Valegro, Totilas & Co. | Horses of History

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] fei icons looks back at some of the greatest equestrian achievements from the sport's most iconic events athletes and horses of the 20th and 21st century in this special episode we relive the historic moments of some of the greatest horses in the history of jumping dressage and eventing the horses that redefined their sports to be able to have a partnership with a horse where you bring out the absolute best in that horse and then the horse because we can only be as good as the horse that we're riding and then it's that partnership and when it gets to a level where both are near perfect and it's it's it's something pretty amazing charisma was born in 1972 this new zealand sport horse sired by tyra mink and out of the damn planet had an early career as a grade b jumper in new zealand by the time celebrated eventer sir mark todd was offered the ride charisma had already been brought to present george level in dressage mark needed to combine the disciplines to create the aventa which he did winning the national three-day event at torpo and with it selection to the los angeles olympic games [Music] when i first saw him i didn't think that we would be a partnership because he was very small and i was very tall but as soon as i sat on him i immediately felt yes this horse could be something special and you know we had a great partnership over a fairly long time and with good results charisma had a prolific international event record winning the british open twice two seconds at badminton and a second at burley along with several wins across europe but this little horse will be remembered for his olympic success becoming a national hero after he won two consecutive gold medals in three-day event at the 1984 los angeles and 1988 seoul olympics i've been fortunate that i've had a couple of personal best moments at the olympics obviously my first olympics in 84 in la you go there hoping that you'll go well but to come away with the gold medal was uh you know a bit of a surprise and a huge uh huge honor really and and then to go back four years later in seoul with the same horse and win again was very very special and that's something that's only ever been done once before and that was back in i think 28 and 32 so two very special olympic memories charisma was officially retired at 16 and was flown back to new zealand where he completed a gold medal tour of the country and then spent his retirement on mark's rivermont farm in cambridge in the uk world of jumping had never seen such a horse with pop star status the crowd's favorite the grey gelding that would inspire a generation fold in 1977 milton was by dutch warm blood marius out of irish draft aston answers his lines included successful sport horses in both paternal and maternal lines his sire being an international level and his dam a grade a national level jumper when milton was young caroline bradley who had ridden marius to international success told her parents he would be her olympic mount she trained him until her untimely death in 1983 after which many offers were made to her parents to buy the gelding who had already proven his talent they kept the horse for a short time milton was ridden by stephen hadley before he became a mount of the world-renowned international rider john whittaker milton entered international competition in 1985 and during his competitive career milton achieved many international victories and became the first horse outside the racing world to win more than 1 million pounds in prize money among his many victories were individual silver and team gold in 1987 at the fei european championships in saint gallon two years later they were back on the podium with individual and team gold at the 1989 fei european championships in rotterdam their first fei world cup final win came in 1990 in dortmund that same year they won an individual silver and team bronze at the fei world equestrian games in stockholm throughout his career milton rarely touched a rail or refused a fence the grey gelding was a favorite with the crowd as seen in their second fei world cup final win in gothenburg 1991 [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] milton retired in 1994 and died in 1999 he was buried at home on the whitaker's farm in yorkshire milton and john's partnership was truly remarkable the grey gelding was a horse of a lifetime and possibly the greatest jumper of all time [Music] during the last few years of milton's career a new jumping star had emerged retina zed daughter of arguably the most influential jumping stallion ever ramiro zed was born at stud farms angersheider in belgium she was without doubt one of the best jumping horses that ever lived on this planet her career started with dutch rider piet rymakers winning a team gold medal and an individual silver medal at the olympic games barcelona 1992 by the time she'd come to ludger bierbaum retina zed was already a legend in her lifetime but the two still had to find each other once they did it began a series of outstanding accomplishments their first major win came in dortmund at the 1993 fei world cup finals where they would duel with the million dollar milton and john whittaker in the final round for that coveted trophy [Music] attacking that good little snatch there in between and that clear around then the whole ball game changed pressure firmly back on john whitaker and everest milton the margin between the two of them just over one fence 5.5 penalties [Music] because they still had 1.5 in hand they could in fact have got away with that and won [Music] but milton completely now lost his style and rhythm this occasion retina zed just comes out the winner so ludkin the olympic champion is the new volvo world cup champion i mean the third european rider to win it since 1979 making five european wins and that's including john whitaker's double in 1991 the success that followed for the incredible partnership defined the decade in the sport of jumping team gold at the fei world equestrian games in 94 team gold at the summer olympic games atlanta 96 then in 1997 they produced a stunning performance on home soil at the fei european championships in mannheim germany where they were crowned individual and team champions [Applause] [Music] retina turned ludga into what he is today the two fought and one together like few others did only a few horses in the history of jumping have proved to be her equal a true championship horse with a heart of gold retina zed had it all retina zed passed away in 2010 but her incredible breeding pedigree continues to this day at the stud farm zangashida by her clones retina alpha zed and retina gammazed in the 1990s the world of dressage would be dancing with bonfire born in 1983 the bay oldenburg gelding gestion bonfire was bred by carl bernt vesterholt his sire was felt as and his dam was vereen he came to legendary dutch rider anki van grunsven at two and a half and by the time he was seven years old he was competing at grand prix level between 1991 and 2000 the pair had competed in multiple international championships including three olympics and two fei world equestrian games winning one gold medal and four silver medals at the olympics and one gold and three silvers at the fei world equestrian games however it was in the indoor arenas of the fei world cup that really showed the talent of bonfire in the freestyle to music bonfire would win a record three world cup titles back to back the first in los angeles in 1995 then again in 96 at gothenburg and the third on home soil into toganbosch in 1999 after winning a fourth fei world cup title bonfire would take anki to european glory winning individual gold at arnhem [Music] in their final year of competition anki and bonfire would defend their world cup title for a last time at the finals in 2000 again into togenbosch where the fans of bonfire packed into the arena to watch one last dance in the world cup freestyle to music [Music] the following summer bonfire and anki would travel to sydney for the olympic games 2000 the pinnacle of their sport and they won their individual gold and crowning off the most incredible career bonfire was retired after sydney and lived the rest of his life at anke's farm in the netherlands he died in 2013 aged 30. at the end of the 90s another fei world cup superstar was reaching the peak of his career this time in the world of jumping balabai duraway born in 1989 was ridden by the world and olympic champion rodrigo pessoa the seller francaise stallion was sired by the impressive jumper bay a bala bay's dam was massaged a roue lined bread to the great thoroughbred rant zao bala bay duraway won many of the greatest international jumping competitions however it was in the fei world cup where he made his name as one of the greatest jumping stallions in 1998 pessoa took balabay to the fei world cup finals in helsinki where the pair took on the world's very best they came out on top winning their first title the following year they successfully defended the trophy in gothenburg a record two wins back to back joining big ben and ian miller e.t and hugo simone and milson and john whitaker but what came next was a feat that today is still unmatched and a record that looks to never be broken las vegas nevada usa was the location the glitz and glamour of the entertainment capital of the world was a fitting backdrop for this iconic moment in the sport look at that this is a dream horse isn't it that's the french breeding society the cell phone say could be very proud of this stallion by another great world cup horse called the gallow bay [Music] now this is the run for home is this gonna be it rodrigo passover for brazil and bala they've got it they've got it the first time ever three consecutive wins in the world cup rodrigo persona of brazil 27 years old and this wonderful 11 year old french bread stanley and his partner balabado rui having won the fei world cup a record three times back to back the following year they had the chance of a fourth title in gothenburg but they would have to settle for second place when beaten by the in-form tinker's boy and marcus fuchs in a jump off for the title balabay and rodrigo would compete at two olympic games winning team bronze for brazil in 2000 and claiming their individual gold in athens in 2004 balabay was retired from competition in 2006 and from breeding in 2010 living in portugal during his later years he died on august 7 2017 but his offspring continued shaman video bubulu napoli durai and palabe de halong to name but a few [Music] every decade reveals an iconic horse a horse that changes the sport a horse that defines an era in the time of dressage legend bonfire and the superstar jumper balabader away there was also the aventa rocky red in ireland supreme rock by edmund burke out of rining classic has an amazing career one that his rider great britain's pepper funnel will never forget i think rocky put me on my on on the map from the point of view of actually getting the results actually winning he definitely put me there and he he made me realize that i could win he was so special in his brain he he loved showing off to a crowd but he didn't let it get to him but he had a huge heart he could gallop forever with a great big long stride plenty of scope but i think he i think he he definitely probably gave me the real taste of of the big time and i love another one like him with a record two consecutive individual and team european titles and an olympic team silver in sydney and an fei world equestrian games team bronze in jerez 2002 supreme rock and pippa were at the top of their game supreme rock would go on to win at badminton in 2002 and 2003 taking pippa to world number one and during his 10 years of competing won 89 095 pounds in prize money the highest for any eventer at the time he retired in 2005 and lived till he was 25. [Music] the world of dressage had not seen such a horse fold in 2000 total as a dutch warm blood stallion was famously ridden by dutch dressage rider edward gal and together they would change the sport forever bursting onto the international scene in july 2009 at the world dressage masters at hickstead they broke the long-standing record of anki van grunsvan with a score of 89.40 that same summer at the fei european championships in windsor they broke their own world record winning individual gold with a score of 90.70 with the mythical 90 barrier broken dressage had entered into a new era in december 2009 at the fourth leg of the 0910 fei world cup dressage series at olympia in london they extended their record in grand prix freestyle to 92.30 percent they went on to win that season's fei world cup final at home in the netherlands [Music] 2010 and totalas and gal traveled to the usa for the all-tech fei world equestrian games in kentucky where they would win all three world championship titles the team the individual grand prix special and the individual freestyle [Applause] [Music] there is no doubt that total ass changed the world of dressage the stallion set record after record in quick fire succession within the space of only two years this exceptional stallion had won all the titles there were to win in that period no other dressage horse had ever electrified spectators in the way that totalas did in the same era as totalas the sport of eventing had a new star labiofetique fbw by thoroughbred sire stan the man and damn hala had a breathtaking competition record with his long time rider germany's mikhail young as a six and seven year old he won back-to-back silver medals at the world championship for young horses in la leon d'angel in 2009 he made his senior squad debut at the fei european championships in fontenblue there he finished third individually after a pole down cost him the win but he was only going to get better the following year he and jung became the world champions at the all-tech fei world equestrian games kentucky 2010 winning with an impressive nine points in hand [Music] in the four years that followed sam never finished outside of the top three in his 17 international runs in 2011 he would add the title of fei european individual and team champion to his record winning on home soil in le moulin germany sam went on to take his first olympic titles at the london 2012 games winning individual and team gold medals making him the first and only horse ever to hold world european and olympic titles at once in 2016 after winning the illustrious badminton horse trials title his third five-star win sam was drafted to the german team once again for the olympic games in rio after jung's first choice mount fisher takanaw was sidelined with an injury once again sam finished on his dressage score successfully defending his olympic title only the third combination to win back to back eventing olympic gold along with charles pahuda mortonge and sir mark todd sam was retired from championships after rio and from competition in 2018 he resides on mikhail's farm to this day labiofetique sam fbw is undoubtedly the greatest event horse of a generation and possibly the greatest horse ever vellegro stable named blueberry was sired by the legendary kwpn stallion negro owned by karl hester and rowley luard blueberry was offered to carl's groom charlotte du jardin to develop the novice dutch warm blood with the intention of carl riding the horse in competition but the pair soon bonded when i started riding for legro i kind of clicked straight away i mean i knew he was the perfect horse for me he was like a ferrari out of control in a way you know he didn't have any breaks at that point when i started with him and you know now he's just got you know he's just the best horse and to find a horse that you match so well i think made it pretty much impossible for carl to take him away from me and you know i think he's had a huge amount of pleasure watching and being a part of what we've achieved and those achievements start in 2011 at the fei europeans in rotterdam where vellegro was part of the british gold medal winning team that would become a powerhouse in the world of dressage next stop was the olympic games london 2012 and the british team took their first olympic dressage team gold vellegro and charlotte went on to win the individual gold the following year vellegro and charlotte were at their second fei european championships winning individual gold in the grand prix special and the freestyle each victory they were edging ever closer to total ass's record freestyle score in 2014 vellegro won his first indoor championship the fei world cup final in leon setting a new finals record but still shy of total asses 92.3 [Music] that summer was the all-tech fei world equestrian games in normandy vellegro and dujardan were the favorites and again they were untouchable gold medals in the grand prix special and the freestyle in the winter of 2014 vellegro was back at the familiar surroundings of the fei world cup leg at london olympia like total ass four years earlier du jardin and vellegro set a new world record achieving an incredible score of 94.3 percent in 2015 the pair traveled to las vegas winning their second title and setting a new finals freestyle record of 94.196 percent a record to this day that remains unbroken with more european glory in 2015 and a successful defense of their olympic individual title in rio 2016 everything that vallegro and charlotte touched turn to gold he's won everything there is to win he's achieved so much we've done it together and i don't you know for me as a writer it's not about being greedy and pushing for more he's done what he's done and i think now is the time to finish with 52 international victories at grand prix level between 2011 and 2016 the world record holder in the grand prix grand prix special and grand prix freestyle double european champion world champion and double olympic champion along with two world cup final titles it's fair to say that vellegro is one of the most successful dressage horses of all time on the 14th of december 2016 the legro and charlotte du jardin marked his retirement from competition with a performance given at the london international horse show 2016. there was not a dry eye in the house join us again soon when we will be reliving more iconic moments from some of the most epic fei nations cup jumping wins from all of the team it's goodbye for [Music] now

Channel: FEI

Views: 76,477

Rating: 4.938633 out of 5

Keywords: Federation Equestre international, fei tv, feitv, equestrian, equestrian sport, horse, reitsport, reiten, horseback riding, Paardrijden, Icons, FEI Icons, charisma, great horses, horses, horses of history, iconic horses, history horse, history horses, gelding, horse of a lifetime, mark todd, mark todd horse, charisma horse, valegro, charlotte dujardin, totilas horse, totilas, baloubet, baloubet du rouet

Id: Qh50zn-hs2Q

Length: 26min 0sec (1560 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 13 2021