Article De Hoefslag ‘The agreement to put my horse to sleep was already set’.

Read this special story about Marijke van Beek and her horse O’Handsome in this article by De Hoefslag. After many tests, the Fürstenball son turned out to have a serious tendon injury, which according to the scientists would never fully recover. O’Handsome was in pain and not himself. Marijke wanted to spare him more suffering. The date to put her horse to sleep had already been made, but O’Handsome was suddenly a different horse..

Who is Marijke?

Marijke van Beek: “I am a recognised equine sports masseur and also Equin Taping Therapist. I started as a 9 year old with equine sports on different stables. After the care horses, a lease horse, I finally got my own horse. I’ve ridden a lot on different horses. Young horses, horses ridden for owners and also trained jumpers and dressage horses.

Marijke van Beek: “Ik ben erkend paarden sportmasseur en daarnaast Equin Taping Therapist. Van jongs af aan ben ik altijd bezig met paarden. Ik ben op 9 jarige leeftijd begonnen met paardrijden bij verschillende maneges. Daarna kwamen de verzorgpaarden, een lease paard en uiteindelijk mijn eerste eigen paard. Ik heb veel verschillende paarden gereden. Jonge paarden ingereden, paarden doorgereden voor eigenaren, dressuurpaarden maar ook springpaarden.

I have always competed. First the competitions at the riding schools and later also KNHS competitions. I achieved the highest score with my mare Whooper, Z1 dressage. Unfortunately I had to put her to sleep in 2018. Since January 2019 I have bought a young gelding with which I will start again from scratch.

Since 2013 I am a KNHS dressage jury member. This has changed my view of equestrian sport. In the ring I regularly meet horses that don’t look like a

“Happy athlete” . That is why I chose the ‘Horse Sports Masseur’ training to be able to help both animals and humans. I offer a comprehensive package because I believe that management must be right. Because I like to deepen and broaden myself in the possibilities of treating horses, I like to follow courses and training.

I am also a distributor of HorseFlex nutritional supplements. During the rehabilitation of O’Handsome, I tuned the supplements to O’Handsome together with HorseFlex. The taping, the rest and the JointPower + Curcumix Souplesse supplements ensured that I got my horse back.”

Source: De Hoefslag

Photo: Cheromey Holtman