HES-TEC meets inspiring Para-Amazon: Manon Claeys

On June 13, 2022, Belgian Paralympic dressage rider Manon Claeys met the HES-TEC team for the first time.

Manon immediately saw something in Quick Knot®. Braiding with needle and thread can be physically demanding, particularly when strength and fine motor skills are limited. For Manon, who has Parkinson's disease and continues to live with the consequences of a serious riding accident, Quick Knot® offered a much simpler way to secure her horse's braids.

What surprised her was that she had never seen the product being used within para dressage before.

That conversation made us look at our own invention differently.

Quick Knot® had originally been developed to make braiding faster and easier. Through Manon, we began to understand that making braiding easier could mean something much more important for some riders: greater independence when preparing their own horse.

Want to read more about the accident of Manon? Click here.

On to the World Championships in Herning with Quick Knot®

The name is Manon Claeys and she is a Belgian Paralympic rider who is happy to take us to the World Championships in Herning, Denmark. This event has taken place on 2022, Aug. 16-22 and includes all world championships of jumping, dressage a voltige. The World Para-dressage Championships is no unknown territory for Manon and her faithful friend San Dior. The first important step of the championship has already been achieved by the super duo by passing the fat check. This is a crucial point to pass, because otherwise your horse is not allowed to start the championship. For the fat check, the horses are also fully braided in and here is also the official debut of Quick Knot® at the Paralympic Games. The tool for braiding in the horses mane allowed Manon to create beautiful buns easily, quickly and with low effort.

Time to get started...

Although, the talented young mare turns out not to be fit enough to participate, so the World Cup starts differently than envisaged beforehand. Fortunately, it is part of Manon's identity as a positive-minded rider to make the best of every situation that crosses her path. Manon has six talented horses being prepared for the next World Cup in Paris, but to perform now is the time for reserve horse Katharina Sollenburg to shine. For her it is only her fourth competition ever and her first championship.

And she certainly does shine!

During the competition of the World Cup para-dressage, Manon Claeys and substitute Katharina become 5th best in the world. "I am enormously proud of her" - said Manon C. about the performance of her horse Katharina.

Later in the tournament, the excellent performing team also manages to achieve a fantastic Belgian 2nd score (72.8%) during the Nations Cup. Together with the 5th place as a team this means a ticket for the next World Championships in Paris and they conclude a successful tournament together.

HES-TEC thanks Manon Claeys for representing Quick Knot®

The founders of HES-TEC started the company years ago with a great love for horses and entrepreneurship. The team is always driven to make the horse industry a better place for both current generations and future ones. As a result, continuing to develop and promote innovative products is also an important part of the organization. There is also a great morale policy that is a huge driving force behind the company. This is the genuine desire to help riders and spread positivity in our shared world.

The influence of Quick Knot® has grown so much in recent years with over 125 distributors in over 30 countries. However, the Paralympic equestrian discipline has not been a focus to date as a target group, while this is precisely where the moral gains can be made for these fanatical athletes. The solution that HES-TEC offers with Quick Knot® is the one that helps these athletes prepare for various sporting events, so that they can focus on what is important to them: performing at top level.

Thank you Manon, for bringing attention to Quick Knot® within this discipline. Together we help the equestrian sport.