Dinja van Liere's World Championship bronze medal winning horse Hermes has received "NOP" status and is thereby secured for The Netherlands until the 2024 Olympic Games
It has been two years since NOP last decided to sign a dressage horse to their program.
Hermes NOP
The NOP (Dutch Olympic Horse) Foundation provides financial support to the owner of the horse, so that it will not be sold abroad. The project was initiated in the 1980s and carried out through the 1990s. Horses competed with the "Olympic" prefix at the time. The project ended due to lack of funding, but was rekindled in 2013.
"Achieving these agreements with the owners of top horses is partly possible thanks to the good support of the Dutch Olympic Committee NOC*NSF," the Dutch equestrian federation stated.
Dinja van Liere's 10-year old KWPN stallion Hermes (by Easy Game x Flemmingh) is owned by Dutch stallion owner Joop van Uytert in partnership with Dutch entrepreneur Jan Anker.
NOP Dressage Horses
Four dressage horses in total are on the NOP list.
Two of them are owned by gun mogul Gaston Glock: Toto Jr and Dream Boy. The third NOP horse is Emmelie Scholtens' Desperado, who has been injured for the past year despite a short brief come back at the 2022 Dutch Championships.
Past NOP horses were Anne Meulendijk's retired Avanti, Diederik van Silfhout's injured Expression, and Edward Gal's Zonik, who unfortunately passed away.
Related Links
Toto Jr Receives NOP Status
Desperado Becomes NOP, Expression Loses NOP Suffix
Dream Boy Receives NOP Status
Van Silfhout's Expression Becomes NOP
NOP Foundation Adds Meulendijks' Avanti to Sponsorship Plan
Zonik Receives NOP Status