For the second year in a row, Gilles Thomas crowned himself Belgian Champion. In 2023, he did so with the stallion Ermitage Kalone. In 2024, Gilles chose Luna van het Dennehof. Gilles and Luna impressed on every course that the duo from Stal Nieuwenhof were put in front of their hooves. Not a single fault fell in Lanaken.

Gilles on his second title in a row in Het Nieuwsblad:

‘Luna is now 13 and early this year I already had the feeling that 2024 would be her season,’ said Thomas. ‘She won her first five-star GP and jumped almost every course clear. Some horses have intrinsic quality, Luna above all has attitude and mentality. If she trusts you, she will do anything for you. That proved once again. That is why I thought of her for this BK. Ermitage, with whom I won the gold last year, got a rest after the Olympics. Now it was Luna's turn. I still attach a lot of importance to the BK and granted her that title. The gold medal is hers and for her. She is a sensitive mare and we have come a long way together to achieve this. If I give her enough support and confidence, she gives herself 100 per cent and you can even take risks. Ludo Philippaerts was Belgian champion six times, making him the record holder. I have the sneaky ambition to break that record.’ (KVL)

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In EquiTime, Luna's breeder Patrick De Muynck was featured in detail. About Luna. About the cooperation with Stal Nieuwenhof and about how he experiences the performance of the combination.

Patrick De Muynck: ‘Luna was not the easiest mare in our stables’.

Text: Kris Van Steen

I know immediately why Luna van het Dennehof, got her stable name. Across the Peperstraat in Eeklo, there is a very large pine forest. The Dennehof resides in the August sun on the other side of this rather busy road between Watervliet and Eeklo. Four 1.60m horses have already seen the light of day here. Luna van het Dennehof as the main showpiece, but also Jack van het Dennehof (by Toulon), Desteny van het Dennehof (Andiamo Z (TNT Andiamo) x Burggraaf) and Glamour van het Dennehof (by Lord Z). By the way, three of the four top horses cited are out of Valencia (Quidam de Revell x Calypso III), Destiny got her sport genes partly from dam Summertime. I immediately know why the De Muynck family's rather small-scale breeding is so successful. Valencia is partly responsible, but here live and work people with horse sense and feeling, who are assisted in their choices by people who are daily involved in top sport. Marc Van Dijck and Gilles Thomas. Not coincidentally the trainer/discoverer and rider of Luna. Co-owner too. Because Patrick still owns that other half of Luna.

Were does  the love and passion for horses come from Patrick?

Patrick: I have always ridden LRV-classes myself. So did our children. A fantastic time. Especially with the ponies. I 'ponycommandant' at LRV Evergem and the children had fun on and off the track. Our son Mathias rode several ponies. He was more of a style rider than a barrage rider and he still is a bit like that now. (smile)

Ponies are not horses, how did Valencia find its way to the Dennehof?

Patrick: Everything actually started with Valencia. A BWP mare that I bought as a foal at a show at the end of the nineties. Everyone said I was a bit crazy because she was quite pricey, but I had a good feeling about her even then. Valencia herself was a very good jumper. At first with Mathias from LRV to international trials. Marc took over the reins in 2010. In Mechelen's World Cup trial, they got two faults. The year after, she was sold to American rider Caitlin Ziegler who also rode the mare up to 1.60m level.

You are not big breeders. I would rather call it small-scale, and yet an impressive number of horses have already been born here that jump very well internationally ... A conscious choice?

Patrick: We do indeed choose that consciously. In all modesty, too. We also started very small. With Valencia, who stood out as a foal at the competitions and later under Mathias' saddle. At the young horse competitions and at the 'Gouden Laars' competitions. From there, we were asked if Mathias wouldn't like to join the then VLP Talent Team. We had honestly never heard of that. (smile) That was more something for Ludo Philippaerts' sons or Stanny Van Paeschen's son, we thought. Surely not for very ordinary people like us. But the Mathias/Valencia combination must have caught the eyes for some reason. He has ridden and won several classes with Valencia. In 2009, they won two international Junior GPs, including Reims and he was selected for the European Championships.

And with the Talent Team you then come to Marc Van Dijck ...

Patrick: Exactly! And then the ball really started rolling. We were allowed to choose a trainer to work with and that was Marc. For years, we drove to stud Nieuwenhof in Kapelle op den Bos every week. Hours in the truck to take lessons. Absolutely not obvious, but at no time did we regret it. It was all worth it. Mathias was taught by Marc Van Dijck and by Walter Lelie. We have always found good coaching very important.

And then at some point Marc does take over the reins from Valencia ...

Patrick: When Mathias turned eighteen, he chose to continue his studies instead of starting a professional equestrian career. Because that was also briefly discussed. Valencia was then sold at half price to Marc. Marc rode it up to 1.60m.himself. The day before they jumped the 2010 Belgian championship together, where she came second by the way, the embryo, which later turned out to be our Luna, was flushed out.

Luna was born at the Dennehof ... did she stay here for a long time? 

Patrick: Luna stayed with us until she was six years old. She wasn't exactly the easiest aunt in our stable. (laughter). When she left here, Gilles started riding them. In the beginning, it was definitely not easy. They took and found time and it started to go better and better. It is amazing what Gilles is doing with the mare. Being there live is not obvious but I try to follow it all closely. We are still co-owners, so you do follow it with a bit more interest and involvement.

Luna also performs outside the arena and has already produced offspring ... Is the choice of stallions always made in consultation with Marc?

Patrick: Yes (convinced) Marc and Gilles are both perfectly placed to know what is needed for today's top sport. I leave the choice of stallions entirely up to Marc.

And what happens to the offspring?

Patrick: The young horses are trained by Mathias and his girlfriend themselves and the horses stay here until they are six or seven years old with the exception of the stallion foals, which immediately go to Marc. The stallions that come out on top then stay with him and all the others come back here as two-year-old geldings. We take our time with the horses and don't want any pressure. Marc has exactly the same view. An incredible horse man at heart.

Who has already had the honour of courting Luna?

Patrick: Ermitage Kalone, Udarco van Overis, Minute Man... and also Uricas Van De Kattevennen, Harrie Smolders' Olympic stallion. The offspring are often not the easiest characters who only allow themselves to be ridden a little easier at a slightly later age. But Riviera van het Dennehof (by Chatman) is already jumping at 1.40m level and his one year younger half-brother Scotch van het Dennehof is doing super with Marthe Heudens at 1.35m level. He was recently a finalist at the BK for six-year-olds in Gesves. And so it keeps on going here. A very fine collaboration. We are not a big breeder but apparently we don't need that to have a success now and then.

True, and you can be more than proud of that together!

Marc Van Dijck about Luna and the collaboration with the De Muynck family

Luna is a mare with an enormous fighting mentality who always wants to stay clear. She jumps ‘zero’ very often. The perfect match with Gilles who has been riding Luna since she was six years old.
She jumped well at 1m35 and 1m40 level as a 7-8-year-old. But whether she had the very latest ability was not clear then. Her incredible top attitude helps her to jump those high courses clear. Luna is a real fighter whether it is 1m40 or 1m60, the feeling is the same. I also owned her sire Prince van de Wolfsakker. It is a very fine collaboration with the De Muynck family. Even now we breed with Luna, we always do so via embryo transfer. In my opinion, not overdoing it is the secret formula for combining sport and breeding. I try to flush only once or twice a year.
We inseminate and then flush at 8 days. We spray them especially not stallions that is important, we try to disrupt her cycle as little as possible. We do everything as naturally as possible and then the mares don't suffer much. I would like to thank Patrick. He is a super reliable owner and breeder. Riders need good breeders and owners and vice versa. We need each other.’