Sterrehof Stud during the corona crisis

It is quiet at Sterrehof Stud. A bit too quiet for us, but it is what it is. The current measures are vital to protect public health, especially of vulnerable people. Meanwhile, the care and training of our horses continues. Sterrehof rider Edward van den Bragt tells us about the daily routine, as he and his girlfriend Kiki currently run our stud farm. He says: ‘We do this together during the week and two of our colleagues have their shift during the weekend. In addition, people alternate each other for the maintenance on the farm. I ride the young horses and keep them going as much as possible. I try to vary their work a lot. Occasionally you jump a course at home or go to the flat course track. Fortunately the weather is good. The horses can go outside a lot, also on the fields. Due to the nice weather, we have put the youngest horses early out of their group housing and on the meadow this year.’

‘Bit boring’

Edward acknowledges that it’s weird to ride no shows. ‘You keep on training and keep the horses in condition, but normally the shows are part of their education. The young horses learn a lot from that, already as they are away from home for some time. Nobody knows now when that will be possible again. Luckily young horses pick things up quickly at a show, especially if they are correctly schooled at home. Normally we also intensively follow the developments of our international horses with Marc and Julia. That’s all gone now, just like the Olympic Games, while Marc had very good chances to get selected. There is another chance next year, but you have to overcome another twelve months. If I sum things up like this, it’s actually a bit boring now. It feels as if we are here on our own island. But I don’t want to complain. There are people hit much harder under the current circumstances.’

Sterrehof’s Bylou’s first foal

However, there are always things to look forward to, even in short term. The first foal of the year is expected around 20 April. A very special one. Edward: ‘This foal is by the stallion United Touch and out of Sterrehof’s Bylou. This will be the very first foal of this mare that has won so much at international level with Marc. So very interesting and also very exciting!’