While the sound is being tested inside and the heating is blowing outside, coaches and taxi vans are driving on and off. The Christmas show of the Equestrian Center Exloo attracts more than six hundred visitors per day. Almost two thousand in total. In 2019, the show was conceived by Lieuwe Koopmans from the equestrian center. “People are in the care home and may have little claim. There is not much to say just before Christmas. I thought ‘as an equestrian center we are going to do something for those people.'”
The show starts with a sleigh riding around the red and green lit track while the Drenthe national anthem sounds. Ultimately, about twenty acts pass by the mostly older target group. Many of them show their skills without pay, such as Lisette Peeters, who gives a performance with her vaulting school. “We come from the region and it is just a very nice initiative,” Peeters explains. “I think that is our social responsibility. And we like to show what we can do.”
Hester Bischot also comes from the region. Her team will perform, among other things, a choreography with fire. “It’s very nice to see people so happy. And we enjoy working with Lieuwe Koopmans. It’s nice to do this together.”
Several artists and employees point to Koopmans as the driving force behind this show, but he himself resolutely rejects that. “I’m just a cog in the whole. I’m part of 150 employees, so a bit too many to say so.”
Despite the voluntary contribution of artists, the free show is still expensive for the center. “If you keep counting, you arrive at a high amount, I sometimes think ‘oops’,” says Koopmans.
Koopmans would like to share the success of the hall. “Great. We really had a very nice year with major tournaments. A European Championship for Iberian horses, international driving competitions, international dressage, inspections. The center was occupied 45 out of 52 throughout the year,” Koopmans summarizes.
“You don’t make a top turnover at one event, but because you do a lot throughout the year you still get a good return. And then once a year, during the Christmas show, we don’t think about money. Then we take care of that those people have a good afternoon. With each other, for each other. That is our attitude here.”