Patrick van der Meer's Uzzo Sold to Dutch Young Rider

Dressage

Dutch Dressage News

Patrick van der Meer and Uzzo at the 2015 European Championships :: Photo © Astrid Appels

Patrick van der Meer has sold his number one Grand Prix horse Uzzo to a Dutch young rider with U25 ambitions. The 14-year old Dutch warmblood will stay in Van der Meer's yard in Naaldwijk, The Netherlands, where Patrick will coach the new combination.

Van der Meer and Uzzo have been one of The Netherlands' most prominent dressage combinations for years. Their claim to fame began in 2006 when the pair became the surprise winners of the 5-year old finals at the World Young Horse Championships in Verden, Germany.

They represented The Netherlands at the 2012 Olympic Games as an individual combination and finished 32nd in the Grand Prix Special. They were also first reserves on the Dutch team for the 2013 European Championships.

This year the duo won team gold at the 2015 European Championships in Aachen. Van der Meer also qualified for the kur to music finals in which they finished 11th with 74.375%.

"There isn't much that will be changing," Van der Meer commented about the sale of his top horse. "Uzzo stays in my barn and at 8.15 in the morning he'll be my first ride of the day. His new rider will continue to train him with me. Uzzo will no longer have to be at peak performance of his abilities."

Van der Meer still has his rising Grand Prix horse Zippo (by Rousseau), small tour horse Coco Chanel (by Sandreo) and KWPN stallions Chagall (by Jazz) and Sir Fashion (by Sir Donnerhall) to train and compete. He has also taken over the ride on Jack Sparrow (by Johnson) a few months ago.

Uzzo (by Lancet x Indoctro) was quietly on the market for a few years and has now been sold through mediation of Van der Meer's business contact Carolyn de Roo. While the official press release did not mention the buyer, all arrows are pointing in the way of the 20-year old Charlotte Kruiniger, a Dutch young rider whose parents also own the small tour horse Utility (by Jazz) and KWPN stallions Chinook (by Vivaldi x Havidoff) and Dark President (by Wynton x Ramiro Z x Pion). Both Utility and Dark President were previously owned by De Roo. Eurodressage contacted Kruiniger but she declined to reply.