Andes is the white horse you might recognize from the large Aleashop banner on the storefront or from our business cards. In her younger years, Andes also moonlighted as a model, actress, and... Sinterklaas's horse!
Way back in 2010
This year, Sinterklaas secretly traveled to our country a good two months before his official name day. The saint himself was working on the second series of "Slot Marsepeinstein," a Studio 100 production. Because the filming for Sinterklaas would only take about ten days, his horse, Amerigo, remained in Spain. That's how Studio 100 contacted me and asked if I knew of a white horse that could accompany Sinterklaas in his latest television series. Being white and looking good weren't the only requirements; the production actually approached me because the horse also had to be stress-free. My only white candidate was the thoroughbred Arabian mare Andes, and she even had camera experience from the successful filming of our report "Safe Trailer Loading" for Hippo TV. So, working with Sinterklaas in the presence of a film crew seemed like a no-brainer. Until I learned about the unique location of the filming: on the roof! Not just any roof, of course, but a rooftop parking lot in the heart of Mechelen, six stories high with stunning views of St. Rumbold's Cathedral and the historic buildings of the city center. With my own fear of heights in mind, I considered my answer for a moment and decided to take a look for myself first.
Do we do it or not?
The photos of the roof didn't reveal much. Above the low balustrade, there was still a fence, but that would be taken down to make way for the set. It would consist of an eighty-centimeter-high stage, on which Andes would appear, along with several Zwarte Piet figures and, of course, Sinterklaas himself. I had decided that if I was afraid to look down, I wouldn't accept the assignment. After all, being stress-free yourself is the main requirement for a stress-free horse ;-)
So Olivier and I went to Mechelen to explore. The ceilings of the parking lot, near the IJzerenleen, turned out to be barely 1.90 meters high, meaning we'd have to walk up the stairs, led by horse. We slowly drove the car up the six floors, three hundred meters on our odometer. We got out on the roof and immediately noticed the breathtaking view the film crew was aiming for. The surface seemed okay to me, not as slippery as you sometimes encounter in modern parking lots. With proper preparation (removing the horseshoes, practicing beforehand with Santa Claus, his robe, and his staff), the whole undertaking seemed manageable, and we confirmed our cooperation with Studio 100.
Unfortunately, Sinterklaas couldn't possibly free himself up early during these busy toy-packing seasons. So we made a Sinterklaas costume ourselves and found the perfect temporary Sinterklaas in Jarno from the Flemish Parelli instructor team. Andes's horseshoes came off, and she was given original (pink!) ones for the occasion. hoof boots Andes was allowed to come along to the open house at De Poedertoren the day before to get used to the crowds. She rode along unperturbed in the Parelli demonstration, shouting, "Do Parelli! Even Sinterklaas can do it!" That's all we could do; Andes was ready for her daring task...
Meeting with Santa
That September evening under the full moon, Andes, washed a gleaming white, stood quietly in the trailer waiting for me to be transformed into Zwarte Piet. The transformation was nothing short of spectacular, but I had the feeling that Andes, despite my black face and long nylon gloves, still recognized me. We saddled up on the street, put on the hoof boots, and with her red Natural Hackamore (Sinterklaas climbed onto the roof for the first time in history with a (rope halter ?), we set off on foot on our climb to the roof. Once there, Andes glanced with interest at the many lights surrounding us but otherwise remained completely calm on the busy film set. The stage was about ten by four meters, not wide enough to turn with several energetic Zwarte Pieten and the stately Sinterklaas on the stage, and a whole lot of props and technical equipment surrounding it.
Andes took the stage like a true professional—what a strange sound, stepping on the hollow roofing…—and stood so perfectly still that Olivier, after a few minutes, even took off as a warm-up for Santa. So high! During the filming of the first scene, Andes stood perfectly still next to us, near the edge of the stage and away from all the action, without moving a single foot.
Then we finally got to meet Sinterklaas in person! Andes thankfully remained perfectly exemplary as Sinterklaas, with all his "long skirts," was helped into the saddle with some welcome assistance. He was, of course, used to his own Amerigo, who, after all, has much more experience on rooftops than Andes…
Scene after scene was rehearsed, filmed, and re-filmed from ever-changing camera angles. I rewarded Andes profusely for her patience high above the rooftops, including with the letter cookies that had fallen from the Pieten's burlap sacks. After nearly seven hours of the chilly, moonlit night, all the footage featuring Amerigo was finished, and Andes was the first to leave the set. She received numerous compliments on her good behavior, and tired but satisfied, we descended back down to the ground floor together.
A few days later, Andes was invited back as a stand-in. This time to appear in several scenes at Sinterklaas's Marsepeinstein Castle, where the music video for "Dat is Amerigo" was also being filmed.
I believe that Sinterklaas definitely comes to Merendree every year on December 6th: if not to drop presents in the chimney, then probably to say hello to Andes!
Kim
PS It took Andes less than thirty seconds to go from white back to pitch black when he got home, but mine took a bit longer to go from black back to white…
