Arjen Teeuwissen Died Unexpectedly at Age 53

Dressage

The Netherlands

Arjen Teeuwissen, a professional dressage rider who was a key player for Dutch dressage between 1999 and 2003, died unexpectedly on 29 May 2024. he was 53 years old.

Childhood

Born on 29 March 1971 in Mookers Middelaar and began riding in his childhood years.

He knew horses would be his life and he went to following equestrian study programme in Deurne, The Netherlands. He worked at Henk and Wilma van Bergen before his career took off.

Arjan and Frank

Arjen Teeuwissen met his husband Frank Garritsen, who used to a chef at Michelin star restaurant Inter Scaldes, in 1989. The couple married in 2007.

The castle and estate in Vlimmeren (BEL), where Arjen
and Frank made their home

In 1997 the couple moved to Belgium and converted an old war fortress - Fort Oudaen - into an exclusive dressage stable. They were not allowed to build an indoor on that protected property and in 2001 moved again.

Arjen's parents purchased a castle in Vlimmeren, Belgium, with a horse facility adjacent, the former location of the Arabian brood farm, Arabica Stud. The couple lived at that estate for two decades.

One Hit Wonder: Goliath T

Teeuwissen's one-hit-wonder career defining horse was Goliath T. The horse carrier two sponsor prefixes in his career, first Yakumo and then Gestion.

With Goliath at the 2000 World Cup Finals

The 1988 born Dutch warmblood gelding (by Zebulon x Nieuwpoort) was discovered by Arjen as a 2-year old and trained to Grand Prix level. They became key players on the Dutch team in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999 Teeuwissen was the biggest shooting star on the dressage scene. Trained by Anky van Grunsven, they won team silver and individual bronze at the 1999 European Championships in Arnheim and became Dutch Grand Prix Champions.

They won team silver at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and finished 9th in the Special. They did not ride the Kur. They won bronze at the 2000 Dutch Championships and were third in the World Cup Finals

Silver for Arjen at the 2001 European Championships

In 2001 Arjen and Goliath had the highlight of their career by winning team and individual silver at the 2001 European Championships in Verden. They did not compete at the 2001 Dutch Championships.

In 2002 Goliath T finished fourth in the World Cup Finals but then struggled with an ulcer and was withdrawn from 2002 WEG team selection. They were back on the Dutch team for the 2003 European Championships in Hickstead, but Holland landed a fourth team place and individually the pair ranked 17th.

Teeuwissen retired Goliath in 2005 after an injury short-circuited his career in 2004. The horse passed away in 2011 at age 23.

Finding a Successor

During his time with Goliath, Arjen also showed horses such as Libido and Killer, and sold the talented Michigan to Wendy van der Helm, but a real successor was never found.

With Silver 'n Brasse at the 2010 CDN Zandhoven

After Goliath's retirement, Teeuwissen continued with three horses: Polansky (by Kostolany x Donnerhall), Rivaldi (by Gribaldi x Zebulon) and Silver 'n Brasse (by Ferro x Davignon). The former moved to Leida Strijk and the latter two he brought to Grand Prix. He trained with Nicole Werner for a while, but there were no high performance horses after that. His last CDI was in Kapellen in August 2013 on Silver 'n Brasse. Rivaldi died in 2014 and Arjen retired from competition shortly afterwards.

Life After Competition Sport

Arjen focused on some teaching in the area and rented out stalls in his yard. Riders such as Wayne Channon, Julie de Deken, and Rob van Puijenbroek were based there.

Arjen and Frank on holiday in Thailand in 2022

Frank ran an online tack shop Royal Horse Shop, which he sold to Lieven Hendrickx. In 2021 he opened a Christmas House pop-up wine bar in Westmalle.

The family castle property and equestrian yard were on the market for a decade. In 2017 the asking price was 9.75 million euro. The equestrian part of the property sold to a jumper rider and the castle sold not so long ago.

The couple moved to Schoten. Teeuwissen dealt with health issues and on Tuesday evening 29 May, after an evening out, he returned home early and died unexpectedly that night.