2016 will go down in history for many things, but in the equestrian world at least, it was the year of the comeback.
Twelve months ago, two of the world’s top event riders were still in the early stages of recovery from near-fatal riding accidents; it was looking very likely that both Andrew Nicholson and William Fox-Pitt would retire from the sport.
But miraculously – there is no other word for it – 2016 saw both master horsemen return not just to the saddle, but to the highest levels of competition.
Andrew started out with a couple of quiet runs at the lower levels in March, was back at three-star a month later, and although he elected not to run at Badminton, he had his first three-star win of the season at Bramham in June with his very starry Jet Set. A week later, he was out at four-star in Luhmühlen, finishing a creditable fifth and seventh on Qwanza and Perfect Stranger.
But his best performances for the year came with his old friend and partner Nereo, with whom he won the main CIC3* at Barbury Castle in July for an extraordinary fifth year in a row. He and Nereo were then second at Burghley in September.
But it wasn’t an altogether great year for Andrew. He missed the opportunity to ride at what would have been his seventh Olympic Games due to the ongoing fall-out with Equestrian Sport New Zealand, and lost his beloved Avebury.
The equestrian world was saddened when Andrew called time on Avebury’s wonderful career in April, as ‘Buddy’ wasn’t feeling 100% as they prepared for Badminton. Our article on the retirement announcement has some great photographs of Avebury’s amazing career.
And while we all wished him a long and happy retirement, grazing in the sunshine at home, it wasn’t to be. On September 6, Andrew broke the very sad news that Avebury had been put to sleep, due to a rapidly developing tumour.
Avebury had fans all around the world, and with a remarkable three consecutive Burghley wins, will go down in history of one of the greatest eventing horses of all time. We know that the Nicholson family as well as Buddy’s owners, Rosemary and Mark Barlow, will be missing him immensely.
Meanwhile, Andrew’s great rival William Fox-Pitt returned to competition in May, though he was still suffering from symptoms of his horrific head injury, including double vision. Although he didn’t have any three- or four-star wins this year – in fact his best placing was seventh at Barbury Castle with Cool Mountain – he was selected for the British team for the Rio Olympics. An individual medal would have been the true fairytale finish, and it looked on track as William and Chilli Morning led the field after dressage, but a cross-country run-out put paid to that dream. Still, an individual 12th placing is nothing to be sniffed at, and as William himself said, simply making it to Rio just 10 months after being in an induced coma felt as good as a gold medal to him.
However, the comeback crown for 2016, and perhaps for all time, goes of course to Nick Skelton. Nick, who celebrated his 59th birthday yesterday, won hearts around the world in Rio in August when he won individual show jumping gold with Big Star.
In doing so, he was the first individual show jumping medallist from Great Britain since 1972, and it came with a hip replacement and 16 years after breaking his neck in a catastrophic fall, on a horse whose own career has been riddled with serious injuries.
Our story on Nick’s win was one of the best-read on our website all year, and Jane Thompson’s image of Nick’s devoted groom, Mark Beever “wiping a bit of sand out of his eye” at the medal ceremony, went viral. You can see the image on this link.
Michael Jung wasn’t on a comeback in 2016, because his career only seems to go in one direction – UP! But it will be very hard for him to cap this year, in which he not only won his second consecutive Olympic eventing gold medal on the amazing Sam, but also snaffled the elusive eventing Grand Slam, having won Burghley the previous September (with Sam), Kentucky in April (with FischerRocana FST), and then Badminton in May (with Sam).
Time to say goodbye
2016 saw time called on the career of perhaps history’s most amazing dressage horse of all time – Valegro.
He and Charlotte Dujardin won every medal and set every record there was to win in the sport during their time together, and the beautiful, sweet-natured ‘Blueberry’ won more fans to dressage than any other horse, with his unprecedented combination of power and lightness. He went out on a high, aged just 14, with owner Carl Hester declaring: “He has nothing more to prove, and there will be no walk of shame for him.”
The freestyle at Rio – where he set an Olympic record of 93.857% – was to be his last competition, though Valegro will not retire from the spotlight, as he is huge demand for demonstrations and public appearances.
“He will be talked about for years to come as the example of what dressage is all about,” says Carl.
A little closer to home, Jock Paget’s top horse Clifton Promise had a very touching retirement ceremony at Badminton in May. Promise has now flown back home to New Zealand where he will have the best of retirement paddocks at Jock’s new base in Taupo. Here’s the link to the full story on his retirement ceremony with some great images.
It was a year of ups and downs for Jock; thrilled to be selected for his second Olympics with Clifton Lush, he was gutted when the horse injured himself in the stabling, which saw Tim Price step into the team.
Jock ended the season with the announcement that surprised many: he is coming back to New Zealand, with a focus on developing his coaching career, though he will still aim for World and Olympic team selection.
The times they are a-changin’
Erik Duvander isn’t exactly going into retirement, but he did step down from his position as Eventing High Performance coach in October this year. You can read more about this on this link.
We are not sure what Erik’s next move will be career-wise, or who his replacement will be. Could another country benefit from his extensive coaching experience? There are a few vacancies around at the moment, and we have heard talk of an opportunity for Erik in the US. As to his replacement, will this be the opportunity Sir Mark is looking for to end his competitive career?
Another big change for Equestrian Sport NZ is that Vicki Glynn, who has been CEO for the past two years, is stepping aside into a new position as ESNZ’s secretary-general to the FEI. Management of ESNZ will become the responsibility of former director of operations, Dana Kirkpatrick, who now has a one-year contract as general manager.
Across the Rainbow Bridge
Argo, Vicki Wilson’s amazing Kaimanawa, was another of everyone’s favourite horses and his death due to colic in November caused grief all over New Zealand. The Wilson sisters described him as very special. “We’ve had some incredible horses over the years, but none quite like him.… From the moment Argo arrived from the wild he shared a love with humans that was a privilege to be a part of, none more so than for Vicki who became the centre of his word. His ability to enjoy life shone through every day and he always made the people around him smile… he bought fun, freedom, love and laughter wherever he went. His intelligence and gentleness won the hearts of people across the nation and for Vicki there was no other horse quite like him – he was her best friend and his loss will be felt for many years to come.”
It was also a sad farewell to Vincent St James, one of New Zealand’s best-performed dressage horses. With his rider Bill Noble, the TB-stationbred cross ‘Vinnie’ won Grand Prix Horse of the Year three times from 2005 to 2007, and New Zealand’s top dressage prize, the Burkner Medal, in 2007 and 2008.
There were many other horses who crossed the rainbow bridge this year. If you have lost your beloved companion, our thoughts go out to you too. Some horses always hold a special part in our hearts.
