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“You have to love what you do and put your heart into it,” Mieke Raman – the breeder of Thibeau Spits’ European team gold medallist Impress-K van’T Kattenheye Z (Indoktro-K van’T Kattenheye Z x Vagabond de La Pomme) – tells World of Showjumping.

With Spits in the saddle, Impress-K van’T Kattenheye Z has lived up to his name since the team gold at the Longines FEI Jumping European Championship in A Coruña, Spain, finishing third in last year’s Rolex Grand Prix at CHI Geneva, second in the Rolex Grand Prix at The Dutch Masters back in March, as well as fifth in the Grand Prix Hermès in Paris just a week later. Last Sunday, the two topped the CSI5* 1.60m GL Events Grand Prix at the 2026-edition of Le Printemps des Sports Équestres in Fontainebleau. 

“Breeding and producing a top horse is a team effort,” Mieke points out. “There will be tears – both of joy and sadness. It's very important to do your best each day and that everyone involved does their job with their heart.” 

“Everything has to be in order,” she continues. “First of all, horses have to be healthy, both physically and mentally. Breeding and producing a top horse is not as simple as buying an embryo, leaving the foal somewhere until it is three and then putting a saddle on. Instead, it's a long process over years where each day counts, and everything has to be done right.”

Mieke grew up on the historical Kattenheye-farm in Laarne, Belgium, which her parents ran until  1995 when Mieke took over. “It was a traditional farm with cows and pigs, and my husband brought in a few Haflinger horses. We bred with them and did carriage driving and hosted all kind of parties at the farm,” Mieke explains.

We were very ambitious

“In 1997, our dream came true when we started to milk horses,” Mieke tells about the history of her family farm. “At the time, it was unknown in Belgium, and many people were laughing at us. However, in a few years it became well-known because people saw the benefits. As horse milk became popular, people wanted to see how we did it, so we started giving guided tours and organising open days. As the business kept growing, the pigs had to leave the farm and we got more horses.”

Eventually, Mieke and her husband Tony bought two warmblood mares in 2006. “In 2008, our first stallion foal was born,” Mieke recalls. “It was Indoktro K van’T Kattenheye, the father of Impress-K. We were very ambitious; we went to the stallion approval together with Jan Vermeiren, and he got approved.”

“As we had an approved stallion, we then thought we better get proper mares as well,” Mieke continues. “We bought a lot of good horses with quality pedigrees. In 2013, we had ten foals, mostly by Indoktro-K.”

Julia vd Donkhoeve, the mother of Impress, wasn't ridden. “She had two foals before she came here, and she was six when she had Impress,” Mieke tells. “I remember when Impress was born, because he was our first black stallion. I was so happy; he was big enough, with long legs. He was impressive as a foal, hence his name, and we liked him from the very beginning.”

It's a beautiful story

Impress was just 30 months old when the Spits-family bought him. It was Thibeau’s father Patrick who found Impress – by coincidence. Mieke had sold Impress when the stallion was 30 months old, and at the time Patrick discovered him, the stallion was stationed at Niels Bruynseels and his team at the Woodlands Auction. Patrick saw Impress in the field, fell in love and bought him.

When the stallion was three, and had gotten used to the saddle, Thibeau – who had just finished school and had begun riding full-time – started riding him. “It's a beautiful story,” Mieke says of Impress. “What makes it even more special is the fact that he is with a lovely family. They are also breeders; they know how emotional it is when a horse you bred does well, and they keep us very involved. We were a young breeding operation when Impress was born, and now we will have the third generation after him.”

With more than 120 hectares at the Kattenheye-farm, Mieke has a lot of space for her young horses. “We really like young horses; that's our core business and our life. We spend a lot of time with our horses, so they are all used to people from they are foals. Half of the foals we sell on actions, the other half later on. We usually sell them at the age of three, while some mares we hold on to longer.”

“After 15 years, we know our bloodlines,” she continues. “We trust young mares and we like to use young stallions. That's how you can breed good and cheap, in my opinion. We have tried ICSI, but on our farm, it has not been a success.”

We trust young mares and we like to use young stallions

“I'm not against new techniques,” Mieke points out. “As an example, I believe artificial intelligence can be very helpful; we already use AI cameras to help detect when a mare is going to give birth. We have done some tests, and we are very excited about it; the results have been great.”

“We want to keep developing ourselves,” Mieke concludes. “I believe that even if you might have some success, you should never stop trying to improve. You have to look further, listen to other people and collaborate with those that have the same core values as you.”

27.4.2026 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.