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Gigolo FRH: A hippo and a Houdini who became an Olympic champion *H&H Plus*

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • Notching up an astounding tally of gold medals, Gigolo helped launch the career of one of the best dressage riders of all time, finds Selene Scarsi

    “THE combination of the 1990s,” is how Harry Boldt, in his iconic volume The Dressage Horse, describes the partnership formed by Isabell Werth and Gigolo. “The ’90s belonged to Gigolo.”

    A list of the liver chestnut’s achievements, however impressive, isn’t enough to explain the full impact the horse had on dressage, a sport that his then-unknown young rider – who would in time become the world’s most successful dressage rider – helped shape.

    Impressive isn’t the word Isabell would have chosen when she first set eyes on the gelding in 1989.

    You can also read this feature in the 27 May issue of Horse & Hound magazine.

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    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
    Martha Terry