Flim Flam (March 27, 1987–October 28, 2004) was a

Hanoverian The adjective Hanoverian is used to describe: * British monarchs or supporters of the House of Hanover, the dynasty which ruled the United Kingdom from 1714 to 1901 * things relating to; ** Electorate of Hanover ** Kingdom of Hanover ** Province o ...

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

horse who, along with rider Sue Blinks, competed for the United States at the 2000 Olympics. The pair was eighth in the individual competition and was part of the bronze medal-winning US team. Flim Flam was sired by the

stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

Wilhelm Tell I, out of the

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

Cilia The cilium, plural cilia (), is a membrane-bound organelle found on most types of eukaryotic cell, and certain microorganisms known as ciliates. Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea. The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike projecti ...

Life and career

Flim Flam was

foal A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal i ...

ed in 1987, out of Cilia and by Wilhelm Tell I. He was a dark

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

who stood at maturity. Flim Flam began training with rider Sue Blinks at two and a half years old. He was owned by Fritz Kundrun and Renate Kundrun, who bought him initially hoping he could be an approved Hanoverian breeding stallion as well as a dressage hopeful. However, after he placed third at the Bundeschampionate, Kundrun realized the horse could not be successful in dressage as a stallion, so Flim Flam was castrated and went on to succeed as a dressage horse. Flim Flam's first major international competition was in 1998, at the

World Equestrian Games The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and are administered by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI). The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He and rider Sue Blinks finished 12th individually and 4th as part of the US team. In 2000, Flim Flam and Blinks won the US Equestrian Team National Grand Prix Championship. It was stated that he could quietly "steal" the show. The horse was listed as being in the top half-dozen Grand Prix level dressage horses competing at the time. Flim Flam competed for the United States in the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

with Blinks, winning 8th individually and taking the bronze team medal with fellow members Robert Dover, Guenter Seidel, and Christine Traurig.

Jane Savoie Jane Savoie (15 April 1949 – 4 January 2021) was an American sportsperson and writer. Life Jane Savoie was born in 1949 in Worcester, Massachusetts. She spent her early life in Natick, Massachusetts. She attended the University of Massachusett ...

was credited with coaching the pair; She had helped Blinks with Flim Flam since he was three years old. In 2001, Flim Flam won first place in the Dressage Special and second place in the Grand Prix dressage competition at the Devon Horse Show. Blinks and Flim Flam were the leading horse-rider pair on the United States' silver medal dressage team at the

2002 World Equestrian Games The 2002 FEI World Equestrian Games were held in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, from September 10 to September 22, 2002. They were the 4th edition of the games which are held every four years and run by the FEI. Venue The main venue was the Es ...

, topping their 1998 win. After his retirement in the summer of 2004, Flim Flam was relaxing in a field when he showed signs of

colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube ( small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content out ...

. After his condition was noticed, he was taken to the Palm Beach Equine in

Wellington, Florida Wellington is a village just west of West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County and north of Miami. As of 2019, the city had a population of 65,398 according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, making it the most populous village in the state. It is the ...

. Flim Flam died October 28, 2004, of complications arising from colic surgery; his stomach burst, causing him to be euthanized on the operating table. He was 17 years old.

Legacy

Breyer Animal Creations Breyer Animal Creations (commonly referred to as simply Breyer) is primarily a manufacturer of model horses. Founded in 1950, the company, now a division of Reeves International, Inc, specializes in model horses made from cellulose acetate, a form ...

released a model horse based on Flim Flam between 2003 and 2004. Blinks credits the horse as having been "a huge part of my education" as a rider and competitor. She also noted one of his strengths, saying, "He can piaffe forever, basically."

Pedigree

Through his sire, Film Flam is the "nephew" of Wilhelm Tell II. Wilhelm Tell II is the sire of many notable

Show Jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...

Dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

horses.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Individual warmbloods 1987 animal births 2004 animal deaths Horses in the Olympics Dressage horses Hanoverian horses