First time competing in a four-handed championship and immediately being crowned champion. Sint Nicolaasga’s Meine Woudstra achieved it last Saturday at the Hippique Drogeham Concours.

Teacher Frits de Jong

Meine Woudstra was a regular face in the Frits de Jong team for many years. Especially when it comes to multi-span formations. The humble Woudstra learned a number of important things from Frits when it came to piloting a three-leaf or four-leaf clover in tandem. “You have to keep moving forward,” Meine said. Now the time has come for Woudstra to start riding, he has done very well and will go down as champion.

Now have a horse

Meine Woudstra’s four-man team consists of full brothers Wabe and Beant, both sons of multiple inspection champion stallion Norbert 444 out of the star mare Petra W. (Beart 411). This quartet also includes Zafirah (Hessel 480), bred by Jan Wietse de Boer, and previously owned by Albert Minkema of Houtigehage who sold him several years ago to Meine Woudstra. The fourth horse, Fryso VDK (Nane 492) is on loan from Jelle and Mechteld van der Kooi.

nice trip

Meine Woudstra was quiet after the match, but secretly very happy. “This is good,” he said. “I had a great time riding today, the horses were really looking forward to it. It went very well” and that’s also what the jury members saw. “Very good overall. It rides very neatly, nice and quiet on speed and head/neck position and nice and even on the feet.” Jelle van der Kooi finished second in the championship. Albert Minkema was third and Augustinus Hoekstra was fourth.

Hoekstra won several categories

Augustinus Hoekstra became the winner of the first Fryslân Priis Province competition with GPD Aron (Jouwe 485) and also won the premier class. He started the GPD Ward (Thorben 466), which his son Jelte also won later in the Stal de Mersken/Stal Chardon young rider competition. Aron and Ward as a pair proved to be unbeatable today. The women’s class was won by Wiesje van der Woude with Durk (Tsjalle 454), while Sybren Minkema with Fryso 518 (Hessel 480) this time won the KFPS newcomer competition.