The double Olympic dressage champion Salinero has died at the age of 28.
The partner of Dutch rider Anky van Grunsven, Salinero (Salieri x Lungau) became a true legend of the sport, winning individual gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
Anky shared the news on social media, saying that her heart was broken.
“Salinero, my hero, left us in tears behind. Memories will never fade away,” said Anky, herself a triple Olympic champion.
The pair set a world record for the freestyle at ’s-Hertogenbosch in 2006, scoring 87.925%, and followed it up with individual gold at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen that year. Over the course of his career, Salinero won five individual gold medals – at every consecutive championship from 2004 to 2008 – as well as four World Cup Final titles.
Salinero was officially retired after a glittering career in March 2013, aged 19, less than a year after finishing sixth individually at his final championship, the London Olympics, where he and Anky were members of the bronze medal-winning Dutch team.
He had enjoyed a sedate retirement in the years since, going out each day with Shetland companions.
Salinero: a career of challenge and triumph
Anky first rode Salinero when he was six. Despite his jumping bloodlines, he had been identified as a potential dressage talent by her partner Sjef Janssen, who coached the Dutch national team for eight years.
“Sjef was riding him and kept saying I should sit on him,” said Anky, at the time the Olympic champion with her previous top horse Bonfire, whose huge shoes were always going to prove difficult to fill.
“But I thought he was way too big for me and looked very strong. I like sensitive horses, like Bonfire, and I thought Salinero wasn’t my type.”
But when she finally did give in and get on board, she realised immediately her first impressions had been wrong.
“Within one round I knew. I thought, ‘OK, that’s it. I need to have this horse, no matter what it takes’. It was not based on looks, but on feeling,” she said.
“When you saw him he looked strong, but to ride he had such an amazing natural hind leg and was incredibly powerful.”
The pair made their international grand prix debut in 2002, and although Salinero quickly proved just how talented he was for top-level dressage, he struggled with confidence, being highly sensitive and prone to stress. It took a long time for Anky to fully gain his trust, with prize-givings a particular challenge for him.
But his sensitivity and the electricity to his work was also what stood him apart from others; top FEI judge Stephen Clarke said: “The picture of energy, lightness and harmony is what I remember best about him.”
Salinero was a jumping-bred horse who became a global dressage sensation.
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