Looking back at Indoor Friesland 2024 with Jur Vrieling

Finally he could really be present as a participant, finally we could all enjoy him at the WTC Expo in Leeuwarden. He had been looking forward to it just as much as the audience and the organization. He was certainly not disappointed. In fact, Indoor Friesland 2024 exceeded his expectations. It was EVEN more beautiful than he had imagined after all the enthusiastic stories he had heard. We called Jur Vrieling.

At the comeback of Indoor Friesland he was actually an ambassador, but due to sponsor obligations elsewhere he unfortunately could not be present at the first two editions. He regretfully handed over the honorable role to Jeroen Dubbeldam. However, third time lucky, last year he was there and this year he will do his utmost to put Indoor Friesland in his agenda.

Worth five stars
“Jur: “I thought it was a great event. It was beautiful, the atmosphere was great and everything was really well organised. Indoor Friesland is a three-star competition, but I thought it was worth five stars. I had three horses with me, Helwell du Chabus, Mcallister VDL and Human League. It went well, I was happy with my horses. In the Grand Prix I won third prize with Helwell du Chabus.”

Organized out of love
“Indoor Friesland is different from other competitions. The atmosphere, the friendliness of the people and not to forget the flawless, perfect organisation. In three words, Indoor Friesland is simply an abnormally wonderful event. The competition is really alive here in the North. You can also notice that it is not organised for profit, but out of love for the sport. This radiates from everything. I already said that the competition is worthy of five stars, but in my opinion it should remain three stars. Five stars entails other obligations and as it is now, it should remain. I am referring here to the local aspect, among other things. The national sport, pony sport, harness horses, Frisian horses, four-in-hands, everything has a place on the programme and that is one of the things that makes the event so unique.”

Pony sport
“Speaking of pony sports, on the Saturday morning of the jumping weekend there was a pony section on the program. Teams were put together, all of which had an international rider as coach. I was one of them. This was an idea of ​​sports director Yvonne van Bergen and was great fun. Everyone was enthusiastic and that is important. After all, the youth are the future, hopefully new Willem Greves and Marc Houtzagers will emerge from this. The participants clearly enjoyed it. The coaches walked the course with them, helped them with jumping and gave tips where we could. I also thought it was great to see how fanatical the coaches were. I would especially like to mention Vincent Voorn who had come back from Oliva especially for this. I thought that was extremely great.”

Grand Prix
“The Grand Prix of the new Indoor Friesland is high on my wish list. Winning a five-star Grand Prix is ​​great, but in the North, in Leeuwarden, at Indoor Friesland ….. I’m going for it!”

Report
We asked Jur to give a score for a dozen points of our competition. We were almost embarrassed:

The Stables – 9
The program – 9
The release options – 9
The Straw Village – 8
The field of participants – 9
The shows and clinics – 9
The Location – 9
Social Media – 9
The organization – 10
The Volunteers – 9

Thank you
"Finally, I would like to thank the public and the organization. They are the ones who make an event. The atmosphere was unprecedented and very special, that is really enjoyable for us as riders."

We can hear in Jur's voice that he means it and he emphasizes that. The man who has ridden everywhere, started all over the world. Thanks for everything Jur, we enjoyed you too. We hope to see you at Indoor Friesland 2025!

Text: Marjan de Wildt for Indoor Friesland
Photos: Digishots