Jerich Parzival

With patience and perseverance, this superscared legend went from unrideable to a medalwinning machine who conquered the world, discovers Alice Collins

- Alice Collins

WHEN it takes half an hour to get on a horse for the first time, most people aren’t keen to get back on it ever again. Luckily for Jerich Parzival, Adelinde Cornelissen is not most people. In 2002, Adelinde was at a loose end when Henk Koers asked her if she’d ride his five-year-old to show him to some prospective clients. Unbeknown to her, none of Parzival’s previous riders wanted anything more to do with him.

The leggy chestnut and the amateur Dutch rider learnt together and not only reached the international grand prix in 2007, but stayed there for almost a decade. He was Adelinde’s first grand prix horse and, as the linchpin of the Dutch team for years, took her career interstellar.

Initially, Parzival’s latent talents were well concealed.

“I tried to get on, but it took me half an hour to get my foot in the stirrup as he’d just take off,” recalls Adelinde. “He was supersharp; not bossy, just scared. When I finally got on, I had to fasten my seat belt as he was flying from one corner to the next. As soon as he heard a noise or saw himself in the mirror, he’d spin and bolt.”

When the clients came, they were – unsurprisingly – not interested.

“I made sure I was on him already,” says Adelinde. “Then they arrived and opened the barn door and Parzival spooked, spun and ran off. It was a bad first impression. After 15 minutes, I asked if they wanted to try him and they said no.”