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“I think his brain is his best asset,” Willem Greve tells World of Showjumping about Highway TN N.O.P. (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x Chellano). “He just knows what to do and he is very careful.”

In January, Greve and the 13-year-old stallion – owned by Team Nijhof – took their first World Cup-win when topping the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ at Partner Pferd Leipzig in Germany, the 11th leg of the 2024/2025 Western European League-season. The two are no strangers to leading the lap of honours; in 2024, they took a sensational win on home soil in the CSI5* 1.60m Rolex Grand Prix of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, as well as being victorious in the CSI5*-W 1.55m Gothenburg Trophy at Gothenburg Horse Show and the CSI5*-W 1.50m Harry Wouters van den Oudenweijer Prize at Jumping Amsterdam. In 2023, they won the CSIO5* 1.60m Longines Grand Prix of Rotterdam and later that year they were selected to represent Netherlands at the FEI European Championships in Milan.

“I got the ride on Highway when he was seven and he has been a winner at every level,” Greve tells. “The question was always how big he would jump in the end, but everything we have asked he has done brilliantly. He has become very consistent and we know each other incredibly well – we are a good team.”

Greve used to ride Highway’s sire Eldorado vd Zeshoek as well. “Highway is a little bit smaller than his father, a bit more of a sporty type,” Greve says. “Eldorado was quite massive, but they both have the same kind of blood. By nature, Eldorado had more scope perhaps but not the last quality and with Highway it is a little bit the other way around – I think he got that from Chellano or Darco. It's been a good match with Eldorado and Highway’s mother Zelana V, a mare by Chellano. Highway and Eldorado are quite alike when it comes to their energy and working mentality.”

“He was always behind Carambole and Zypria S, just like my other star Grandorado,” Greve tells about the years of producing the talented stallion. “Growing up, Highway was always with as a second or third horse with the others. In 2021, he was in ‘s-Hertogenbosch as the third horse just to do the small classes and he grew into the higher levels like that actually. However, he has always been very competitive – and always a winner.”

Despite his winning ways, Greve was never sure if Highway would be the one for the biggest tasks. “I always questioned where he would end up – until I asked him the question and he just answered it perfectly. Horses can do amazing things for us if the mentality is there; if they want to do it and you give them time so that they have full confidence and faith in their rider.”

Greve has worked with Team Nijhof for the past 13 years. “Our history goes really far back,” he explains. “My father used to own stallions with Nijhof Senior. They worked a lot together, and as an example found Voltaire together in Germany when he was only a yearling. For the past 13 years, I have worked with Team Nijhof as well. I live very close to them, only 10 minutes away, and I ride a few of their stallions. We own some good young horses together, I help their riders and we do a bit of business. We have a very good connection, and as we say in Holland ‘the knife cuts on two sides’: I'm an asset for their business and they are a plus for my career. You don't get so many horses like Highway and I am are very lucky to have him.”  

While Leipzig turned out victorious for Greve, the World Cup-leg in Amsterdam did not go as well, but in Bordeaux the Dutch rider once again picked up points – this time finishing third with Grandorado TN N.O.P.. “Leipzig was actually a show in preparation for Amsterdam,” Greve explains. “Highway jumped the qualifier really nice and smooth, and then in the World Cup he jumped a really beautiful clear round. In the jump-off, he was perfectly with me from the beginning to the end.”

“I hope Leipzig was not the last World Cup win for us,” Greve smiles. “It's something I am proud of; that I at least won a World Cup once in my life – and I hope more will come. I was very close in Amsterdam last year, and it's something I had on my bucket list so it's nice to have done it now. I think I still might need a few more points to make it to the final, but we have to see step by step and either plan towards the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in Basel or towards the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.”

11.2.2025 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.