Britain’s showjumper Ellen Whitaker quits after row with Rob Hoekstar
May 21, 2025
British Open champion Ellen Whitaker says she will not represent Britain this year following a row with world class performance manager Rob Hoekstra.
Whitaker, known as the golden girl of British showjumping, fell out with Hoekstra over a row about her schedule, accusing him of “interfering”.
“I am not trying to be awkward, but I cannot work with somebody who will not listen,” said 24-year old Whitaker.
British Showjumping said it is fully backing Hoekstra in the dispute.
A spokesman said: “Of course we would like to see her on a British team, but Ellen will need to understand that she needs to give her full support to the team.”
Whitaker, niece of GB showjumping stalwarts John and Michael Whitaker, was originally selected for Britain’s Nations Cup opener in La Baule, near Nantes beginning on 13 May.
But she was replaced in the team by Dave McPherson ahead of the event in which Britain finished a creditable joint-third with Germany.
The row appears to have started when Hoekstra asked Whitaker to compete with her Nations Cup horse Ocolado in Lummen, Belgium, two weeks before La Baule.
“I only have Ocolado at the moment, and Rob wanted to interfere with the way I do everything,” Whitaker told Horse and Hound magazine.
“I didn’t want to go [to Lummen], as I thought it was too close to La Baule, but Rob would not listen.
“Then he didn’t want me to jump Ocolado at Newark and Notts County Show before La Baule.
“In the end, I decided the best thing would be for me to pull out of the team.”
Whitaker has now effectively ruled herself out of seven remaining Nations Cup competitions, plus the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky during September and October.
Rob Hoekstra
Hoekstra, a former British international rider, won the 1999 Hickstead Derby
British Showjumping appointed former international rider Hoekstra as its new world class performance manager in February.
His brief includes the Olympic sports of dressage, eventing and showjumping and Hoekstra will lead Britain’s build-up to London 2012.
“It is not a matter of Ellen not wanting to jump for her country, but we will not jump again until Rob Hoekstra is finished,” said Steven Whitaker, Ellen’s father and manager.
“We have to mix jumping for Team GB with making money. He has left us with no alternative.”
But British Showjumping is backing Hoekstra in the row.
“Rob was clear in his communication with Ellen and was as flexible as he could be when she sought to change her plans,” it added.
“Rob has revitalised the management, leadership and communication within the teams, and the riders’ reactions have been very positive.
“Ellen Whitaker jumped Ocolado at the Hamburg Global Champions Tour the same weekend as La Baule, she is a talented rider who has excellent support from her owners.”
Article provided by BBC
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