Text © World of Showjumping

The 10-year-old mare Qalista DN (Emerald x Landetto, bred by Wim De Nul) was truly the shooting star of 2025. With Belgium’s Gilles Thomas in the saddle, Qalista DN – still 9 at the time – closed off 2025 with a win in her first ever CSI5*-W Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ qualifier on home soil in Mechelen. During the year, the two also won the CSI5* LGCT Grand Prix of New York, placed second in the CSI5* LGCT Grand Prix of Rome and third in the CSI5* LGCT Grand Prix of Valkenswaard, as well as winning the CSI4* Grand Prix in Maastricht and placing fourth in the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final in Geneva. 

In March, at her first five-star outing, Qalista won the CSI5* 1.50m Prix Hermès Sellier at Saut Hermès in Paris, and three months later, in June, she jumped double clear to finish fourth in her first five-star Grand Prix in St Tropez. 

To learn more about the mare’s journey to the top of the sport, World of Showjumping spoke with Qalista’s breeder and co-owner Wim De Nul, his son-in-law Jeroen Van De Vyver, Walter Lelie – who produced Qalista from the age of five to eight – as well as her current rider Gilles Thomas.

“Ulricke van’T Paradijs, Qalista’s mother, was in the ownership of my son-in-law’s parents and he had ridden her when she was young,” Wim De Nul begins.

Qalista was always the queen of our stable

- Wim De Nul -

“Ulricke was a top mare of the stable,” Jeroen Van De Vyver explains. “However, as we were looking for some different bloodlines, she didn't really fit in the breeding program anymore. Wim wanted to breed his first foal, and I had the mare, so he chose the stallion – Emerald – and that's how Qalista, Wim’s first foal, came to the world.”

“Qalista was always the queen of our stable,” Wim continues. “She was our first foal. We tried to ride her ourselves – my daughter and Jeroen – but she always had a lot of energy. We have known Walter Lelie since he was a little boy, we are friends with his parents, and eventually we went to his place for lessons. One day, Walter got on her and then he ended up riding her in the Belgian young horse competitions when she was five, six, and seven. However, Qalista always stayed at home with us and my daughter would ride her on the flat and Jeroen jumped her in the winter months just to practice.”

When Qalista was eight, Jeroen had lessons with Marc Van Dijck – and that is how Gilles Thomas, who rides for Marc, came into the picture. “From the very beginning, you could see that it was something special with Gilles and Qalista,” Jeroen recalls. “He is of course at an entirely different level as a rider, but it clicked right away and everything went uphill from there on.”

Something we've always experienced with Qalista, is that she never disappoints

- Wim De Nul -

“Something we've always experienced with Qalista, is that she never disappoints,” Wim says when asked how it has been to witness the mare’s quick progress with Gilles. “Every goal you set, she will meet. This season has been exceptional.”

In December, Qalista was Gilles Thomas' chosen partner for the prestigious 2025 Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final – another big ask of the ultra-talented mare – where the two ended fourth. “I was very nervous,” Wim shares. “I said to my son-in-law, if she comes out with a few faults, I'm going to be proud. But she jumped clear, she was amazing. In the second round, Gilles tried – he is a winning rider – and they unfortunately had one down. She was the youngest horse in the Top 10 Final and she jumped amazing – we could not be more proud of her performance. It had been a long and heavy season for her already, and there was still Mechelen left. That is why she did not jump in Geneva after Friday. Marc and Gilles decided to give her a break, and we appreciate their approach; Qalista’s health and happiness are the most important things for us.”

“It's a very emotional topic,” Wim says when asked about his choice of holding on to Qalista and not selling her when there undoubtedly has been a lot of interest. “She was our first foal, she was born in my wife’s arms at home in Stekene. We have always said that we won’t sell – and we mean it."

She was our first foal, she was born in my wife’s arms at home in Stekene

- Wim De Nul -

"The goal has always been to see how far she can come. Of course, everyone believes in their own horses, and we believed in Qalista from the beginning. We have had a lot of opportunities to sell her, but why should we? We love her so much. She's a family horse. She's the queen of the stable, and for us it has never been about business, it's always been about sport.”

“We hope she stays healthy, and with Gilles we can hope for a few more successful years – and definitely we will always be there,” Wim continues. “We love it as it is. We do realize that we are still amateurs, performing at the very lowest level ourselves. However, through Qalista, we get the opportunity to be in Geneva, in Rome, in London… We have had an amazing summer. We travelled more in 2025 than in the past ten years combined, following Qalista.”

"Jumping Mechelen was an incredibly emotional ending to a fantastic 2025," Wim continues. "Qalista had already achieved the unimaginable and unpredictable with Gilles, but winning the Mechelen World Cup was truly the icing on the cake to the end the year. The jump-off was so emotional; first, there was the disappointment of a falling fence, but when the last rider also made a mistake – the relief was enormous for the entire team. We are incredibly proud of our mare and Gilles! And also grateful for the collaboration with the entire team at Stal Nieuwenhof." 

Walter Lelie – a 52-year-old Belgian rider who has played an important part in producing many of the sport’s super stars such as Killer Queen, Irenice Horta, Eldorado vd Zeshoek and and Gancia de Muze – rode Qalista as a youngster. “Qalista came into my life when she was turning five,” Walter recalls. “Her owners are good friends; we have known each other for 25 years. They bought a horse from me in the past for their daughter and when Qalista turned out to be a little bit too hot to handle for them, they asked me to ride her to see if we could manage her.”

The way she jumped was not really brilliant, but she was always clear

- Walter Lelie -

“We started in the Belgian young horse competitions without any expectations, and she began jumping clear,” he continues. “At our first show, she jumped clear, but we thought it was kind of a lucky shot. However, she kept on jumping clear, and in the end, she was the best Belgian young horse in the series as a five-year-old. The way she jumped was not really brilliant, but she was always clear.”

As a five-year-old, Qalista qualified for the final at the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for young horses in Lanaken. “As a six-year-old, she competed there again,” Walter explains. “She won a lot of classes and was in the top three in the Belgian qualifier for Lanaken. On the first day, we had one down, and then the second day we won the qualifier. When she was seven, it all went the same; she was very successful all the time.”

While successful, Qalista was not a simple horse to handle as a youngster. “She was a little bit overactive, and also very spooky at home,” Walter explains about the challenges. “At home we didn't jump because that was never a great success. What I focused on at home, was to get her confidence and get her on my side. That was the key to my success with her; she was on my side when there was a split second of “should I do it or should I not do it”. She believed in me, and for myself, that was always the goal. I always trusted her quality. When you get in the ring, she is motivated, focused and tries to do well. I believe this mentality is her best quality; in the ring, she is a fighter for her rider.”

I always trusted her quality

- Walter Lelie -

“I never took advantage of her qualities and never over-jumped her,” Walter continues. “At home we worked on her confidence, and her owners put a lot of effort in her. They really treated her as a princess. It was a nice partnership. It's always nice to be a part of a success story. I'm not always right, but sometimes I can be – and that's nice to see.”

“The thing with Qalista is that even though she didn't look spectacular, I always felt she gave a 100%,” Walter explains. “She was not jumping a meter above, but she was always doing her best. She was very clever on the jump. On the jump, she is always thinking forward. She has the pure instinct of a freak, you never had to teach her. It's not thanks to me that Qalista jumps now, but maybe as a youngster, she was a bit unsure about herself. When your confidence in the horse grows, their confidence towards you as a rider grows as well, and that is how you create a good combination.”

Her owners never put any pressure on her

- Walter Lelie -

Walter believes that the most important factor in Qalista’s upbringing was that she was allowed to grow at her own pace. “Her owners never put any pressure on her,” he points out. “They always believed in me, and they let me do my thing with her. It's very important as a rider, that you have the confidence of the owners so that you can do what you think is the best for the horse. I think that makes a huge difference. It is easy to get lost and start doing things you better not do and that are not necessary for the career and the confidence of the horse in the long run.”

“I liked the way she was jumping,” Gilles Thomas recalls about his first impression when he saw Qalista for the first time. “She had a lot of blood, she was a bit spicy, and maybe a little bit too much of a challenge for her breeders. They were training with my uncle and after a training session, I got on her as well.”

She had a lot of blood, she was a bit spicy

- Gilles Thomas -

While Gilles got the ride on Qalista, the mare did not move to his stable. “For the first half year, Qalista stayed at her breeders’ place and they just came to us once a week so I could jump her. The rest of the training they did themselves. Qalista is the first horse they bred, so she is very special for them. They didn't really want to let her go, and I didn't know how good she would be – so it was a good system to get to know her better.”

In February 2025, Gilles took Qalista to the Sunshine Tour for three weeks. “She jumped very good and when we came back, we bought half of her to keep her for the sport. From then on, she has been at our place so I can train her every day. At the Sunshine Tour, I felt that she would become a good horse, but I still didn't know what scope she would have. After the Sunshine Tour, the first show I took her to was the five-star Saut Hermès in Paris – as a second horse. There, she won the first big class, and on the second day, she jumped good again in a class that for her was huge.  I think that was when I first had the feeling that she would become a superstar.”

She took every step up easily

- Gilles Thomas -

“I took my time with her and then in St Tropez in June, she jumped her first five-star Grand Prix,” Gilles continues. “She took every step up easily. I think it's because her breeders went very slowly with her, and until she was eight, she only jumped up to 1.40m. The trust was there, and she was ready to jump bigger classes.”

“She's very, very careful and she has a lot of blood,” Gilles describes Qalista. “I think she gets her scope from the blood she has. She always wants to go forward; I think that's one of her best qualities.”  

After a big year, Qalista will start 2026 with a break. “In January, February, March, she won't have so many shows,” Gilles says about his future plans. “She will have a little break and then will build up again for next season. 2026 will be a big year with the World Championships in Aachen. In Ermitage Kalone, I have a good championship horse, so I think Qalista will be kept for the other shows. However, if something would happen with Ermitage, it’s good to have a plan B.”

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