Text © World of Showjumping

“Landon is born for Kent, or Kent is born for Landon; they are a match made in heaven and so good together,” Jens Nijs – the son of Landon’s breeder Danny Nijs – tells WoSJ about Kent Farrington’s Landon (Comilfo Plus Z x Quadrillo), born Crack de Nyze Z.

At the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Landon claimed individual silver and team gold with Farrington in the saddle. In May last year, the two won the CSIO5* 1.60m Longines Grand Prix in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and in July, the CSI5* 1.60m Pan American Cup presented by Rolex at Spruce Meadows, Canada. After a strong season full of highlights, the pair closed off 2023 on top of the final FEI Ranking for horse-and-rider combinations in jumping. 

To learn more about the stunning chestnut, World of Showjumping spoke with Jens Nijs, Joris Vanspringel and Niels Fockaert who produced the talented gelding before Farrington took over the reins in the autumn of 2021.

“We are passionate breeders, and the specific story of Landon is quite nice,” Jens Nijs begins. “My father Danny is a believer; he is really passionate. I'm more just the guy that takes the horses in when they are three and four to start them up. I’m also involved in which stallions we're going to use, and which horses might get sold – because the bills have to be paid.”

“On average, we breed ten foals a year. We want to give our horses a good education and a good chance at life. This means that we also have to sell some of the foals in order to give the other ones the chances that they deserve,” Nijs continues. “It's a matter of time for us and we want to have time to focus on our horses. There is only a limited number of hours in a day, and we really go for the quality instead of quantity.” 

“We had a really good Heartbreaker-mare that we used for our breeding, and we were very impressed with her bloodline. However, as we wanted to find a second, nice damline we were always looking in our area. This is why we ended up buying Indigo van de Meulenberg – Landon’s mother – as a yearling from Nick Vervecken, a local breeder who we have known for years.”

When we got the opportunity to buy Indigo – a half-sister of Whisper – we didn’t hesitate

“Indigo is a Quadrillo-mare out of a Wendekreis-mother called Ravella,” Nijs continues. “We knew that Ravella was also the mother of BMC Van Grunsven Whisper, who became Dutch champion back in the day with Jeroen Dubbeldam. My dad had seen Whisper jumping as a young horse in our neighbourhood, and he had absolutely adored that horse. He didn't dare to buy Whisper at the time because he was very characterful and I was only about twelve back then, but the horse never left his mind. So, when we got the opportunity to buy Indigo – a half-sister of Whisper – we didn’t hesitate.” 

“Indigo is quite similar to Landon in her looks, with the golden chestnut colour. We decided to breed with her before we started her sport career and we only bred one foal out of her. The truth is that using Comilfo Plus Z on Indigo was not something we really planned. In fact, my father wanted to use Caridor Z who jumped great with Jos Lansink. At the time, Comilfo Plus was only a young stallion and I think it was his first year of breeding. However, Caridor was not available because he was at a show and there was no fresh semen. My father went to Zangersheide and saw Comilfo Plus in his box and fell in love directly. There was something electric about this stallion that you could see even when he was just standing in the stable. However, it was quite a gamble, because originally we wanted to use a little bit of a bigger, more scopey type of stallion on our sharp Quadrillo-mare Indigo.” 

Landon was Indigo’s first foal, and quite small. “However, we could see the electricity and the elasticity in his body from day one – from the moment he jumped on his legs," Nijs tells. "He was special in a way, but he was not tall. When I started riding him, he didn't feel small at all though with his huge canter and his dressage moves – he could have been a dressage horse with the way he goes. Around the age of five and six, he changed a lot mentally and physically, got to his size which is now pretty standard, and we started to educate him with the top sport in mind. We knew there was something very special in him – he just needed to get the right education. We took our time with him, and we didn't think about the costs.” 

If I would need to pick only one word to describe him, it would be electric

“I smile when I think about Landon now, but back then, when he was young – to be totally honest – there were times when I was crying,” Nijs recalls about Landon’s early years. “Landon was never, ever bad or ill-meaning; he always had his ears pricked, his eyes were always shining, he was a smart, attentive and sweet, but on the other hand he could be like an explosion. Until the age of six, I couldn't take something out of my pocket while I sat on him. If I was on him and I forgot that, he reminded me right away… In a second, I would be sitting on the ground. If I would need to pick only one word to describe him, it would be electric. He is so quick, but at the same time, so willing to work. I think you can see that now in the bigger classes; he has a heart of a lion. You cannot imagine how important it is that he now has the right rider on him.” 

“It is a huge honour for me to have been a part of Landon’s story,” Joris Vanspringel – a four-time Olympian in eventing – says about his time with Landon. “Jens and his father breed quality horses and I rode one for them ahead of an auction. It went really well and then a couple of months later, Jens’ father Danny asked me to ride another one – and this horse was Landon, who was five at the time. He was quite difficult in the way that he was extremely sharp and very quick, but he had very good moves and I think he could have been a very good eventer. He was still a stallion back then, which made him even sharper. I did the basic education on him, put the buttons in so to speak, and competed him a few rounds on national shows. When he was taken to Zangersheide for approval he was quite a naughty boy, kicking the stables apart, and afterwards he was castrated.”

It is a huge honour for me to have been a part of Landon’s story

“Landon was a very good horse from the beginning, but he had so much blood, was so sharp and so quick. He could turn around and spook in an instant, especially if you went outside for a hack, so you had to be careful with him,” Vanspringel continues. “But he moved up the levels very quickly and showed the class he had. I went to ten Europeans and four Olympic Games in my career, but eventing is a different sport than showjumping. However, what applies to both disciplines is that you have to produce the horses and that's what I do – and I think that with my roots in eventing, I do it even slower than the showjumpers. I don't go too high too quickly, and I never ride fast when competing. Some people show the five- and six-year-olds and try to win with them, but I don't think it's good, especially not with a horse like Landon.” 

After Vanspringel, Niels Fockaert took over the reins on Landon. “I was working with Jens and Danny Nijs at Stud De Nyze, and Landon was six at that time,” Fockaert recalls. “Jens was supposed to ride Landon himself at the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship in Lanaken in September 2019, but because he suffered a knee injury, he asked if I wanted to jump Landon instead. That was quite an honour, and I am still very grateful to Jens and Danny for the chance they gave me, to be able to form a combination with Landon.”

The first time I rode Landon, I immediately got an incredible feeling; this is not just any horse

“The first time I rode Landon, I immediately got an incredible feeling; this is not just any horse,” Fockaert tells. “He is very athletic and from the beginning he showed a lot of scope and willpower, and I could feel that he was a world-class horse. He is incredibly sharp and always finishes his jumps beautifully. But above all, he naturally has a terrific sense of balance, which always gave me a nice feeling. I learned a lot as a rider thanks to Landon, you really come into your own with a horse like that.” 

“That championship was very exciting for both of us; Landon and I only had a few days to get to know each other. I had only ridden Landon three times before we went into the ring in Lanaken. Still, we managed to make it a very successful show. This alone demonstrates Landon's incredible talent. Despite the fact that we only had a very short time to get to know each other, it was a rewarding challenge to bring Landon to Lanaken. I still follow Landon's results closely and fondly remember the time when we formed a partnership together. He is a horse I will never forget.”

“When Landon was seven, Danny suddenly called me up and asked if I could please ride him once more because someone was going to try him for an American client,” Joris Vanspringel recalls about his last ride on Landon. “I went to their place, rode him for 45 minutes and he was very good. But as we were cooling down, he spooked – and I fell off. And that was my last ride on him!” he laughs.

I think Landon was on the radar of every horse dealer, horseman and rider back then

“Peter Eckman spotted Landon when he was seven,” Nijs fills in. “However, I think Landon was on the radar of every horse dealer, horseman and rider back then – it was easy to tell there was something about him. Our luck was that we had a plan the whole time; there was no point in selling him before we were at the end of his education. I would say we are amateurs and not high-class professionals, but I have always believed that we can bring the young horses up to a certain level. This has always been my policy with every good horse we have had. I can do the young horses as good as, or maybe even better than some of the professionals, because for us a good horse is our number one all the way. When it was time to sell Landon, we sold him to Kent through Peter Eckman who has an eye and a nose for special horses.” 

“My initial thought was that it's not nice for a breeder to see a horse like that have his name changed,” Nijs says about the fact that Landon no longer goes under the name his family originally gave him – Crack de Nyze. “On the other hand, we were not aware of the different meaning his original name has. For us, it's all about the horse and when they are performing like he does, the name doesn't matter anymore. We should focus on the horses and the sport and not let small details like these become huge issues. Changing the name is a story with two sides: It would be nice for the breeders to be recognized a bit more, but we should also understand that sometimes there is an actual need for a name change.” 

Last year, Vanspringel went to Calgary for a visit and met Landon with his new rider Farrington. “I must say that it touched my soul seeing Landon come down next to the clock tower there, entering the arena for the Grand Prix,” Vanspringel says. “It was amazing seeing him jump a class like that, and I was lucky to be invited to the stables where I met him and Kent. I was allowed to walk the course in Calgary and I could not help but think ‘what a great horse you are, jumping here’. I knew Landon was something special, but the classes in Calgary are some of the biggest in the world, and he is only ten now – I did not expect that. He's still very young for that level, but he has so much scope and the attitude to go to the other side. In every way, he fights for you and that's what makes the best horses so special. I think he's a horse that wants to get to the other side, he wants to be clear – and he is very quick as well. I also think he has met the right rider at the right time, the results say enough.” 

I think Kent has formed the perfect combination with Landon

“You can buy the best horse in the world and you can look for the best value, but you can't buy the combination,” Vanspringel concludes. “And I think Kent has formed the perfect combination with Landon. I think the most important detail in the career of any horse is to be in the right hands. This sport is not about the horse only and not about the rider only; it is about the combination, about a pairing that can bring the best out of each other.” 

“I got Landon at the very end of his 7th year, it was right around Covid-time and I was actually not able to try him,” Kent Farrington recalls about the beginning of his journey with the talented chestnut. “However, a situation came up where I was able to get the horse and so he came over in the winter when we were in Florida. I started with him over there and built him up slowly and he has turned out to be great. He has won multiple five-star Grand Prixs, he jumped his first championship at the PanAms where we had team gold and individual silver. We were very close to winning gold on both occasions, but for a young horse going there, I was thrilled with the result.” 

He is a special jumper, and a spectacular horse

“He is a special jumper, and a spectacular horse,” Farrington continues. “However, he is not the easiest; he is very high-strung and very sensitive, he can be a bit nervous and it is easy to get him unsettled. He can spook and shy away from things and he can over-react. He is not always the most levelled horse, but I have dealt with many horses with this type of personality and he has great talent so he is worth the work. I am excited to see where he goes in the future.” 

“I hope I can make him great; I’ll keep trying,” Farrington says humbly. “We’ll see; hopes with horses are always hard to say, and I don’t like to have a set plan. I try to produce my horses the best I can and pick venues where I think they are competitive at the right point of their career – and we’ll go from there.” 

“It fills our hearts and minds with a lot of proudness,” Nijs says about following Landon’s success with Farrington. “We are so proud, and it's not only that we follow London, but we are also following a combination which is a match made in heaven. I think Kent is the final piece in a puzzle that myself, Joris Vanspringel and Niels Fockaert started to put together with the education of Landon in his early years. I feel like all three of us had our part in Landon’s story and it is Kent who can do the final touches. I am very proud and thankful that we could deliver a horse like him to a world-class rider like Kent.” 

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