The Hunks Are Coming …

Great news, ladies: for the first time, Horse and Hunk calendars will be available in North America.

Horse and Hunk is the brainchild of equestrian business students at the University of Dronten (Holland). Its pilot year, 2009, the company was a huge success, receiving the title of Best Student Company of Dronten. When Mandy Pijnappel and Fianne Imminga graduated in 2010, they decided to carry on with the business, taking on a third partner, Mariska van Geemen.

Would you like a sneak peek of the 2016 wares?

All photographs courtesy of Horse and Hunk Company and photographer Johnny van Bergen.

If you haven’t already pre-ordered a dozen or more calendars based on those images alone, you might want to know a portion of the proceeds benefits the Brooke Hospital for Animals, providing veterinary care for horses and pack animals in developing countries. (We featured Brooke USA in a past Standing Ovation column — learn more here.)

The Brooke currently work across Africa, Asia and Latin America where there are a high number of working horses, donkeys and mules as well as high levels of human poverty. One recent campaign taught hoof care in Guatemala, where volunteers noticed 73% of the animals walking abnormally, 72% with at least one misshapen hoof and 67% with a diseased frog. Not only did The Brooke teach proper farrier techniques at hoofcare workshops, but they showed owners how to make tools like hoof picks cheaply and how to use them correctly.

Brooke sponsored hoofcare workshop in Quiché , where a local farrier learns how to improve his skills.

Basically, I’m telling you … the Horse and Hunk calendar is good for you and great for the world.

I know. The anticipation is killing me too. You can preorder your calendar on September 15th!

Be sure and check out Horse and Hunk North America for more photos and videos before then.

Save a horse, ride a cowboy.