June 17, 2023 
When American dressage rider Jennifer Williams first discovered Joppe K he was a coming five year old in The Netherlands that she thought had potential—for re-sale.
“Tina Desroche and I went to Europe to look for a future up and coming horse prospect and potentially a sales horse. And he met the criteria for a future sales horse. And so we purchased him with that in mind,” she recalled.
“When I tried him, he just really spoke my language and understood. We clicked right away.”
Once on U.S. soil, it didn’t take the KWPN gelding long to convince Williams he was a keeper.
“We quickly discovered that he was very special in the way that he learned and the way that he presented himself. The gaits were nice [at the beginning], but as he developed strength, he started to show really super characteristics and movement and just had a really great knack for sitting and piaffes and all of that,” she continued.
“So we decided very shortly after the purchase that we wanted to keep him and develop him for the future.”
They bided their time on his five year old year, slowly developing the chestnut gelding—“he felt a little green for it,” she explained. When they made their international debut in spring of 2020, he paid their patience back in kind. The pair won the CDIYH Six Year Old Final in Wellington, FL with a spectacular 85.600% score.
The following year they earned a pair of top finishes in the Seven Year Old CDIYH division in Wellington, again earning up to 85% for quality.
“Everything about him has been very easy mentally. He’s just a very happy horse that loves to work and loves to be a partner,” said Williams.
When presented the opportunity to take her Grand Prix horse Millione aboard to compete in Europe that same year, Williams brought Joppe along for moral support.
“At the time, Millione was very sensitive and very insecure. He was a horse that it would not have made sense to take by himself from Seattle to Europe. And so we decided that it would also become a training opportunity for us to take Joppe K to Belgium,” said Williams.
“Millione basically needed a buddy, and Joppe is the perfect buddy.”
Her competitive expectations for the then seven year old were accordingly modest.
“Frankly, I was hoping that if we were ready that we would get the opportunity to compete at Aachen with him,” she explained. “But we just tried to make it that both horses would be the most comfortable having each other.”
The plan worked. Millione and Williams won the Grand Prix Special in Grote-Brougal, BEL and both horses qualified to compete at Aachen. With Millione, Williams was the a member of the fourth place finishing American CDI4* Nations Cup team at the iconic German venue. With Joppe K, she contested the Prix St Georges and Intermediate I.
“He was the youngest horse in the Small Tour at Aachen,” she recalled.
“There’s always a decision. You know, you wait until it’s perfect. But I’ve always tried to take opportunities as they come. So I took that opportunity to go and get the exposure. But I also kept it very fun and low pressure for him. I knew that that was a blessing to get to be there.”
In the two years since, their international appearances have been restricted to Florida exclusively. Until this week, that is. Crossing the border to contest the Touch of Class CDI at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, BC, Williams and the nine-year-old chestnut danced to a personal best score and first CDI3* win in the Grand Prix on Friday, earning a 70.087.
“I feel like he was really with me. It was a pretty mistake-free test. And he felt more like he does day to day in the training than he has yet in the international ring,” said Williams, who trains with Christophe Theallet and Oded Shimoni.
“I was really proud of just the ride-ability and I thought the changes were quite lovely—the two [tempis], the ones. He sat and kept the pirouettes very nice and tight and active.
“It was a consistent, quality test. He felt confident and happy throughout. And that was really what I wanted to accomplish.”
It’s been less than a year since Joppe stepped up to Grand Prix and at just nine, there’s plenty more to see, said his rider—and perhaps soon.
“It’s a big jump to go from national [Grand Prix] to CDI and our goal is just to keep making him feel confident and loving what he’s doing in the ring,” she said.
“I would love to be in the hat for Pan Am [Games].”
