The Netherlands’ Olympic medal-winning dressage rider Arjen Teeuwissen has died, aged 53.

The Dutch national federation KNHS confirmed that Arjen passed away suddenly on 29 March. He lived in the Netherlands until 1998, then moved to Belgium.

Arjen Teeuwissen was a former Dutch champion, and in 1999 he and KWPN gelding Goliath T were part of the silver medal-winning team at the European Dressage Championships, on home soil in Arnhem. The team of Arjen and Goliath, Anky van Grunsven and Bonfire, Ellen Bontje and Silvano and Coby van Baalen and Ferro, were second to Germany, while Denmark took bronze. Arjen and Goliath won individual bronze.

The following year Arjen and Goliath were third at the World Cup Final in Den Bosch, the Netherlands, and the pair went on to compete at the Sydney Olympic Games, Australia, where they won team silver. In 2001 they won team and individual silver at the Europeans in Verden, Germany.

The 2003 Europeans at Hickstead was Arjen’s last international competition with Goliath, who later sustained an injury and then retired. Arjen continued to train and compete nationally for a number of years, and returned to the international arena for one competition in 2013, the Kapellen CDI3*, in Belgium, with Silver ‘n’ Brass.

In an interview with CHIO Rotterdam in 2022, Arjen said he was no longer active in sport and that all his horses had been sold, adding that he was supporting his husband Frank in the catering industry.

A spokesman for KNHS said the organisation “wishes Arjen’s relatives a lot of strength with this enormous loss”.

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Dutch showjumper Jeroen Dubbeldam has said a sad farewell to De Sjiem, the horse he rode to win the individual gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

“With a heavy heart we say goodbye to De Sjiem,” said Jeroen on social media.

The beautiful grey KWPN gelding with Nimmerdor bloodlines had reached the tremendous age of 33, having spent his retirement at the Dutch rider’s stables, named ​​Stal De Sjiem in his honour.

Jeroen, who went on to be crowned world champion in 2014 and European champion in 2015, said he was “grateful for all the amazing success you brought me but mostly for all the lessons learned and time spent together”.

He described De Sjiem as “a friend, a teacher and a companion; you made me better, as a rider and a person. You have been part of all the success stories, even long after your retirement. Thank you for teaching me, thank you for everything”.

At the 2000 Olympics, three riders tied on four faults after the final two rounds so all three had to jump off for the medals. Jeroen and De Sjiem were crowned the Olympic champions as the only combination to jump clear, beating their faster rivals who each had a fence down. This was the Netherlands’ first gold medal in the sport. Silver went to Jeroen’s countryman Albert Voorn (Lando) and finishing with the bronze was Khaled Al Eid of Saudi Arabia.

Among the many tributes pouring in for the gelding after he passed away, dressage rider Anky van Grunsven said she had “beautiful special memories of De Sjiem, together with Bonfire in Sydney” while Jeroen’s fellow showjumping team rider Jur Vrieling said: “What a beautiful life De Sjiem had with you.”

As well as being crowned Olympic champions, Jeroen and De Sjiem competed at two European Championships and two World Championships and won the Aachen grand prix in 2001.

Jeroen also said a big thank you to “all the people involved in De Sjiem’s career, and all the people behind the scenes taking the best care of him over the years, in particular Tonnie and Femke giving him the best retirement possible.”

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Rumours abound that riding may be dropped from the modern pentathlon — although the world governing body is maintaining silence on the issue.

H&H has heard that an executive board meeting was held on Sunday (1 November) and the decision was made to exclude the horse element of the competition. World governing body UIPM has not responded to H&H’s requests for comment but said in a statement today (3 November): “As part of UIPM’s commitment to maintaining a strong, dynamic profile for #ModernPentathlon, a series of strategic meetings are being held.

“These meetings will include an upcoming call with national federations later this week.

“The outcome of these meetings will be detailed in a press release to be published on 4 November.”

The governing body came under worldwide pressure this summer after distressing scenes in the women’s modern pentathlon at the Olympics. As a result, it formed a working group tasked with reviewing the riding in Tokyo and looking into any changes needed to improve horse welfare.

In late September, UIPM president Klaus Schormann said UIPM “remains fully committed to riding as an integral part of the modern pentathlon based on the vision of Baron Pierre de Coubertin and we look forward to doing so in an even safer, more secure way”.

Former modern pentathlete Kate Allenby, who won bronze at the Sydney 2000 Games, told H&H she felt for the members of the working group, whom she says are “very good people, who have been working so hard”.

“I’m furious for those people, and the sport,” she said. “You think, how long [has UIPM] known about this, was it a smokescreen?”

Kate added that it is “terrifying” to think of modern pentathlon without riding.

“What’s going to happen to the sport?” she added. “Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s vision has always been the trump card to stay in the Games, and without riding, it’s a different product.”

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The last event horse to win a long-format Olympics has died aged 34.

Custom Made (“Tailor”), who claimed individual gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics with US rider David O’Connor, has died following a glittering career and a happy retirement.

The Irish sport horse gelding, bred in Ireland by Kitty Horgan and Elizabeth O’Flynn, was found by William Micklem as a nine-year-old for David to ride.

David and Tailor won the Kentucky Three-Day Event in their first season together in 1995, before finishing third at Badminton 1996 and fifth individually at the Atlanta Olympics the same year.

The pair returned to the UK in 1997 to win Badminton. David remains the last US rider to have won the iconic event.

Badminton final scores

Tailor, owned by Joseph Zada, continued his remarkable string of results with fourth place at Blenheim 1999. Following their 2000 Olympic gold in Sydney — the last Olympics to feature eventing with roads and tracks and steeplechase — he never finished outside the top five at any event.

“Tailor was laid to rest on Wednesday [2 October]. I was lucky to have been there,” said David. “We are all saddened with him being gone, but he will never be gone from our hearts. He was truly a being that are few and far between.

“He was an amazing athlete – the best I have ever been around. I felt, especially at the end, that really I was a part of his career more than he was a part of mine. He raises my awareness of what special mean. Special athlete. Special character. Special time that we enjoyed together. You can’t trade that for anything.”

Article continues below…

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He competed in his final event in 2002, aged 17 and was officially retired at the 2004 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. The horse was inducted into US Equestrian’s eventing hall of fame in 2009, alongside David.

Tailor enjoyed an active retirement, taking part in demonstrations, hunting, serving as a cross-country schoolmaster and nannying young horses on hacks around Stonehall Farm in Virginia, where he spent the last 17 years of his life.

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As Leslie Law celebrates his big birthday today (5 May, 2015), we take a look back at the Olympic gold-medallist’s impressive eventing career.

1. An Olympic champion

Leslie’s run of Olympic success began with a team silver at Sydney in 2000 with Shear H20 (pictured below) — a grey Irish-bred gelding who died at the age of 24 in 2014.

In 2004 at the Athens Olympics (pictured below), Leslie and Shear L’Eau (full brother to Shear H20) performed a personal best in the dressage with a score of 43.2. The pair had an uncomfortable moment at the water but went on to complete the cross-country with only 1.2 time penalties.

Leslie and his team mate Pippa Funnell jumped a clear round in the final phase, securing team silver, before Leslie went on to jump another clear round for the individual gold medal. Leslie’s was one of only two double clears and meant he leapt from fifth position individually to become champion.

Initially Britain was awarded team bronze and Leslie took the individual silver title, but the medals were upgraded to team silver and individual gold when Germany’s Bettina Hoy’s penalties for crossing the start line twice were upheld.

2. A multi-medallist

Alongside his Olympic medals, Leslie secured team gold with Shear H20 a the 2001 European Championships in Pau, France, and another team gold at the 2003 European Championships in Punchestown, Ireland with Shear L’Eau.

In 2002 Leslie took team bronze at the World Equestrian Games in Jerez Spain with Shear H20 (pictured below).

3. Leslie is based in America

In 2006 Leslie made the decision to move to America to continue his eventing career and is now based in Ocala in Florida.

4. He is a coach for the United States Equestrian Federation

It was announced at the beginning of 2015 that Leslie had been appointed as the new eventing developing rider coach for the United States Equestrian Federation, overseeing the Eventing 25 and Eventing 18 programmes. In 2011 Leslie was shortlisted for the role as US eventing chef d’equipe.

5. Leslie is married to the Canadian event rider Lesley Grant-Law

In 2007 Leslie married Canadian eventer Lesley (a spelling minefield…) Grant in Aruba, an island in the southern Caribbean, joined only by two of Leslie’s owners Ann and Troy Glaus. They later celebrated with a party on their Florida farm on New Year’s Eve with 120 guests, including Leslie’s former team mates Rodney Powell and William Fox-Pitt. The couple have a son called Liam.

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Carl Hester’s Sydney Olympics partner Argentile Gullit has been retired. The 19-year-old Dutch-bred stallion by Ulft had been suffering from a recurring tendon problem.

Argentile Gullit, owned by Jenny Green, was ridden by Hester in the British dressage team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He also took Green’s daughter Gemma to international level in young riders, forming part of the victorious Young Rider Euro Cup team at Addington in 2003. They were also the highest placed British pair at the Saumur CDIJY that year as well as being part of the fourth-placed British team at the European Young Rider Championships.

Fortunately the decision to retire Argentile Gullit has come in the wake of some good news. The double national champion Showtime, one of Gemma’s current rides, recently received the British Breeders’ Award for most points gained by a dressage horse seven years and under in 2006.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now