about how they could get him to move in a way that many said could not possibly be natural. Today Nick laughs, but it wasn’t funny back in those
days. “It got ugly and that took a toll on me, especially being young and never having experienced anything like that,” he says. “We invited people to watch us train any day of the week. Our arena was along the side of the road and it wasn’t covered. There was no way to hide anything.”
AMERICAN BREEDERS VISIT As an aside, he tells a funny story about Ad. A busload of American breeders was visiting Holland’s
breeding farms and Ad had the opportunity to greet them. He didn’t speak English at the time but still wanted to make a good impression. He climbed onto the bus to welcome them and, in his warmest tone, he said, “Hello breeders,” but he used the Dutch word for “breeder,” which is “fokker.” Ad returned to the farm saying to Nick that these were the rudest people he’d ever met and that they didn’t smile when he greeted them. “I just laughed, pictur- ing Ad, this big, intimidating guy, saying ‘hello fokkers.’ I explained and we laughed and laughed.”
MOVING ON The time came when Nick had to decide whether to continue to make a go of it in Holland or return to the United States. It turned out that the pull of family and America was stronger. He chose to return home and leave friends and Krack behind. In 2000, Anky van Grunsven became Krack’s rider.
Just a week and half after she took over the stallion, the pair were the Prix St. Georges/Intermediaire I cham- pions at Aachen. At Grand Prix, Krack represented Holland at the 2002 World Equestrian Games. His success as a sire has been particularly notable.
His ten licensed Dutch sires include: Redford, Trento B, Tuschinski, Tolando, United, Valazquez, Vivaldi, Webster, Zhivago and Dorado. In Germany, his 15 licensed sons include Kaiser Franz, Kansas C and Kopenick. To this day, Nick still does business with Ad and
buys horses through Gerard. Krack continues to touch Nick’s life through his offspring. He and Zenith (Krack is his grandsire) recently earned a 69.750 percent and first place in the $1,000 FEI Freestyle Test of Choice Open Class at the 72nd Del Mar National Horse Show. They also earned a string of first place ribbons at Inter- mediare II at both Del Mar and Dressage at Flintridge. Looking back, Nick is a bit nostalgic about the time
he spent in a strange country as a young American and muses if only he had in those days the knowledge, wisdom and maturity he has today. It turned out to be the experience of a lifetime on a horse of a lifetime. “I was just a kid on a horse and I was in love with that horse.”
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