THE Cavan-bred Mighty Nice gained another major award last weekend when the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was announced as the United States Equestrian’s International Horse Of The Year.

Philip Dutton, who piloted the Ard Ohio gelding to an individual Olympic medal, was also named as the rebranded federation’s International Rider of the Year. On his Facebook page, the Australian-born rider dedicated Mighty Nice’s award to the horse’s late owner Bruce Duchossois and his daughter Lee Lee, who was airlifted to hospital after a schooling accident before Christmas, saying: “It’s an incredible honor and very humbling for our team and Happy’s owners, Annie Jones, Caroline Moran, Kevin Keane, Michael Bombar and Evie Dutton. He’s such a deserving horse, not just in the way he competes but in how he loves life. He is a wonderful example of an event horse because while he’s not super brilliant in any one phase, he genuinely loves competing and puts his heart into it. It’s amazing what you can achieve when all that comes together. His late owner Bruce Duchossois believed strongly in Happy’s talent and loved this horse, and our team dedicates this award to him and also to Lee Lee.”

This is the latest award for Mighty Nice, who saw off the challenge of other US Olympic horses HH Azur and Verdades, and for his connections. The now 13-year-old also won the United States Eventing Association’s Horse of the Year title, while his Cavan breeder William Kells received two Horse Sport Ireland breeder awards and the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses eventing breeder award last year.