As the 2008 Samsung Super League with FEI series moves to Rotterdam this week, Louise Parkes chats briefly with Dutch Chef d'Equipe Rob Ehrens and takes a look at the history of the fixture which celebrates its 60th anniversary.....

He has mixed feelings about the Kralingse Bos showgrounds where Rotterdam show has been staged now for so many years. Always one to see the funny side of things, Rob Ehrens says, "I was never really successful there myself - my first time in Rotterdam was a complete disaster!"

Rob started competing internationally in 1980 and that year took part in the alternative equestrian event which was staged in the Dutch seaport town following the Moscow Olympic Games which had been boycotted by many countries. "On the course there was a combination with a triple bar in the middle of it and you were supposed to take two strides to it but my horse, like many others, put in just one - it was a mess!" he says looking back with amusement at that inauspicious beginning to what was to become a very successful show jumping career.

In fact 1980 turned out well for him in the end as, riding Koh-I-Noor, he finished second in the Grand Prix at Hickstead and then went on to win in Calgary. "She was a very good mare, she didn't win that many Grand Prix classes but she was second and third many times - always consistent," he points out.

He honed his skills at international level in the company of some of Holland's great riders including Emile Hendrickx, Henk Nooren and Johann Heins and, riding Oscar Drum, had the distinction of being the only Dutch rider to qualify for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984, but he did not compete. "My horse had some problems on the flight and was not right when we got there," he recalls. However Oscar Drum made it to the World Championships in both Aachen and Dublin and won the Grand Prix at s'Hertogenbosch and several other fixtures.

Olympic Sunrise was his very top ride, and he remembers her with great pride in his voice. "I rode her for two and a half years and she won a lot - the Hickstead Grand Prix, the Grand Prix at Wiesbaden, twice in Amsterdam - maybe 16 or 18 really big classes - she was great," he says.

As a venue Hickstead has always been one of his favourites, and Aachen too. "Big open arenas and big fences - I always wanted to win at Aachen but never did, although I had the fastest time in the jump-off at Aachen three times with Oscar Drum!" he remembers with a degree of satisfaction.

Amongst Rob's show jumping heroes is Irishman Eddie Macken - "he was such a classic rider, great to watch" he points out, "but I have always had respect for all of the top professionals including Heins, Nooren and Hendricx, and of course the Whitakers - they all have something special about them," he insists.

He worked as a trainer even when he was competing himself, so when he was coming toward the end of his own career in the saddle he decided to concentrate on instruction and management, and he really enjoys working with the Dutch team. "I was always a real team player myself and its a great feeling when I get a good team together and get them to work together," he says.

When he started out with The Netherlands squad in 2005 he didn't enjoy instant success but the following year his side took team gold at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen and then, last season, they reigned supreme at the European Championships in Mannheim. "I have been told that it is my nature that makes it possible for me to be a good manager," Rob says in his unique matter-of-fact way. "I am straight, I don't like to go around things, I face problems and I'm not afraid to admit when I make a mistake, and I'm not afraid of finding a way to put it right when I do," he explains. But he knows that team management and popularity don't always go hand-in-hand. "When you do this job you make a few people happy and many people disappointed - that's just the way it is," he states.

Despite his own difficult history with the Rotterdam showring he says it is one of the nicest venues on the circuit. "The atmosphere amongst the riders is always great, everything is close together and for sure because it is a Nations' Cup meeting it is really great to be there involved with the team" he adds.

It was way back in 1937 that the Rotterdam riding school, "de Rotterdamsche Manege" moved to the Kralingse Hout where a new equestrian centre was created, surrounded by a substantial plot of land. That year a two-day competition was organised with riders attending from all over The Netherlands, and the show ran again in 1939 and 1949. In 1947 an invitation was issued to Belgian competitors, and the event further expanded in subsequent years thanks to the collaboration of Mr Job Dura, Chairman of "de Jockeyclub" at Rotterdamische Manege, and the riding school Director Mr Ad Klebe.

Initially it was mainly military personnel and members of wealthy families who took part, but that changed with time. Harry Wouters van den Oudenweijer was the first Dutch winner of the Grand Prix, coming out on top with Abadan in 1969, but it would be another 19 years before Jos Lansink would follow suit with Felix in 1988. Dutch royal family members have a strong connection with the show - HRH Prince Bernhard, FEI President from 1954 to 1964, competed every year for the first ten years and in 1957 Mr Dura presented him with a special cup while uttering the immortal words "this vase shows the names of the horses you rode in Rotterdam, including those you fell off." Presumably the Prince had inherited that Dutch gift of an excellent sense of humour...

The Prince's daughters inherited their father's love of equestrianism and Princess Beatrix, who became Queen in 1980, won the Hunter Championship at the 1957 fixture with Foxtrot while royal family members continue to support the show in recent years.

When they turn up this Friday to watch the fourth leg of the 2008 Samsung Super League with FEI series they, along with Rob Ehrens, will be hoping that the home-team riders all manage to stay onboard and continue their winning ways. But if, for any reason, they do become unstuck, they can rest assured that their Chef d'Equipe knows only too well just how fickle this sport of sports can be.

By Louise Parkes