respect to our friends who have to drive so
far to the ICAMH and IMHC shows every
time. Through our horses, we’ve enjoyed the
opportunity to visit some wonderful shows,
people and countries including: Sweden,
Denmark, UK and France. One thing we
learned along the way, it is really hard to keep
your horses in condition on such long travels.
The key is to stop frequently to feed and wa-
ter them enough especially in the summer-
time. Perhaps our biggest accomplishment
last year was showing at the AMHA World
Show with one of our own mares. Then icing
on the cake, Tanja was asked to show a top
stallion in for our beloved friends, Richard
and Jacob from Double E Ranch.
communicating without words, using only
gestures. Now the farm has been assigned
two young adult interns who will be learning
and preparing for a job later.
Little Creek Farm is also a place for foster
children who because of problematic parent-
ing might not have an opportunity to go to
camps or holidays with their families. Instead
they come to the farm where they find an
escape from their hard lives. It is something
totally different for them and they adore it.
Some of them choose ranch life above other
hobbies and continue to come every week on
Wednesday afternoons. We are very grateful
for all the help everyone gives us and the
smiles on their faces are reward enough at
the end of each day.
Becoming a professional trainer
in 2017
With those original first three horses,
Kevin and Tanja made baby-steps into the
show ring. They didn’t always win, but had
a lot of fun. Showing the horse’s themselves
in amateur allowed them to appreciate the
gradual learning curve and to make happy
memories along the way. Ultimately, one
by one, their goals of success were accom-
plished and Tanja won her first Supreme title
with a horse that she totally trained, con-
ditioned and groomed herself. To become
more knowledgeable about Miniature horses
they attended lots of clinics. They followed a
first-aid course for horses and Tanja received
a degree in hoof and dental care. Finally, they
completed the government issued course for
Horse Management which allowed them to
run a recognized horse farm in Belgium.
32 Miniature Horse World
SUMMER 2017
Learning from our experience by
Kevin Lathouwers
Training and showing in halter has always
been our passion. It was a hard learning pro-
cess of repeating and training every day with
and without horses. The package has to be
complete. We are so proud of the beautiful
selection of top show horses we’ve gathered,
especially Rebel, our main sire, who won the
Open Supreme Regional European Champi-
on-the highest title that can be won in Eu-
rope. Our goal is to train and show some top
show horses throughout Europe. We try not
to stay within the Benelux, (our area) but
each year we chose a show far away to pay
In 2017, Tanja decided to become a pro-
fessional trainer and she now accepts horses
for training. She focusses on carefully select-
ing their dietary needs and adapting it on a
weekly basis. This is the solid base we build
upon to have your horse in a top condition
with enough energy to perform and build up
muscle. Especially if you take them to sev-
eral shows a year, they need to give you ev-
erything and stay energetic throughout the
season. Good training and perfect grooming
will make the picture complete. We strive
for happy, healthy, well trained horses. Our
feeling is the bond between horse and hu-
man has to be a friendship first and based
upon mutual respect. We welcome your visit
in person or at our website www.farmlittle-
creek.com