The Netherlands defender kept his promise he showed at the start of his international career when he won the 2005 FIH Rising Stars award.
Ten years later he was voted 2015 FIH Player of the Year as he approached retirement from the international game.
Van der Horst played 272 internationals and collected a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
He also won a silver at the 2014 World Cup at The Hague, The Netherlands, and a bronze at New Delhi 2010.
He played club hockey for Oranje Zwart, Rotterdam and Oranje-Rood, a club he eventually coached, and Punjab Warriors in the Hockey India League.