Gigolo FRH (1983 – 23 September 2009) was a liver chestnut Hanoverian gelding, ridden for Germany by

Isabell Werth Isabell Werth (born 21 July 1969 in Issum) is a German equestrian and world champion in dressage who competed in the Olympics six times (1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2016, 2020) ...

in dressage competitions. During their competition career, the pair won four gold and two silver medals at

Olympic games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

, four

world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, eight European championships, and four German championships. Gigolo was euthanized in 2009 after being injured, but is known today as history's most successful dressage horse.

Early life

The liver chestnut Hanoverian gelding was bred in 1983 by Horst Klussmann. His sire was Graditz and his dam was Bunett (his dam's sire was Busoni xx). In 1989, Werth's then-trainer

Uwe Schulten-Baumer Uwe Schulten-Baumer (14 January 1926 – 28 October 2014), nicknamed "Der Doktor" (The Doctor), was a German show jumping and dressage rider who became an internationally famous dressage trainer and coach who worked with Nicole Up ...

purchased Gigolo.

Competitive career

Gigolo and Werth competed in their first Olympic Games in 1992 at the Barcelona Games. There, the pair took an individual silver, while helping the German team to a gold medal. At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

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, they repeated the team performance, while improving to take the individual gold medal. In 2000, at the Sydney Games, the helped the German team to a third gold medal, while again taking the individual silver. After the Sydney Games, Werth replaced Gigolo with Satchmo as her Olympic horse, although the pair didn't compete until the 2008 Games. Gigolo and Werth also competed in two

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 ...

. The first, the 1994 The Hague Games, resulted in both individual and team gold for the pair, as did the second, the 1998 Rome Games. In 1991, Gigolo made his European Dressage Championship debut at Donaueschingen, Germany, where he and Werth took both individual and team gold. They repeated this double gold feat three times – in 1993 at

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, Slovenia; in 1995 at Mondorf, Luxembourg; and in 1997 at Verden, Germany. He was also a four-time national dressage champion in Germany. During his frequent

musical kur Freestyle to Music, sometimes known as Musical Kur or simply kur (from German ''kür'', "freestyle") is a form of dressage competition where the horses paces are set to music to create a competitive "dance". Movements and figures are choreographed ...

performances, Gigolo was known for his elasticity – the pair's signature move was a transition from an extended canter directly to a

pirouette In dance and gymnastics, a turn is a rotation of the body about the vertical axis. It is usually a complete rotation of the body, although quarter (90°) and half (180°) turns are possible for some types of turns. Multiple, consecutive turns are ...

. Gigolo was officially retired at the Stuttgart German Masters competition on October 24, 2000.

Legacy

On September 23, 2009, Gigolo was euthanized after being injured and experiencing a rapid decline in health. Werth described him as "my friend, schoolmaster and comrade. His reliability and willingness to work were two of his extraordinary traits." During his competitive career, he won 883,918 DM in prize money. Based on his monetary success and competition record, Gigolo is known as "the most successful dressage horse of all time."

References

{{Reflist Dressage horses 1983 animal births 2009 animal deaths Horses in the Olympics Hanoverian horses