‘I’ve lost my friend and partner in crime’ as unconventional champion dies aged 30

Showjumper Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s great horse Checkmate 4 has died at the age of 30.

“Joey” as he was known at home, helped the US-born German rider to two team gold medals and won the German championships twice during a glittering international showjumping career spanning well over a decade.

“I am very sad to say I lost my friend and partner in crime,” said Meredith.

“A horse of a lifetime with his unique style, high head carriage and U-shaped back, Joey went against everything traditional. But he loved to jump, particularly when he was going very fast!”

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum on Checkmate 4: “A mischievous little boy”

The son of Contender x Pik Bube II was born in Germany in 1995, bred by Renate Gerlach out of her dressage mare Petite Cardinale. He came to Meredith in 2001 after her friend Soeren von Roenne told her she had found “the perfect horse”.

Then known as Carpaccio, the 15.3hh six-year-old Hanoverian was described by Meredith on first appearances as “small, short-legged and very sway in the back” but as soon as she jumped the youngster, Meredith knew he was “the one”.  He was bought by Jim and Nancy Clark and renamed Checkmate.

He was “feisty” in his early days and liked to buck and run, but Meredith attributes this “fiery character” for helping him to become “one of the best horses in the world”.

Among Checkmate’s lengthy list of achievements was team gold at the 2005 European Championships in San Patrignano. Five years later the pair earned their second team gold medal, at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. They were part of the bronze medal-winning German squad at the 2009 European Championships in Windsor and contested two World Cup Finals, in 2006 and 2011. Meredith and Checkmate teamed up to win the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Preis in Zurich, the Championat von Hamburg, and several five-star grands prix, and were a key part of Germany’s Nations Cup teams for many years, winning almost €2m.

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Checkmate 4 competing at Olympia in 2011.

Meredith Michaels-Beerbuam described her beloved Checkmate 4 as “a mischievous little boy” and he was still winning five-star competitions well into his late teens. His final international appearance came at CHI Geneva at the end of 2014, after which he was retired.

Checkmate 4 and Shuttefly: friends for life

“Joey carried me to victories in some of the fastest jump-offs I’ve ever ridden, including numerous World Cups and grands prix,” said Meredith.

“He showed actively until he was 19 years old and then joined his friend Shutterfly on the field behind our home for his remaining years. I hope he will reunite with his friend ‘Petey’ once again in the heavens above. I will miss you Joey.”

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Jennifer Donald

H&H showjumping editor

Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.