6 5 62 L’Année Hippique Even better facilities to give those horses their training. How important is that? Ludo: At the championships for young horses, I notice that the training of the young horses hasn’t really improved. The good riders often have many young horses to ride and then the training sometimes slips away. Lack of time. What we try to do is buy five- and six-year-olds, ‘make’ them and invest a lot of time and energy in them to sell them when they are eight, nine or ten years old. The real top horses are allowed to stay longer. I am convinced that some horses are ‘makeable.’ Rough diamonds? Ludo: Rough diamonds that can grow into top performers thanks to good training. That is something we stand for as a PHILIPPAERTS - WE LOVE HORSES Oudsbergerweg 99 | 3670 Oudsbergen | Belgium +32(0)89.85.35.79 www.philippaerts.be 5 Olivier Philippaerts. 6 Olivier, Nicola, Ludo, Anthony and Thibault. stable and pay a lot of attention to. We have a good system. Everyone wants finished products, but that requires a lot of work. We look for and find a lot of young horses with potential, give them good training and basically every horse is for sale. Nieuwvliet There is heavy investment and construction at the Philippaerts Stables in Oudsbergen. Forty-eight new stables and a large indoor arena. “This is essential for training the horses and growing the business”, says Ludo, “But we also invest in the well-being of the horses. We bought an old riding school in Nieuwvliet, close to the North Sea beach, which we are currently renovating. There we will provide facilities for rehabilitating horses and for horses that need to clear their heads after intensive competition periods. The salt water of the North Sea and the sea air is so beneficial for the horses’ physical and mental health. We live with and for our horses. They deserve only the very best.”
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