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Sanne Voets Rider of the Year 2022

36-year-old dressage rider Sanne Voets from Rosmalen, close to the Brabant capital, has been voted Rider of the Year 2022. At the World Championships in Herning, Denmark, she captured three gold medals with her horse Demantur RS2 N.O.P., making her the most successful competitor at these World Championships. It is for the second time, that this rider receives the honorary title. Earlier, she was Rider of the Year of 2016.
The committee set up at the time by the Indoor Brabant board (since 2018 The Dutch Masters), consisting of Anky van Grunsven (chairman), Ed van den Bent, Andries van den Berg and Henk Rottinghuis, considered the achievements of the Dutch equestrian athletes for the 57th time. Fortunately, 2022 was another 'normal' equestrian year.

Honourable mentions and nominations
The Commission awarded two honourable mentions and four nominations. The honourable mentions went to four-horse rider Bram Chardon and show jumper Harrie Smolders. The four nominations were for IJsbrand Chardon, Dinja van Liere, Maikel van der Vleuten and Sanne Voets.

Commission's choice
Dinja van Liere's performances were surprising; her name appears in this annual election for the first time. IJsbrand Chardon made a fine comeback and Maikel van der Vleuten had a great year athletically. In this order, they dropped out. Whereas last year Sanne Voets had to beat Maikel van der Vleuten in this election, this time the roles were reversed. The Commission chose Sanne Voets, who became "the queen" of the World Championships in Herning, leading and distinguishing her sport nationally and internationally in 2022.

The title will be awarded on Saturday evening, 11 March.