Appointed as the new Dutch Dressage team trainer, Wim Ernes has gone from a golden judges' box seat at the 2012 Olympic Games in London to a ring side seat in the traditional striking orange team coat.
"I would be lying if I didn't say that being named as the nation's coach didn't give me a proud feeling," Ernes told Eurodressage.
O-judge at this years London games, Wim will takeover the role as top Dutch dog from Sjef Janssen, who once upon a time actually trained Wim himself. "Sjef and I are completely different persons, but we have also been friends for more than 30 years. I was probably his first student," Wim reminisced.
Preferring the “harmony model” to Sjef's methods, Wim believes that if "the Dutch can achieve the ability to act and work as a team, then every member can help bring the others onto a higher level". He added that "we have a lot of talented riders, still young on average, with good horses, so there is a lot of interesting work to do!"
While the new job will disable him from judging at competitions where the Dutch team is showing, Wim is excited about his new role and his future with team Holland.
"The Dutch Federation was looking not only for a national coach to be responsible for the A-squad, but also for someone to take charge of the B-squad, the U-25 and the high potentials," Wim explained. "Therefore, they searched for a respected person with a broad technical knowledge; knowledge of the global dressage world, who was a good communicator and an independent person."
Aiming to bring every rider onto a higher level by helping and advising them Wim hopes to achieve all this and much more, of course, in collaboration with each rider's own personal team. "My goal is to achieve a good, long term structure, on which Dutch Dressage can rely on in the future," he stated.
Mostly looking forward to working together with all the nation's dressage professionals, Wim believes his greatest challenge will be uniting the riders and creating unity in Dutch dressage. "I wish to create an atmosphere in which everybody feels happy and has the ability to perform to their own personal high," Wim said about his goal.
by Sarah Warne for Eurodressage
Photo © Astrid Appels
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