From grandpa's pony to Olympics: the story of Dinja van Liere

Dinja van Liere, born in Goes and now living in Uden, has emerged as one of the most promising dressage riders in the Netherlands. Her journey to the top started at a young age, and that while she had no sporting ambitions at all. ‘I never had any intention of joining the Dutch Team,’ she says.

Dinja's love for horses was sparked at the age of six by her grandfather. ‘After my grandmother passed away, my grandfather didn't have much to do,’ says Dinja. 'He took me to the riding school as a little girl and then bought a ten-ride ticket. Every week he brought me to lessons and stayed to watch. It was nice for him to be busy again. For my seventh birthday, he even gave me a pony. That pony was called Flits and because my grandfather was always there, everyone called him Grandpa Flits. Every lesson, all competitions; always he went with me. Unfortunately, he passed away four years ago, but he did get to see me break through and achieve great successes.'

Rather jump than dressage
Back to the riding school, where it all started and where it could also have ended quickly. In fact, Dinja soon stopped liking the lessons. I loved horses, but I found the riding lessons really boring. It was all much too slow for me. I didn't even like dressage. I wanted jumping and action! Because my second pony didn't want to jump, it became dressage anyway, where I did want to reach the highest level.'

No top-level sports ambition
As an adolescent, Dinja was the classic horse girl: after school it was off to the horses as soon as possible. In those days, she rode horses that were sometimes considered difficult. Or that people had too little time for or did not dare to ride. At that age, she also knew that her career lay in the horse world. I never wanted anything else and I didn't have a plan B. After finishing secondary school, I did work as a secretary for a very short time, until, when I was 21, I got the chance to work at Stal Hexagon in Schore. I rode better horses there and reached a higher and higher level. Despite that, I had no ambition or idea at all to ever go to the Olympics. Ideally, I just wanted to work in the horse world, there was no plan to become a top athlete.'

The talent crawls where it cannot go. After years of hard work and training young horses, Dinja worked her way up to the very highest level. With horses like Hermès and Haute Couture, she showed that she could not only train and develop young horses, but also perform at the highest level. And then also with different horses. 'Then it became clear to everyone: OK, so she can do more than we think. I myself always felt I could do it, but not everyone realised that. I was mainly seen as someone who could perform with young horses. It perhaps made me even more eager to show what I have to offer.'

Dinja's Day
Besides being a top athlete, Dinja is also an entrepreneur. She has her own stable where she trains her horses and also gives lessons. ‘I am usually at work seven days a week’ she says.

'The alarm goes off at 6.30am and I am ab-so-lutely not a morning person, so that remains spicy. I usually start the day with some cardio or fitness exercises and after breakfast I am in the stables by 07.30. Then I ride, do stable work, once an interview or something else, and from 16.00 lessons start. A quick bite in between and then it's back to teaching until 9pm. In the weekend there are often competitions so even then I'm busy.'

Despite her busy schedule, Dinja still finds enough time for other things that energise her. 'I really do go on holiday once in a while, and weekends are a bit quieter, although of course I always have to ride some horses. What I like doing most in my spare time? Eating out! With friends and girlfriends, we try different restaurants. So I don't really have a fixed restaurant I always go to. Other than that, in my spare time I like watching a series every now and then and I like listening to podcasts. I can do that on the road in the car, for example. And then preferably true crime.

Family of top athletes
Interestingly, Dinja's brother Joeri is also a top athlete. Both have represented the Netherlands at the Paris Games, Dinja at the Olympics and Joeri at the Paralympics in wheelchair basketball. Two top athletes from one family: a coincidence or are they hereditary with sporting talent? ‘We are just both enormously streaky and have perseverance. The word ‘no’ is not in our dictionary. If it doesn't work out the left way, then the right way.' Laughs: ‘In our house, there used to be no room to play a game, we were just a bit too fanatical for that! I think we have my mother's stubbornness and perseverance. My father, on the other hand, is very relaxed and can put things into perspective. The combination of those qualities comes in handy in top-class sport. I also never really suffer from nerves. We both cope very well with performance pressure.'

Source: interview with Dinja van Liere by BrabantSport, partner of The Dutch Masters
Photo: BrabantSport, Studio Paul Raats