There are some special stories about her current top horses.
“My uncle is a horse dealer, and we happened to be visiting him when we saw Campbelle”, says Janneke. “We took Campbelle home with us, because she stood out to us, and we wanted to see what sort of horse she was, and how her behaviour was under saddle. She was indeed not the most mild-mannered horse to start with, but certainly not impossible as far as I was concerned!”.
Janneke took her to an eventing competition in Portugal just two weeks later. She stopped in the first cross country, but she won the second one. “I quickly had a great bond with her! She is a typical mare, she just needs to be dealt with firmly from time to time. I’m very direct in my riding, so that suits me well.”
Bigger successes followed quickly. She won the CIC2 * in Bad Harzburg in 2016. And at the European Championships in Millstreet in 2017, Janneke and Campbelle WS won silver with the YR Team and came seventh individually.
Champ de Tailleur’s story is very different. Champ came Janneke’s way when his owner Lieke van der Werf wanted to study and had to give Champ away before she could start her course. Janneke confirms: “If Campbelle sometimes deserts you – for instance by galloping in dressage instead of extending in the trot – Champ will do anything for you. It’s sometimes sweet to see how much he wants to do his best for you. With him, I can’t be too direct, it makes him nervous. He prefers reassurance and building up. I’m very grateful to Lieke and her family that I can ride Champ. It’s great to develop my riding skills, to have these two very different types of horses!”.