Tor Van Den Berge and his team at the 2024 FEI Driving World Championship Four-in-Hand. Image by Amy Mundell.
From a childhood spent watching his father work heavy horses on the farm in Richmond, New South Wales to claiming Australia’s first team medal alongside Boyd Exell at the FEI Driving World Championship Four-in-Hand in Szilvásvárad, Hungary, Tor Van Den Berge’s rise up the ranks in the world of carriage driving has been quite extraordinary.
While Boyd Exell has long dominated the sport of four-in-hand carriage driving, Australian compatriot Tor Van Den Berge has also been a rising star. Together, they pulled off Australia’s first ever team medal in the FEI Driving World Championship Four-in-Hand, a feat all the more impressive give they were a two-man team up against multi-person teams from the European power houses. Tor was still almost breathless at the achievement when he spoke to us after the competition at Szilvasvarad in Hungary.
EQL: Tell us about where you’re based and how many horses you have in work – and out of interest, do you still have any dressage ones?
TOR: We are based in Meijel in the Netherlands. It’s in between Valkenswaard and Aachen [Germany], so a very well-respected equestrian area. Boyd [Exell] is based at Valkenswaard, and also Edwina Tops-Alexander, so Aussie Central so to speak! The property is associated with one of our sponsors and owners of two of our horses. They have a beautiful training establishment and we’re very lucky to be here. We have around 13 horses in work between us. Both carriage horses and dressage horses.
Tor Van Den Berge and his team in the dressage phase at the World Championship. Image by Amy Mundell.
EQL: What inspired you to leave the sport of dressage and turn your hand to four-in-hand driving? Could you tell us a little about what you look for in a team of four?
TOR: It’s a very good question… I ask myself that every day. Somehow it just developed. I started with ponies in Australia as a hobby with my daughter and now we’re in Europe! I also remember when at home my father always had harness horses in work, and I love working with him and those great horses. My father loved the harness horses, and I was really born into a life with them.
“I feel one with my
team and I feel they
trust and believe in me.”
Tor in the marathon with Kerosine (right-leader), Carbery Estate Chino (left-leader), Indiana (right-wheeler) and Carbery Estate Cato (left-wheeler). Image by Amy Mundell.
For the dressage, the most important thing – as in straight dressage – is that the walk has to be positive. You can’t have a team with some with huge walks and others with mincing walks. You need a regular, normal walk combined with horses that can let go in the walk and relax into the rhythm and then collect without tension or becoming distracted from the purpose of the walk. Not so easy, yet important.
The trot has to be similar between horses too, but they do become a unit with training. You do need to choose a uniform type with small differences, as too similar becomes boring. Self-carriage and an uphill way of going is important and, of course, they need to be full of presence and activity, yet totally obedient and a team.
My team I love for their willingness to work and their attitude. The feeling of continuity, unity and friendship between us all is so fabulous – not to mention trust – and that’s what you see in the marathon and cones. I feel at one with my team and I feel they trust and believe in me, and that’s only through patient and careful training. It is a truly amazing feeling. Ride one horse and then try joining four together! Wow! What an exciting and thrilling experience of confidence and understanding between man and horse. We all get on. My horses love to work; I love to feel and understand them, and if we weren’t all confident with each other that would end in disaster, not success!
EQL: Tell us about the team you had for the World Championship.
TOR: We had five at the Worlds. We had the two mares we brought from Australia, Carbery Estate Cato and Carbery Estate Chino. Cato is the left-wheeler for the marathon and cones. She really is a genius, and you can count on her every time. Chino is the left-wheeler in the dressage and left-leader in the marathon and cones. She is my rock. She can go in any position in the team and never lets me down.
On the podium with teammate Boyd Exell. Image by Amy Mundell.
Jeebert is right-leader in the dressage. He has white stockings over his knees and is a phenomenal mover, but takes the most preparation of the whole team to have him right for dressage.
Kerosine is the show maker. He is the youngest of the team and is left-leader for dressage and right-leader for marathon and cones. He is an amazing horse but needs another year to catch up in experience.
Indiana is by far the sweetest horse in the team. He was a champion in his own right in the show sport and as a sire. He is right-wheeler in all three phases. Every show Indiana gets stronger, but he was a machine at the Worlds. He is our power.
EQL: In a week at the barn, can you describe a training day? Is it always in harness or do you ride them as well? Could you compete any of your harness horses in open dressage?
TOR: Every horse in our team is individual and we take their character and there likes and dislikes into consideration. As to riding them, again it depends. The two, Chino and Cato, as much as they are broken in and very rideable, they don’t enjoy the saddle work at all and so they are rarely ridden. Kerosine, who is the most extravagant mover, is not under saddle as I don’t want [wife] Mel to get any ideas about him as a dressage possibility. I guess it’s like asking if you put your Grand Prix horse in harness or show jump him!
If they are enthusiastic and love that variety, then a little bit is good, but they need to focus on their job as a team of four and work all together, so most work is done to encourage this. I have to say they truly are a team and love to work together and help each other – and me! – out. It is what they were bred for and it’s truly what they love, so no point in trying to get them to work at something they are not so keen on.
EQL: We can only imagine the amount of gear that you have to take for five horses to a World Championship. Can you describe a little in regard to what you need to take for the competition?
TOR: Wow… that’s a question! We take a truck with five horses and a carriage, as well as a trailer with six sets of harness, two carriages, an extraordinary number of boots, bandages, feed, studs… the list goes on. And most shows we take a two-horse van with straw, hay and shavings, a caravan, two kids and three dogs. It’s like moving home every time we compete.
Grooming for four-in-hand is a bit of a thankless task and requires a really special person who is prepared to take a slice of the work and do just that. Having a fifth horse when the competition is under way, it’s important that someone misses out on the watching and the fun to look after that horse. My grooms and associated helpers are amazing, to say the least, and simply love the horses and their characters, and that’s what gives them the pleasure. Just as the four horses are a team, so is our band of people around us. Positive and like family, they are proud to be a part of it all, and take it all seriously and love the work.
As you can imagine, the amount of gear, cleaning for four horses and preparing the carriages for the three disciplines is quite some effort and goes late into the night. Food and wine and banter helps it all happen and it is actually a nice time together. The results of seeing four horses immaculately prepared is inspiring. Try getting one horse ready for a turnout class at a Royal Show, then try FOUR! All those white socks, the plaits for four horses and the list goes on. We won’t even think about the post-marathon. Think if an eventer and the work associated with that post-cross country… then try four and that’s 16 legs to ice and four horses’ needs to pay absolute attention to! It’s unreal and awesome fun. We all love it and to see the results is only a representation of the dedication and heartfelt generosity to work for the result by all around us.
EQL: Talking of your individual classes, it would be really interesting to know your thoughts on how you went in each section and whether you have a favourite or your team has a highlight.
TOR: The dressage is always our highlight but that is what all three phases is based on, so that’s where we have focused our training. Marathon and cones still need to get a lot better but that’s what I’ll be focusing on over the next year. But I have been happy with the improvement over the last six months. It just takes time with young horses to learn what is different about dressage and marathon and cones.
EQL: Who do you have to coach you at home? How many grooms do you take with you? It’s obviously a family affair as well. Are you all driving? Is Mel still competing in dressage? How do you manage to keep ahead financially, as I am sure it’s not all about training your team?
TOR: All of us still compete in dressage. All the training is with [head groom] Cat or [wife] Mel watching. And I go for lessons with Boyd of course when I get a chance, who is extremely helpful and knows the horses really well.
Cat is the head groom at shows and the engine that runs everything. Everyone chips in… we’re very lucky to have bred a very good groom in Olivia [Tor’s daughter]. We usually have one or two other girls that help us. It’s very important, like the horses, that the people that help have a similar temperament so that everyone is happy! Nanda [owner and sponsor] does all the catering for the shows, which is so amazing as everyone is so busy. When Nanda isn’t there, Miriam [owner and sponsor] steps in to help out.
We all love the dressage horses and Mel is the one who now competes them. We have a super five-year-old by KWPN stallion Just Wimphof who is very talented, and we look forward to the upcoming winter series with him. Also, we have two mares that are super talented and going to compete at the equivalent of Medium level, and another by KWPN stallion Hennessy who is also exciting. We all enjoy the dressage horses.
As for me, I have to say I work very hard here to support my family and the sport I have chosen. I work with the horses of Jan Tops and Edwina Tops-Alexander in their young horses’ training program, and that is wonderful. I also do quite a lot of work as a farrier, and as hard yakka as that is, it’s rewarding work with good competition horses and barns. I love the coaching and teach locally as well as clinics in America, and of course at home in Australia. I do a little bit of coaching with the harness side of it but prefer to keep working at my own expertise here and love the help and lessons from Boyd… how lucky am I?!
Tor on the marathon course with wife Mel as navigator and Hans on the back-step. Image by Amy Mundell.
EQL: To gain a team bronze medal at the World Championship must be such an accolade for you and Australia. It must’ve been an absolute thrill for you to be with the best in the world, being Boyd. Did you guys walk the marathon course together and what were your thoughts before that phase? Who was on the carriage with you in the marathon? What are their jobs?
TOR: Still to this moment I can’t believe we have a bronze medal! In carriage driving they take the top two scores for each phase for the teams — unless someone is eliminated — which makes it really difficult when you have only two competitors in your team as every phase for each driver is counted.
Obviously it helps when your teammate is Boyd Exell! We are extremely lucky at the big shows to have the access to Boyd’s technical advisers. Boyd usually sits on my carriage and warms the horses up before I go in the dressage, which is so helpful. He usually walks the marathon and cones with us as well. His knowledge and experience is invaluable.
Mel is navigator and pretty much takes the pain of the whole marathon. Navigator, or top-step, is telling me where to go in the obstacles but gets me out of trouble if a mistake is made by me or the horses and quickly reroutes us. The navigator also does all the times for the sections and tells when I can give the horses walk breaks. I think it’s a very stressful job… particularly navigating for me.
Hans is the back-step; he is a shared owner in Jeebert. His job is to keep the carriage down and on all four wheels, and also away from the balls [in the cones phase].
EQL: As much as Australia is a long way from where you were at the time of the competition, be assured we were all following your journey. What was going through your mind when you were on the podium?
TOR: So that’s a really interesting question. Again, I really can’t believe we have a bronze medal. But the number one thing is the pride in that I’ve actually been able to achieve that for the people that have supported us in this journey. We really appreciate everyone that has been behind us: my sponsors and owners, who are so endearing to my passion, and I only hope our success has given them pleasure; the grooms and all and sundry that make Team Van Den Berge the success it is coming to be.
EQL: So, what’s the program now for you coming into the European winter? Will we see you back in Australia?
TOR: All the carriage horses are now in the field for a holiday until the end of January. We now concentrate on the winter series for the dressage horses. We are very lucky to have the indoor competitions. Mel and I will have a lot of Australian clinics and I will have a couple of clinics in the US… so busy, busy, busy.
I have to say that the support form Aussies and the buzz of climbing the ladder in this sport is inspiring and encouraging. I have to thank everyone who has been involved in this journey and, as much as I stood there and received the bronze medal at the World Championship with the legend Boyd Excell, I only thought of the team I have around me and especially my wonderful wife Mel, who has pushed and helped me in this sport that is seriously challenging.
I love a challenge, and I love my life, hard work and positive people. EQ
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