WHAT THE TOP ROLEX RIDERS LOOK FOR IN A FOUR-STAR HORSE

“The best thing is when the horse is nearly perfect in dressage, jumping and cross country!

Definitely you need a very powerful horse, maybe in the beginning [they are] a bit more difficult, but in the end at a big four-star competition like this you need the power.” – Michael Jung

“Especially having four-stars like this one, you definitely need a horse that can gallop and who are comfortable to gallop at 10, 11, 12 minutes.” – Philip Dutton

“For four-star horses, you need horses with a lot of blood, a lot of energy.

“I think you can work every day for dressage and show jumping, For sure, it’s better if you have beautiful paces and good jumping quality but I think you can work with two parts of the three-day event.

You can improve the partnership cross-country but when you ask them to keep going after 10 minutes, you just need a horse with an incredible mind that will give, give, give, give.” – Maxime Livio

“He [High Kingdom] has all the qualities I’d love to find again in a horse.

“He’s a great galloper and a really fantastic jumper and he’s got all the heart you could ever want in a horse.” – Zara Tindall

DID YOU KNOW

  • Both Stan The Man and Ituango, the respective sires of La Biosthetique Sam FBW and fischerRocana FST, were based at the Marbach State Stud in Germany. The Irish export Stan The Man is also the damsire of Tina Cook’s Billy The Red, 10th at Badminton.
  • Ituango and Ghareeb’s respective sires Acatenango and Dancing Brave both ran in the 1986 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, won in epic style by Dancing Brave.
  • Nereo’s full-brother Armada was competed by both Andrew Nicholson and Oliver Townend.

    • Next week: Blackfoot Mystery, the racehorse that went to Rio.