Behind the gawky facade of this sensitive soul lay an outstanding talent. Alice Collins uncovers the story of a powerhouse who set global dressage alight

How Salinero, a jumping-bred horse who hated halting, became a double Olympic dressage champion is no mystery to his long-time rider, Anky van Grunsven.

In fact, the gelding’s renowned inability to stand still in tests was also the foundation of his strength: energy in bucketloads and an ever-brimming desire to work. That, coupled with his extraordinary movement, was a glorious cocktail.

It was never the rigours of the dressage itself that taxed Salinero, but the peripheral stresses that accompany it.

“I trained him with a heart monitor for a while to see which exercises made it beat faster,” explains Anky. “And the only time it really went up was when I walked him out of the gate for what I thought was a relaxing hack. For him, that took more energy than all the grand prix work.”

And even though he was a scaredy-cat, Salinero trusted Anky enough to become Olympic champion in Athens and Hong Kong.

“He was made for grand prix,” she enthuses. “The fact that he did three Olympics [finishing sixth individually in London 2012] and was still fit and sound and happy at 18, that tells you. When it’s too difficult for them, it costs a lot of energy and horses can’t stay healthy and fit that long with the additional stresses. For Salinero, it was always playful.”

Five-star judge Stephen Clarke concurs.

“The length of his career is testament to the horse’s management,” he says. “That he could be so successful for so many years and retire sound says so much about the way he was trained and looked after. Many of Anky’s other horses had lengthy careers too, like Bonfire.

“What really sticks out is Anky’s ability to interpret the music in those amazing freestyles with Salinero. The personalised music and her interpretation of it was quite unique.”

A gangly but powerful youngster, Salinero had a circuitous route to Anky. He was originally destined to jump, but was identified by Anky’s partner Sjef Janssen – who coached the Dutch national Olympic dressage team for eight years – as a potential dressage horse, aged six. He’d jumped a bit and “got really low scores for his trot” in young dressage horse classes. But Sjef saw something in him, bought him on behalf of American client Tess Guilder and started to train him.

“Sjef was riding him and kept saying I should sit on him,” says Anky, who was reigning Olympic champion with her previous top horse, Bonfire. “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. In fact, I thought he was really ugly when he first came and I didn’t want to sit on him.”

Sjef kept nagging Anky, and eventually she relented and climbed aboard.

“When I finally did, 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.

“When you saw him he looked strong, but to ride he had such an amazing natural hindleg and was incredibly powerful.”

But the gawky gelding wasn’t for sale, and it took some persuasion for Anky to get her hands on him.

“I really had to make a lot of calls to convince the owner that she should sell him to me,” remembers Anky. “In the beginning she said I could ride him, but she wanted to own him still. We ended up agreeing that I’d buy 99% of him and she’d keep 1% so that she was still involved in his progress.”

And what a journey Salinero undertook.

“Small tour was not the greatest success, because he was wild,” says Anky of their first forays into the competitive sphere. “He didn’t want to halt, but he did want to passage and piaffe. I rode him at small tour in Aachen – it was a horrid week and we came somewhere at the back end of the results. Although it didn’t help in the beginning, he was so willing to go and with so much energy all the time. That became his greatest strength.”

So Anky decided to throw Salinero in at the deep end and entered a grand prix in Moscow just a week after Aachen.

“It was a bit wild and unsteady, but he had no problems with any of the exercises,” she says. “The grand prix is better for a horse like him.”

Her gamble paid off, and Salinero had found his groove. What was so remarkable about him was that even in the most pressured of situations, in the arena he was in harmony with his rider, waiting for the most minimal aid and performing with grace and expression.

Despite Salinero’s talent for dressage movements, it remained a challenge for Anky to maintain his trust. At the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Aachen in 2006, Salinero bolted in the team prize-giving.

“He got so scared there,” explains Anky. “He was not a naughty horse, just very, very sensitive. I could never ride him with a whip and only used small spurs. After Aachen, prize-givings were really scary for him. His heart was so small, so I had to make a strong bond with him to make him trust me and listen in the arena. The issue was never the exercises.

“In the grand prix in Athens, he got so scared in one corner where there was a huge umbrella, he turned way before the centre line for the zig-zag. He was so willing, but would be frightened of the weirdest things, like a chair in the wrong spot.”

Despite Salinero’s fears, it was his freestyle performance to his bespoke L’Esprit Chanson soundtrack for individual gold in Athens that captured British dressage rider Spencer Wilton’s adulation.

“Athens was the first time I’d seen him in the flesh,” says Spencer, who subsequently won Olympic team silver on Super Nova II in Rio. “I’d seen the video of the making of his freestyle – the one that Anky sang on – and I was mesmerised by the detail they went into with the whole process. When you watched that video, then saw Anky able to replicate the test in such detail – the rhythm, the timing – in that environment, at an Olympic final, riding for a gold – it was spellbinding.

“I was in Athens supporting Carl [Hester] and Escapado, but I kept sneaking off to watch Salinero,” Spencer adds.

Athens judge Stephen Clarke was also bowled over by Salinero, despite his aversion to the umbrella.

“I remember that turn,” he laughs. “While he was always listening to his rider, you could see that the horse was so alert to everything going on. But it was the picture of reaction coupled with lightness, with the horse always so alert, that gave him so much presence. His positive electricity really drew the crowds.

“It was a magical picture that the two of them presented. The partnership was outstanding and set the standard for what’s come afterwards in global dressage.”

Anky remembers an incident that sums up the apprehensive gelding. Salinero had already retired and Anky had been out of the saddle with a bad back, but she took him on a walk hack to see how her back held up. When they were almost home, a tarpaulin by the road stopped Salinero dead in his tracks.

“He just wouldn’t go past it. I couldn’t get off because of my back and I couldn’t call because I’d left my phone behind,” she laughs. “I was stuck there for at least 20 minutes before I could persuade him to pass it. It was always about persuading him that he was brave enough to do things.”

Salinero is the one horse Spencer pinpoints as longing to ride – in theory.

“In my imagination I’d have loved to have ridden him, or at least felt a bit of what I witnessed,” says Spencer. “But in reality, I imagine that it was all down to Anky’s skilled way of riding. My guess is that he was really a one-person horse and it would have probably been a disaster if I’d sat on him.”

Anky confirms Spencer’s suspicions.

“If he didn’t know you, you’d better not go in his stable,” she cautions. “He really hated people he didn’t know and he’d attack them.

“He was definitely not for everyone,” she adds, “but you knew when he did come to you that you had a bond. He really was a one-person horse.”

SO with three Olympics and a glut of medals to his name, what was Anky’s standout moment with Salinero?

“You’d think it would be the Olympics, but it isn’t,” reflects Anky. “It’s all the time spent at home training together. We built such a bond and we know and trust each other so well. He’s such a big horse and I’m tiny, but he still wanted to do everything for me. That was the best part, and you can’t force that. It’s the journey towards the results – not just the results themselves – that’s the best bit.”

Salinero officially retired in a lavish ceremony in ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, in March 2013. He performed his Hong Kong gold medal-winning freestyle, Dance of Devotion, one last time under a spotlight and to a live piano. The crowd waved their handkerchiefs. Many of them cried.

Salinero now enjoys life at a more sedate pace at Anky’s yard at age 27, going out every day with his Shetland companions.

“I’m so thankful that he is still happy in his retirement,” adds Anky. “Still now I think, ‘Wow, I am so lucky that I sat on him.’ Imagine if I’d never tried him. I would never know what he felt like. You can’t always tell in the beginning how things will turn out.”

Salinero’s last competitive centre line – and Anky’s, as it stands – was at the London Olympics. But don’t let that fool you.

“I didn’t officially retire – he did,” she grins cryptically. “I said before London that I was never going to do the Olympics again but I did, so I’d better say nothing and see what happens. I might still make a comeback.”

Salinero’s origins

By Salieri out of Luna (Lungau)

Salinero’s dam Luna produced 10 foals, seven of whom were by Salieri. All were fillies apart from Salinero and Seven Up 15. Seven Up became a grand prix showjumper and competed at the Athens Olympics.

Salinero’s sire, Salieri, had 15 international showjumping wins and topped the prestigious “Sires of the World” competition in Hanover, Germany, in 2000.

Salieri’s sire, Salvano, produced the influential stallion Sherlock Holmes (out of an Akzent I dam), who went on to sire talented dressage horses and made a particular name for himself as a damsire of useful sport horses.

Ostensibly jumping bred, it’s remarkable that Salinero fell into the hands of the most famous dressage rider in the world at the time, who moulded him into the megastar he became.

Salinero’s greatest achievement

● 2012 London Olympics: team bronze and individual sixth (82%)

● 2009 Windsor Europeans: 87.25% for freestyle bronze and team gold

● 2008 Olympic Games Beijing: 82.4% in the freestyle for individual gold and team silver

● 2008 World Cup Final in ’s-Hertogenbosch: 85.2% for individual gold

● 2007 European Championships in Turin: kür gold, special silver and team gold

● 2006 WEG Aachen: individual special silver, freestyle gold (86.1%), team silver

● 2006 CHIO Rotterdam: 81.33% in the grand prix and a new world record

● 2006 World Cup Final in Amsterdam: 87.75% for individual gold

● 2006 CDI in ’s-Hertogenbosch: 87.925% in the freestyle for a new world record

● 2005 Europeans in Hagen: 83% in the kür for individual gold, team silver

● 2005 World Cup Final in Las Vegas: 86.72% in the freestyle for gold

● 2004 Olympic Games Athens: 85.82% for individual gold

● 2004 World Cup Final in Düsseldorf: 83.45% freestyle for gold

● 2003 Dutch National Championships: winner

From the judge’s box

Stephen Clarke was judging in Athens when Salinero captured the first of his two individual Olympic golds and “can still see every footfall” of the pair’s majestic performance.

“In Athens he was phenomenal,” he recalls. “The freestyle was completely outstanding and proved that Anky’s more than just a dressage rider, she’s a complete artist.

“Salinero’s lightness coupled with his lightning reactions to Anky’s riding made the whole picture so exciting to watch. In Athens she had her own vocals in her freestyle, and it made the hair on my neck stand up. The picture of energy, lightness and harmony is what I remember best about him.”

The emotional prize-giving in Athens is also sharp in Stephen’s mind, not least because it moved him to tears.

“Anky’s father had died just before the Olympics and in the prize-giving she accepted the medal and looked up to heaven. I knew what she was thinking and it dissolved me. That was the thing about her riding – it was emotional and emotive. Her freestyles with Salinero stuck in people’s minds and brought an emotional feeling to the crowd – and the judges.”

Ref: 21 January 2021

● Do you have a special memory you want to share about Salinero? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com

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Equestrian legends including Salinero and Gigolo are among the equines being remembered on the new Wall of Fame at Aachen in Germany.

Hoof prints of the horses that have made history at the international showground can already be seen in the “walk of fame,” created in 2011.

Now the walls in the main stadium at the Aachen Soers are being decorated with the names of famous horses.

The project is a joint venture between Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e.V. (ALRV) and the Malerinnung Aaachen trade school.

Four groups from the third year of the training course will taken it in turns to decorate two walls behind the AachenMunchener stand.

The school’s director of education Manfred Nikolai Scheilen said: “In addition to colour theory and colour design, signwriting and design techniques, practical experience on real objects outside of the training workshop is very important for the trainees.

“It is equally important that the young people create a lasting, visible asset that they can be proud of.”

The project is part of the trainees work-based education.

“It is a fantastic project that the famous names of horse are being eternalised here. We have been asking ourselves for some time how we could visually upgrade these walls. The trainees have done a super job,” said Frank Kemperman, chairman of ALRV.

Salinero has been to three Olympic Games with Anky van Grunsven, never coming away without a medal.

The horse won all four World Cup Finals between 2004-2008.

Gigolo won four gold and two silver medals at Olympics, four World championships, eight Europen championships and four German championships.

The horse was put down in 2009 after being injured.

The CHIO Aachen takes place from 8-17 July 2016. Tickets are now available at www.chioaachen.de

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Fan of Valegro? Love Salinero? Or is Totilas your dressage star?

Dressage lovers are being urged to vote for the world’s greatest dressage horses by next Wednesday (1 July).

The final six selected will be celebrated at the Global Dressage Forum in Hooge Mierde in the Netherlands on 26-27 October.

The programme committee of the Forum and the dressage community have selected ten horses for the voting.

Only those who had won an individual gold medal at the Olympics, World Championships or have won the World Cup Final were eligible for selection.

The horses to vote for are:

· Rembrandt ridden by Nicole Uphoff

· Matador ridden by Kyra Kyrklund

· Valegro ridden by Charlotte Dujardin

· Corlandus ridden by Margit Otto-Crepin

· Totilas ridden by Edward Gal

· Salinero ridden by Andy van Grunsven

· Ahlerich ridden by Reiner Klimke

· Granat ridden by Christine Stuckelberger

· Gigolo ridden by Isabell Werth

· Bonfire ridden by Anky van Grunsven

Voters can nominate their top three “greatest dressage horses ever” by visiting: www.globaldressageforum.com

All those who vote will have the chance to win a ticket for the Global Dressage Forum 2015.

“We will honour and look back at the great achievements of six of these horses. We will invite the rider, owner, breeder and/or groom and learn all about their personal story and the real character of these elite stars,” said a spokesman for the forum.

The factors that made the selected horses so special and better than their opponents will be analysed.

The speakers confirmed so far for the 15th Global Dressage Forum include international rider and trainer Wolfram Wittig, former rider and national coach of the US jumping team George Morris, international trainer and long reins specialist Paul Fielder, German rider Uta Graf and feeding and hydration specialist vet Chloe Bristow.

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Salinero, the horse with whom Anky van Grunsven won two individual Olympic gold medals (in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008), was officially retired in a ceremony at s’Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, last week.

The 19-year-old Hanoverian gelding played his part in securing team bronze for The Netherlands in London 2012, and in doing so made Anky the most-medalled Olympic rider in history.

Salinero followed in the footsteps of his famous predecessor, Bonfire, Anky’s Olympic gold medallist in Sydney 2000, but he became a star in his own right, winning countless grand prix and helping his rider to become the most prolific winner of the World Cup title. Anky won it nine times over a 13-year period between 1995 and 2008.

The combination were pioneers of the modern freestyle test. Anky was the first rider to commission her own music — the pianist Wibi Soerjadi, who composed their 2008 Olympic medley, “Dances of Devotion”, accompanied the pair during their swansong in front of the crowds on Thursday (14 March).

Despite exuding great power and scope, Salinero was never the easiest of rides. He was a sensitive horse and, especially during the early stages of his grand prix career, could become very tense.

With time Anky learnt how to get the best out of him, although she rarely managed to persuade him to stand still in halt.

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Anky Van Grunsven is aiming her 2008 Olympic gold medal-winning Salinero at selection for Greenwich.

Many had thought the 43-year-old dressage rider was out of contention for the Dutch team at this summer’s Games, as her new horse IPS Upido is recovering from injury.

But last week Anky said her 18-year-old world-beater is “fit and ready“. She plans to compete him at the CDIO Saumur (26-29 April) and the Dutch Olympic selection event, the national championships in Hoofddorp in June.

“Salinero is still fit,” she said. “The media is calling it a comeback but he has been competing since last summer at international level, for example in Salzburg, where he won both tests.”

However, visitors to the 2012 indoor Brabant CDI-W in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, who had hoped to see the Olympians compete last Thursday (19 April), were disappointed when Anky withdrew her old-stager, citing a fitness issue.

“Salinero is not in shape. I’ll do it next week in Saumur,” she told a Dutch newspaper.

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (26 April 2012)

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Olympic dressage gold medalist Anky van Grunsven will not contest the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky this September.

Her top horse, Salinero, injured his withers in his stable two months ago and it is now thought the gelding will need at least another four weeks of rest to recover.

Anky explained that she did not want to rush the horse’s recovery in order to get enough training in prior to the World Games.

She has also decided not to aim for Dutch team selection on her second horse, IPS Painted Black. This stallion has had mixed results in international competition and Anky does not feel he would be a top five contender. He also has a “light injury”.

Even without Anky, the Dutch are still in a strong position to take team gold, with world number one Edward Gal on Moorlands Totillas, Adelinde Cornelissen (Jerich Parzival) and Imke Shellekens (Hunter Douglas Sunrise) among those up for selection.

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The Netherlands’ Anky van Grunsven’s Olympic dressage and World champion Salinero will be out of action longer than predicted following an injury to his withers.

The gelding was found in his stable with swelling around his withers 10 days ago. Anky said at the time that he would need just three weeks off, but since there has been no improvement he will now not be able to carry a saddle for at least a month.

Husband and trainer Sjef Janssen explained on Anky’s website [www.anky.nl]: “The capsule around the protrusions of the vertebrae of his withers is damaged. After one and a half weeks it’s not much better so Anky won’t ride him for a month.”

Anky is campaigning Salinero for the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky this September.

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Dutch Olympian Anky van Grunsven’s gold medallist and Kentucky World Equestrian Games prospect Salinero is out of action for the next three weeks having injured his withers.

Anky believes he incurred the injury when rolling in his stable and getting cast in the night.

She announced on her website (www.anky.nl): “In the morning, the right side of his withers was sore and swollen. The vet examined him and it seems that the capsule around the protrusions of the vertebrae of his withers is damaged.

“This in itself is not very serious, but because the saddle can’t go on, he is out of training for [about three] weeks.”

This should not interfere with her campaign for the World Equestrian Games. The final Dutch selection trial is set to take place at Hickstead in July.

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Anky van Grunsven has made Olympic history by winning three consecutive individual gold medals: in Sydney on Bonfire, in Athens on Salinero and, again, here in the electric atmosphere of Hong Kong, another gold on the same horse.

“I must be the most spoilt rider in the world,” she said.

The Dutch rider’s hugely superior mark of 82.4% for a demanding kur gave her an overall mark of 78.86% and a nearly 2% lead over her old rival, Germany’s Isabell Werth.

The pair have been in hot competition since Isabell won gold in Atlanta in 1996, but this was Anky’s night after Isabell’s enigmatic Satchmo again put in a violent disobedience in the piaffe-pirouette, and thereafter had some tense moments.

Anky said: “After my grand prix special, I thought the gold was gone, but then I realised that the competition was open again and, when Isabell made the mistake again, I knew I didn’t have to take all the risks.”

Germany took bronze too, a first individual medal for Heike Kemme, and the USA’s Steffan Peters just missed out in fourth, despite having the better freestyle.

Emma Hindle finished seventh on a final score of 72.34% after an upbeat and rousing performance, which scored 74.25%, later disclosing to a shocked audience that she had undergone surgery to remove an ovarian tumour in June.

“My team mates made me go for a check up, and it was the British team that got me back, because I couldn’t even walk at one stage. I’m not a good patient!

“So I’m proud of my horse, proud of my team, and proud of my friends.”

Anky van Grusven photo gallery

Emma Hindle photo gallery

Read Horse & Hound’s full report on the individual dressage competition, on sale 28 August ’08

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Anky van Grunsven took an incredible ninth World Cup title on home soil at ’s-Hertogenbosch, Holland (30 March) riding IPS Salinero.

The places were reversed following the qualifying competition, when Germany’s Isabell Werth and Warum Nicht had pushed Anky and a tense Salinero into second place.

Salinero was more relaxed for the freestyle to music, the decider for the cup, and produced a mistake-free test to their new kür composed by Dutch pianist Wibi Soerjadi.

Anky said: “In the grand prix on Thursday I was happy with the way Salinero was going, but he lacked concentration at times. Today I couldn’t be happier — normally I am quite critical of myself but I don’t think anything could have been better at the moment.”

Isabell had a mistake in the one-time changes that ruined their chances of victory.

She said: “Warum Nicht has really improved in all the exercises and the mistake was mine not his. I am pleased with the way he has worked all weekend and satisfied to be second today.”

British-based Kyra Kyrklund of Finland took third place riding Max to their upbeat cabaret kür.

“You always ride to win but I am realistic and did not expect to beat Isabell or Anky — to be sitting here in third place I am really very happy,” she said.

For a full report and pictures of all the drama at the World Cup dressage final see Horse&Hound 3 April issue.

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International dressage competition organisers have been asked to invite only the top three riders to line up at prize-givings for safety reasons.

The request, made by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), is a result of moves to regulate dressage award ceremonies following some recent potentially dangerous incidents.

At last year’s World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Anky van Grunsven’s horse Keltec Salinero (pictured) bolted when the crowd went wild during the mid-week team prize-giving.

“There has been the odd dodgy moment, and we don’t want any danger to welfare,” said Richard Davison, vice-president of the International Dressage Riders Club (IDRC), which has been working on the proposals with the FEI.

“This is just part of the discussions we’re having about prize-givings — the proposals are by no means finished yet. We need a formal system — there is currently none in place.”

But he said that although only the top three would line up, the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-placed riders would be introduced by a commentator and walk on horseback round the arena and out again first.

“We need a trial period; this has to happen in consultation with organisers, because they’re the experts at selling the sport,” Davison added. “We need a more special prize-giving that’s safe.”

The FEI has also reminded organisers not to encourage loud music at these ceremonies.

Aachen showground’s chief executive, Frank Kemperman, said he was positive about the recommendations.

He told H&H: “Dressage horses can’t stay as still in the line ups, so if something can be done to keep them safe, to avoid a repeat of what happened with Salinero, we support that.”

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (29 November, ’07)

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Reigning World champions Anky Van Grunsven (NED) and Keltec Salinero, the favorites for Saturday’s World Cup freestyle final, won the grand prix with 78.25% in Amsterdam.

Salinero was unusually relaxed, being almost still in the first halt and completely still in the last.

“He really stood and not just for one second but more, which seems to be really difficult for me,” laughed Anky. “He was even more relaxed than I expected him to be, although he did start the two-tempis without me, which I didn’t expect as he always waits for me to ask.”

Anky said the pirouettes also felt easier for her. Just the walk brought the mark down a little and the test looked tamer than the pair has produced this year. Judge at C Jennie Loriston-Clarke said: “I didn’t give Anky any 10’s today as I have in the past, although I nearly did for her piaffe passage tours.”

Jan Brink (SWE), who beat Anky at CDIO Aachen in 2005, came second with 75.417% on Bjorsells Briar. The pair has performed better tests, with Jan making a mistake at the beginning of the two-time changes.

“I was too quick with my signals,” he explained, “it was my mistake. But Briar was really relaxed in the arena, which is very important for him.”

Isabell Werth (GER) was third with the 18hh chestnut gelding Warum Nicht on 75.208%.

“He’s becoming more quiet and consistent,” said Isabell of the 10-year-old, who only started competing internationally one year ago.The pair just had a small mistake in the last extension.

“That was stupid of me because I wanted to make sure we had no mistakes. It was an unforced error,” said Isabell.

Anky’s pupil Edward Gal, who beat her in last year’s grand prix, had too many mistakes this time, including in the on-time changes, and finished sixth with Group 4 Securicor Lingh on 71.917%.

National champion Laura Bechtolsheimer was the only British rider to compete. At 21 she is one of the youngest riders ever to qualify for the World Cup – Anky van Grunsven was also 21 on her first appearance.

Laura rode her father’s former grand prix horse Douglas Dorsey and finished 15th with 66.417%, leaving her just outside the placings for Saturday’s main final. The pair has achieved higher marks in the lead up to the World Cup and had a few small mistakes here, including breaking into canter rather than passage after the walk.

The only other British rider offered a chance to compete was Wayne Channon. His European team ride Lorenzo CH was withdrawn after a kick, which, although the horse was sound, meant he lacked preparation time.

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