Harrie Vaessen honoured at the Limburg Foal Auction

24 September 2026

During the 26th edition of the Limburg Foal Auction, tribute was paid to the remarkable success of Limburg breeder Harrie Vaessen, who has been involved with the auction as a consignor on several occasions. Hello Mango, a product of his breeding programme, stood out under Scott Brash at the World Championships in Aachen and made a substantial contribution to team bronze for Great Britain.

Harrie Vaessen can fairly be called a small-scale breeder, producing just one foal a year in most years. Even so, he has managed to breed two horses that have caused a real stir, the best known of which is the Untouchable daughter Hello Mango.

Two standouts
Born as Keswichtime H.V., Hello Mango proved a true revelation at the World Championships in Aachen. Scott Brash built the mare up very carefully towards her first major championship, and after two rounds they even led the individual standings. In the end they returned home from a successful championship with team bronze and twelfth place individually. The eleven-year-old mare had already won the 5* Grand Prix of Doha earlier this year, and much can still be expected of this Untouchable daughter in the years ahead. What makes it all the more special is that Harrie Vaessen bred the international Grand Prix horse H5 Londontime (by his own-bred Hummertime) out of the same dam, the Numero Uno mare Hattrick. This ten-year-old gelding performs at the highest level under Eduardo Pereira de Menezes and finished an impressive second in the Rolex Grand Prix at CSI5* Brussels this summer. That combination came close to being selected for the World Championships in Aachen as well, and their ongoing successes mean there is plenty more to look forward to from them too.

Auction successes
Out of the Numero Uno mare Hattrick, Harrie Vaessen also bred the Chacoon Blue daughter Macoon Blue H.V., who was sold at the Limburg Foal Auction in 2017 and now competes at international 1.45m level with Mireille Couperus. Two years later, Harrie Vaessen was again a consignor at our auction with the Big Star son Omega Star H.V., a direct offspring of Hello Mango. This gelding, now jumping at international 1.30m level, was bought at the Limburg Foal Auction by the Backlund family and currently competes with Alina Salo. Harrie Vaessen has shown just how great the successes of a small breeder can be and that was reason enough to put him in the spotlight at the auction.

Text: Jenneke Smit / Photo: DigiShots