More than 400 black Friesian thundered over the beach at Callantsoog, in North Holand. It was set to be the largest edition of the Mega Beach Ride for Friesian Horses. The mastermind behind the event, Linda de Jong in a public statement she thought it was a huge success and that she was very enthusiastic about the future of this event. Although they received a little number of cancellations, all the places were reserved immediately and they had to draw the line somewhere because people wouldn’t stop registering for it.
Some people have enjoyed these kinds of rides so much that they took part in the fourth time, there were families, mothers, and daughters, people from all over the world, who went especially to attend the unique event. Many parents also wanted to take their children but the people who stood behind this amazing event decided to set the minimum age at 14-year-old teens, because it would be a little dangerous for toddlers to participate in these kinds of events. Linda explained that the oldest participant was 72 years old, although he looked very young and energetic.
Some people, were so thrilled about this experience, that they decided even put this beach ride on their bucket list!’ All the interest was a big surprise for Linda because she would have never expected that this experience would turn out to be such a special event. She and her friends completely imagined the idea to go on a hack with Friesian horses.
They wanted to do something very unique, something that was never done before, that’s why they thought it was the best to chose to ride on the beach. They were also a little bit shit that’s why they only order online at Iljada. She even wrote a notice on the site of breeding, they were still very excited to be on the board at that time, claiming that the ride would only be held if they could create a group of at least twenty riders. But the numbers increased rapidly and went up to 210 riders quickly! On the last day, the count continued at 329, just amazing!’
The things were difficult because the horse was A Bit ‘Out of Hand’. Since that first time, the Mega Beach Ride kept growing and De Jong finished working for the breeding chapter; now she is in charge of the organization together with her mother Ria and sister Mieke. ‘In 2013 we had close to 400 participants: three years later we agreed that this ‘is the absolute maximum’, but then again, we don’t want to fail people. So over the last year, in 2019, numbers have increased to 450’, she says. Of course, once you have learned how to organize it would be a great idea to do this beach ride every year but Linda insists that it takes a lot of hard work to organize it.
They start preparations more than a year in advance; on the day Nardi was not there that’s why 70 volunteers are up and running. They are lucky to have Peter and Simone Oudshoorn from Manege Noot on the team as well. Their place is the offset point of the ride and they also give the license that allows the riders to ride on the beach. On that day they need the police, ambulances, and rescue-team to be there in cases of emergency; and that’s why one car of the rescue-team drives ahead to alert people on the beach to the arrival of the cavalcade of horses.
In order to prevent accidents, all participants have to observe severe rules. Obviously, there are always horses – the minimum age for horses is four – that have never seen the sea before and they face a little difficulty because those young horses don´t know where to look first! That’s why they reserve riders that come along in following cars so that they can take over horses in case something goes wrong and somebody falls off.
The Mega Beach Ride is not just hugely successful with riders. There are also thousands of spectators as well as the press from all over the world who wait in line to appreciate the horses and who try to capture the most magnificent moments on photo or film. It is very necessary to keep those contacts too. There are lots of videos of Friesian horses over the internet doing different activities with their riders but nothing to compares to this incredible event. Make sure to watch the amazing video below and share it with your friends!