My favorite horses to follow! Don’t forget Rioghan Rua, who’s represented Ireland internationally many times Horse of the Month: Rioghan Rua (fei.org) and I saw Corture start XC at the Maryland 3* last year Corture (106TD24) | FEI.org . She and her rider didn’t finish but neither did some of the bigger horses.
1 Like
British pony Stroller won the silver medal at the Olympics in Mexico in 1968. He was 4 faults behind the gold medal. He is said to have been 14.1 hands.
So far Stroller is still the only pony to have won the Hickstead Derby.
TB x Connemara. He competed and won at the highest levels in his later years, until the age of 20. I think he was 18 yo when he won the Olympic silver medal, because he is said to have been 20 yo when he won the 1970 Hamburg Derby. He was retired the following year and lived to the age of 36.
I read somewhere that his rider Marion Coakes had won a lot on him as a junior, and when she aged out the two of them just kept going as an impressive team.
6 Likes
Yes, but Stroller was a Show Jumper, not an Eventer.
A very successful small eventer of that era was The Grasshopper (15h 1"), ridden by Michael Page. They won gold in eventing in both the 1959 and 1963 Pan Am games.
1 Like
Carouet, the horse currently leading the dressage at Burghley, is only 15.1. For scale, here he is pictured with William Fox-Pitt.
14 Likes
The Chronicle magazine did a big feature on Stroller a few months ago. I think it was part of their “Horse of a Lifetime” series.
Great story and it’s well worth a read, even though he wasn’t an eventer.
1 Like
I think Rioghan Rua is only 15.1 h too…love that mare!!
3 Likes
