Sports or Athletic visa for Belgium or the Netherlands?

[moocow]

Hello all!
So I have been wanting to go back to Europe to continue progressing with my riding (show jumping). I have many friends in Belgium and the Netherlands who would love to bring me over to train and work with/for them, but the problem lies in a visa.
When reading up about US visas a while back I came across a type of visa that allowed for internationally recognized athletes to obtain visas for themselves and their support crew to stay long term for training and/or competition. Does anyone know if there is anything similar to this in Belgium or the Netherlands? Or perhaps another EU country, even?

I am having a lot of trouble finding ways to keep challenging my level of riding in North America without having to dish over ridiculous amounts of money which I could never afford. Europe (especially Belgium and the Netherlands) really has everything I could want in terms of horses (I've spent time there recently) but I need to find a way to go over legally.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[fysicus]

The Schengen rules do have some provisions for athletes, but I don't know any details. I would think they only apply for participation in official international competitions and you would probably need an invitation letter from the event organiser.

For training I think you need to apply for a standard Schengen visa, or a temporary residence permit if you want to stay longer than three months. I suggest you contact the Dutch or Belgian embassy, explain your situation and plans and see what they say.

If you have US or Canadian nationality, it is probably fairly straightforward to arrange; if you have Latin-American nationality it may be more difficult.

[moocow]

I am Canadian, so it shouldn't be impossible, right? The hardest part is finding a 'sponsor' that doesn't immediately shy away from the idea of having to get me a visa!

The training/working would be to eventually compete at the international level. I've contacted numerous organizations within the horse world, embassies, individuals, you name it. This is the first reply I've gotten to any of that, so many thanks! It's really appreciated.

[fysicus]

As Canadian you don't need a visa for the Schengen area for stays up to three months, but you can't take up employment without a work permit.

For longer stays you need to apply for a residence permit, which you can do after arriving in the country. For the Netherlands, see http://english.ind.nl/
It will help if you have a detailed plan (to eventually compete at the international level is really too vague) and references from reputable individuals in the show jumping world.