Big ben (horse)
| Big Ben | |
| Race: | Belgian warmblood |
| Father: | Etretat |
| Mother: | Oekie |
| Mother, father: | Flevo |
| Gender: | gelding |
| Year of birth: | 1976 |
| Year of death: | 1999 |
| Country: | Belgium, Canada |
| Colour: | Fox |
| Breeder: | Jacobus van Hooydonk |
| Owner: | Ian Millar |
| Equestrian: | Ian Millar |
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Infobox last modified on: November 27, 2011. |
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Big Ben (born April 20, 1976 in Kalmthout , Belgium , as Winston ; † December 11, 1999 in Perth (Ontario) , Canada ) was a horse of the Canadian show jumper Ian Millar .
First years
As Winston Big Ben in 1976 in Kalmthout born. In 1983 it was sold to a farm in the Netherlands for $ 2,000 and renamed Big Ben . Shortly thereafter, the Canadian show jumper Ian Millar bought it for $ 45,000. Although Millar has received a few lucrative offers over the course of Big Ben's career, he turned them down.
Career
In 1984 he started at horse shows for the first time. Under the saddle of Millar, Big Ben has won more than 40 grand prizes, including six Spruce Meadows Derbies. In addition, the two won two World Cup competitions in a row (1988 in Gothenburg and 1989 in Tampa ). In 1989 the two won the Bordeaux and Stuttgart Grand Prix . Millar was ranked number 1 in the world. In 1987 and 1991 the couple won the du Maurier International Grand Prix in Spruce Meadows, at that time the most valuable test in the world.
In 1992, Big Ben survived two colic attacks and an accident in which two horses died and a third was unrideable due to injuries. Just two months later, he won another Grand Prix.
Retirement and death
In 1994, after 11 years in international sport, he was retired. On December 11, 1999, he was put to sleep after another colic. He is buried on a hill overlooking Ian Millar's yard.
Honors and monuments
- In 1999, Big Ben was honored with its own stamp by the Canadian Post Office.
- In 1996, he became the second horse ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of Canadian Sports .
- His story is told in the book Big Ben .
- In 2000, Big Ben's former groom Sandi Patterson wrote an homage to Big Ben in the book "An Apple a Day: A Heartwarming Collection of True Horse Stories" .
- In 2005 the Perth and District Chamber of Commerce erected a bronze statue of Big Ben and his rider, Ian Millar. This stands in a park on the banks of the Tay River in downtown Ontario.
- In 2011 the book Unbridled Passion: Show Jumping's Greatest Horses and Riders was published, which documents the career of Big Ben and includes interviews with Ian Millar and Sandi Patterson.
Successes as a show jumping horse
- Member of 7 Nations Cup victories
- More than 40 wins in grand prizes
- 3 × participants in the Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992)
- 1987 double gold at the Pan American Games
- 2 × winner of the du Maurier International Grand Prix in Spruce Meadows (1987, 1991)
- 6 × winners of the Spruce Meadows Derby (1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993 - 8 starts)
- As the first horse to win two consecutive World Cups (1988, 1989)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ian Millar , sports-reference.com