The 21-year-old Belgian rider has had great success while working at Ashford Farm; this year he won gold with the Belgian team at the European Championships for Young Riders on Quality II as well as taking home the win in the CSI2* Grand Prix in Treffen on Carinjo T.
Further Optimum Horses has announced that Finnish rider Maiju Mallat, who has trained their horses and presented them at national and international shows since 2011, will be leaving the stable of Gloria Eschenbach and Thomas Mecan in Dielsdorf near Zurich/Switzerland as of the end of October 2015. The 37-year-old has decided to pursue a new sporting opportunity. "Maiju Mallat has achieved a lot with our horses over the past four and a half years. We are grateful to her for her work and wish her all the best for the future," says Thomas Mecan, owner of Optimum Horses.
Maiju Mallat represented the colours of her home country Finland on the horses of Optimum Horses at the 2013 European Championships in Herning (DK) and at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Caen (FR). She was also involved in the FEI Nations Cup, the World Cup and at numerous four- and five-star-shows.
As of 1 November 2015, 25-year-old Erica Swartz will be the successor to Maiju Mallat at Optimum Horses. In recent years, Erica Swartz has successfully presented the horses of the Belgian stud “Van de Helle” in international equestrian sport. This year alone, she was placed nearly forty times among the top ten at two- and three-star-shows until end of September. "Erica Swartz is ambitious and has tenacity. We are convinced that she will present our horses successfully at the current level," says Thomas Mecan, explaining their selection of the young Scandinavian from a large number of candidates.
Optimum Horses discovers and buys high-quality sport horses throughout Europe, trains them further, presents them at international shows and places them with success-driven sportsmen and sportswomen.
