Being Dutch eventing champion is almost a habit for the Naber-Lozeman family. Her father Gerrit Lozeman was honoured as a champion in 1969. In 2000 (Private Xpress Clark Kent), 2004 (Coral Estate Baxter), 2008 (Coral Estate Tom Cruise), 2013, 2014, 2015 (all on ACSI Peter Parker N.O.P.) and 2016 (ACSI Harry Belafonte) Alice masetered the Dutch championships eventing. In between, her brother Henk Jan won the title in 2005, and her husband Gert Naber won in 2001. What a story!
Of course, the Olympic Games remain the highest goal for all top athletes. At the 2015 European Championship in Blair Castle in the UK, Alice took fourth place with her team on ACSI Peter Parker. In 2016, her time had come, and at the age of 45, Alice took part in her first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro for the Dutch! Riding ACSI Peter Parker, she and her team achieved a beautiful 6th place; individually she came 32nd. “That really whet my appetite. I definitely want to take part again, and do even better! If you’re fit, you’re never too old to have a goal like this”, says Alice.
“As long as I can remember, Ramon van Reine has supported me with one or more horses, and he’s always there at our competitions,” says Alice. “Our competitions are like one big family event. First I saw his son Thierry in his pram at competitions, then he saw our little girls Leida and Jantien. Our girls have grown up around the eventing competitions, and are now both keen riders too. Talk about a family sport! It’s so nice to be able to do this together.”
Alice Naber and her husband Gert have their training accommodation and stable at Biddinghuizen, in the youngest Dutch province of Flevoland – that’s also where the Alice Eventing School is located. Motivated riders can make use of the excellent training facilities there to become successful in eventing.