Dutch Children Team Stalwart Happy Feet Sold to Kate van Lee

Dressage

The Netherlands

Happy Feet, a Dutch Children Team stalwart, continues to his role as schoolmaster as he has been sold and will get Kate van Lee as the eighth rider in his sport career.

Happy Feet is a small 17-year old Dutch warmblood by Tuschinski out of Ereara (by Animo). He was originally named Coltrane and bred by C.J. van de Bergh.

Linda van Woudenberg

Under the ownership and management of Linda van Woudenberg Happy Feet worked his magic with six different riders.

He achieved his biggest successes with his first Children's rider, Sanne Buijs. At the 2017 European Children's Championships in Roosendaal, they won team and individual gold. At the 2018 European Children's Championships in Fontainebleau, France, they won team and individual test gold. They also won the 2018 Dutch Children's Championships in Ermelo

At the end of 2018 he was allocated to pony rider Jill Bogers, who rode him at the CDI Exloo in October 2018, but then moved to Anne Uijtewaal, immediately followed by pony rider Senna Evers who began competing him in 2019. Evers and Happy Feet were selected on the Dutch team for the 2019 European Children Championships in San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy. They won team silver, but individually landed seventh place. At the 2019 Dutch Children Championship they won bronze.

In the autumn of 2019 Kebie Raaijmakers became his next rider and they went to the 2020 European Children Championships in Pilisjaszfalu, Hungary, where they earned team silver and just missed out on an individual podium place, finishing fourth. Raaijmakers took revenge by winning the 2020 Dutch Children Championship in Ermelo in September. Kebie had hoped to keep on riding Happy Feet in the junior division, but owner Linda van Woudenberg decided otherwise.

With Sanne Buys he won gold at the 2017 European
Children Championships in Roosendaal

Not willing to sell the pony and preferring him to stay in the children's division instead of junior, Van Woudenberg sought a new rider and found one in Robin Dicker. Dicker competed Hppy feet at one CDI, the 2021 CDI Opglabbeek. It was their first and the pony's last international show. Happy Feet disappeared from the CDI show scene for a while while Dicker campaigned another horse, Helena, at international children's level this year. In July 2022 Dicker brought Happy Feet back to the national show ring after a 10-month competition break. They won the children class as sole competitor on a score of 72,325% in the Anemone Horse Truck Cup qualifier in Bergschenhoek. In September they competed in the Tolbert qualifier and got a personal best of 80,125%.

Eliev Verstappen

In October 2022 Van Woudenberg decided to sell Happy Feet to Nicolette and Nico van den Boomen for daughter Eliev Verstappen to ride as a schoolmaster.

Verstappen and the bright bay debuted at the CDI Tolbert in April 2023 and placed second twice and seventh. From there they went to Exloo and Geesteren, won bronze at the 2023 Dutch Children Championships, and clinched a Dutch team spot for the 2023 European Children Championships in Kornberg, where the team finished fourth and individually they were 22nd in the team test. They rode their last CDI in Kronenberg the first weekend of December and slotted in third and fourth.

Kate van Lee

As Eliev has reached the children's age limit and will be 15 in 2024 she will move on to horses. According to Horses.nl, her family bought the 16-year old KWPN small tour horse Dinde RDS (by Santano x Democraat) as her schoolmaster.

Happy Feet has been sold to Suzanne Evers for her 12-year old daughter Kate van Lee to ride. She trains with Jacqueline Fiechter.

"Say yes to new adventures," Kate took to Instagram. "Today my dream came true and Happy Feet arrived in our stable. We're so thrilled with this great pony."