Imke Schellekens-Bartels Makes International Come Back After Six-Year Hiatus

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2021 CDI Le Mans

Dutch Olympian and former team rider Imke Schellekens-Bartels has made her come back to the international dressage arena after a six-year hiatus from CDI showing.

At the 2021 CDI Le Mans in France, Schellekens rode her mother Tineke's 9-year old Dutch warmblood gelding Honore (by Jazz x Krack C) in the small tour division. The pair finished fourth in the Prix St Georges (69.382%), third in the Intermediaire I (67.912%) and ninth in the Inter I freestyle (68.455%)

Learning Experience

The 44-year old Imke was thrilled about her come back weekend.

"t’s been a very good learning experience for Honoré and I," she said. "He has been doing some really good tests in national shows, but this arena was another level for him. With lots of ghosts and scary things he had to defy, I absolutely loved his energy and power and I just need to learn to control it more and get him to gain more confidence in bigger arenas. Looking forward to that!"

Imke admitted, "It’s so much fun to be out in the international circuit together again after so many years."

6-Year Hiatus

Her last trip down the centerline dates back to 6 December 2015 when she last rode Toots at the CDI Roosendaal Indoor. The tall black gelding was her international horse from 2012 till 2015 and the successor of her 2008 Olympic and 2010 WEG team ride Sunrise. Toots sold to Japanese Akane Kuroki in 2016, which left Imke without a quality horse to follow in those footsteps.

During her 6-year hiatus Schellekens focused on training students as well as her job as Dutch national team trainer for the ponies and children. At home she continued to train horses and in the spring of 2021 they acquired the 8-year old Danish mare Sezuanna as a new iron in the fire.

Home Bred with VCG

Honore is bred by Tineke Bartels and VCG Horses and is out of Toscana (by Krack C x Oracle). Four spellings are used officially for his name: Honoré, Honore, Honorée and Honoree.

The liver chestnut gelding is closely related to the KWPN stallion Kane (by Dream Boy out of Toscana), who is based at Tinne Vilhelmson's Lovsta Stutteri.

He has been trained at Bartels Academy from the start and has been mostly ridden by Tineke Bartels, but has also competed nationally as a youngster with assistant rider Lars op 't Hoog. Imke took over the ride in 2020 when the horse reached small tour level.

Imke hopes to compete Honore at Jumping Amsterdam in January but will take his competition career slowly as he's quite Jazzy to ride. At home he's schooling all the Grand Prix movements but needs to establish himself more in the piaffe.

"In the stable he is a bit of a doofus and he's very social, but in work he has a lot of power," Imke stated. "He's got quite the spicy character and is very willing to work, but he'll also tell you when he's not up to it."