Eclips, Canadian Olympic Team Horse, Gets New Rider in the U.S.A.

Dressage

U.S.A.

Eclips, Chris van Martels' double Canadian Olympic team horse, has found a new rider in the U.S.A.

Eclips is a 16-year old Dutch warmblood by Apache out of Kebora (by Ferro x apple King). He is bred by J. Hoeks-Erdkamp.

Barbara Soederhuizen

Eclips was first competed in the Netherlands by Barbara Soederhuizen.

She bought the horse as a foal directly from the breeder together with her partner Peter Brands.

Eclips was saddle broken by Erik Timmermans and then Barbara trained and showed the horse to Intermediaire II level until the spring of 2019. She was coached by Theo Hanzon. Soederhuizen described the horse as spooky and sensitive when he was young but as the level got higher, he became more attentive to his rider.

Chris von Martels

In November 2019 Chris von Martels became a co-owner of the horse after he tried out the horse through his trainer, Sjef Janssen, in Erp, the Netherlands.

Canadian Chris von Martels made his show debut on Eclips in February 2020 in the national ring at the Global Dressage Festival. They scored 68.043% in their first Grand Prix test.

Their international debut followed in March 2020 in Wellington with one CDI Grand Prix test and a dew more national starts. Then the corona pandemic came and they returned to the arena in November 2020. In 2021 they competed actively in the international ring in Wellington to obtain Canadian Olympic team qualification scores and they were able to crank up their marks to seventy percent. They went to the CDI's in Ocala and Tryon and were nominated on the Canadian team for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where they finished 39th in the Grand Prix with 68.059%. After Tokyo the horse flew to Europe where Von Martels continued to show him at the CDIO Aachen.

A thirteen-month break from CDI showing followed and Eclips missed out on 2022 World Championship team selection. They returned at the CDI Wellington in December 2022. In 2023 they competed in two Wellington CDI's and went to Europe for the CDI Kronberg in July 2023.

Another 11-month hiatus from the international arena happened and they returned in April 2024 at the CDI Ocala to ride for Olympic team scores. They competed in Ocala, Myakka City and went to Hagen (GER), where they got named on the team after a tumultuous Canadian Olympic team selection. At the 2024 Paris Olympics they were 4çth in the Grand Priw with 66.863%.

New Rider in the U.S.A.

Cohen and Jameson at the 2025 CDN Wellington

Eclips has now moved on as a Grand Prix schoolmaster for American Rebecca Cohen.

Cohen has her own state of the art property, 3 Graces, in Wellington, Florida and. She spends her winters in Florida and summers in Sweden. The horse she has closest to Grand Prix level is 11-year old Jameson (by Van Gogh x Upgrade), which she rode in the developing Grand Prix horse classes at the 2025 Global Dressage Festival. She worked with Johan Svensson during the 2025 GDF but is now solely coached by Ali Brock and Jan Brink.