Horse Illustrated Magazine

A truck that was hauling dressage rider Anky van Grunsven’s (NED) best horses crashed on the way home from the Olympia Horse Show in Britain during the early morning hours of Dec.19. The trailer that was holding IPS Salinero and IPS Painted Black crashed at 2 a.m. near Dover, England. No one was injured in the accident and both horses were unhurt.

The driver of the truck, Jo van den Oetelaar, hit a car that had crashed on the road. There were no lights or flares set out near the wrecked car that could have helped prevent the subsequent accident. According to a statement from van Grunsven on her website: “There was no way he could have seen the car on the road. Fortunately nobody was hurt or injured and the horses were OK.”

The horses were taken to a nearby vet and spent the remainder of the night there, being cared for by van Grunsven’s groom Willeke.

Van Grunsven took the top Freestyle score of 83.050% with IPS Salinero at the Olympia Horse Show, Dec. 17-18, with her new kur, “Dance of Devotion,” composed by Dutch pianist Wibi Soerjadi. Van Grunsven is considered an elite dressage rider, having achieved several Olympic medals and World Championship honors.