Empress Eh Z: She is a spitting image of her father Emerald, bred by the Verlooys and ridden by Harrie Smolders. This 7-year-old chestnut mare is as “home-made” as is gets, and we sat down with Smolders to learn more about this little stunner that looks to have quite a future ahead of her.

“I have actually ridden the whole family,” Harrie laughs. “I rode Empress’ mother Delilah and her grandmother also – and Emerald, of course,” he tells. “Empress Eh Z is very cool. She is our own breeding. She had a foal when she was four, and in the middle of last year she came back to us. Then I rode her just in a few shows, in Valkenswaard and in Liege. Then in the beginning of this year I took her to Leipzig and Gothenburg, so for her age she is actually very green,” Harrie explains.

Empress Eh Z might be little, but her mentality is mighty, according to Harrie. “She has a very good mentality,” Harrie says. But after knowing the whole family so well, how similar is she actually to her parents, we wonder? “You feel it when you go in the ring, that they have the same characteristics,” Harrie tells. “And also the mind, you really can feel that they are related.”

Harrie’s success ride Emerald has surely passed on his good qualities to his daughter, but her body she has inherited from her mother. “She reminds me of Emerald quite a lot – she is also very, very careful, like her father and mother are. In her body she is a copy of her mother – even though the mother was even shorter and had a smaller stride. She is in every way a bit bigger than the mother. The whole family was actually quite compact in their body.”

Even though she is green for her age, Empress’ strong mind has made life easy. “I think her mind-set is her best quality. She can come into the ring, and although she is very green, once she goes to the fences she is very, very focused. She is also very careful and brave, those are her best qualities.”

With such a well-known family, can Empress’ future be anything else than bright? “At the end of the day, I don’t know yet what level she will be jumping, but I know for sure whatever level it will be, she will be doing it very well,” Harrie says. “I am going to take her to a few shows now. This year my goal with her is to bring her little bit closer to the experience she should have at her age. She is a bit behind from where she should be as a 7-year-old. I am just going to be patient and wait for another two years,” Harrie smiles.

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