From an early age, Annemarie van der Toorn has been in love with horses, following her father’s passion as an avid show jumper. After founding a successful company in corporate change management, Annemarie decided to buy a Quarter Horse for trekking and small competitions. Much as the mare was great fun, there was a fundamental problem. She completely spooked inside the trailer.
Annemarie embarked on a year-long quest to understand the behaviour of her horse, finally finding Monty Roberts, Kelly Marks and Ian Vandenberghe, who were able to identify the cause of her horse’s behaviour and how it could be solved. This led to a fascination and passion in horse behaviour.
Joining Monty Roberts, Annemarie became his tour manager for several years while continuing to train and expand her knowledge in equine welfare. In 2005, Annemarie began instructing in horse and behaviour, but quickly recognised the need for an industry learning platform. This led to the foundation of e-quine.com.
Annemarie believes the first principle of training is to learn from the best and has spent the last fifteen years specialising in equine nutrition and health, improving the wellbeing of horses and the people around them through education and inspiration. This expertise was acknowledged in 2016 with CRKBO registration (a short professional education), and recognition from internationally acclaimed KNHS (Royal Dutch Equestrian Federation) and NOC*NSF (the Dutch Olympic Committee).
In 2017, e-quine.com also received recognition from the Dutch Horse Academy, an initiative of the KNHS and Aeres group, in collaboration with the FNRS (Dutch Federation for Equestrian Centres) and KWPN. (the Royal Dutch Sport Horse).
Alongside, e-quine.com, Annemarie provides communication and leadership training with and without horses. She has also written numerous articles and documentaries for Horse & Country TV. Annemarie has published three books: Looking Through the Eyes of the Horse and two children’s books: Horse Whispering and Learning with Leo.
