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We continue our popular series ‘That Special Bond’ with Andrea Hoenack, who for the last nine years has been working for Marlon Modolo Zanotelli. 

“The special one for me is Edgar – or VDL Edgar M as his full name is. Edgar is just an unbelievable horse. He is such a big horse with such a big character and so kind, he is really something else to me. In general, Edgar is such a cool horse; it is hard to explain. Whenever I work with him and take care of him, he makes me happy. Edgar just loves attention and being taken care of – not that he loves brushing that much, but he loves showers. And he loves having people around him and to travel, he is always happy to go on the truck.” 

“Everybody actually loves Edgar and that includes the other horses as well. If we have a horse that is a bit difficult on the truck, we just put Edgar next to that horse and he or she will calm down. Even horses that normally don’t like other horses, love Edgar. He has this aura around him that is very appealing.” 

“Last year in St. Tropez, Edgar gave us our first 5* Grand Prix victory and during the second half of 2019 he was placed in every 5* Grand Prix he jumped. He always tries so hard and he wants to do it." 

He has a huge heart, and he is really smart – which he knows.

“I liked Edgar from the beginning, but with time we grew even closer. He was nine and a bit green when he came to us and it has been fantastic to see his development. Edgar was always a great jumper, because he has the talent, but he still needed a lot of education and he needed to get used to Marlon riding him. He developed really fast and it has been so nice to see him getting better with everything.”

“One thing with Edgar is that he loves to give love bites, as I call them. He always bites a little and he doesn’t realize that it might hurt, so it is kind of cute. We do keep it under control though, so he doesn’t overdo it. He also loves to watch people. When I take him for a walk he likes to just stand and look at what everyone is doing – and he likes to investigate, sniff around and steal food.” 

“Edgar is the star of the stable and he knows that very well, which is ok – he totally deserves it.” 

“Sirene de la Motte is another special horse. She was one of the first horses we got after Marlon and Angelica started their own business and she is a very kind mare. Sirene can be a bit spooky at times, but I earned her trust after not that long and then she did everything with me. Sirene really gave us a lot – in 2016, the year she came to us, she won a 2* and a 3* Grand Prix. She always gave her best and jumped super rounds in Nations Cups and at all big shows she did. And she loved going to shows."

The biggest achievement we had with Sirene was when we won two gold medals at the Pan Am Games in Lima 2019, which was an unbelievable experience. We had worked so hard to get there and she jumped her heart out. 

"First, she won the team gold and then the individual gold after being the only horse that jumped a double clear in the individual final. Thinking about it still gives me goose bums.”

“Sirene doesn’t like kisses or being cuddled on the head, but she likes being brushed and looked after.” 

“That is Extra van Essene and Rock’n Roll Semilly. We had both horses for a long time; they were both very special to me and unbelievable horses.” 

“Extra could be a bit grumpy at times, but when I went to him and asked him what he was doing he always stopped. He had such a big character, a big personality and was a super jumper. Rock’n Roll could sometimes be a bit headstrong and if he saw something that really exited him he could be a bit out of control. But he was a super horse to have on the shows and he always tried.” 

“Extra would always stop when I hand-walked him and then he just closed his eyes, especially when it was sunny: He would rest on one leg, then stood there and didn’t want to move. Rock’n Roll on the other hand wanted to do power walks. He walked really fast the first ten minutes and then he thought he was done with walking.” 

“Rock’n Roll did the Pan Am Games in Toronto 2015 and that was quite special for us. It was not as successful as we wanted it to be, but it was a really good experience for all of us. Just to work him towards the Games and to build him up was very educational.” 

“That is a good question, I really don’t know. Even the horses that have been special in different ways have been quite easy to get to know. What can be difficult at times is when we have a younger or a new horse with us to shows for the first time, since we don’t know how they will react to different things – or if they will behave the same at shows as at home. Sometimes you get reactions that you don’t expect.”

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