Legends never really die: Albführen's Bianca

Last Friday a shock went through the equestrian world: when Steve Guerdat was asked who his Olympic horse for Rio would be, the name of his top mare Bianca was not mentioned. A perceptive journalist asked him why and Guerdat had to admit with tears in his eyes that his beloved mare had died that morning. "I wasn't allowed to say anything about it yet, but Bianca died this morning of a brain tumour and there was nothing more we could do for her," the former world number one told Guerdat, clearly moved. Bianca was 'his' mare, the mare who jumped with him at the highest level from one Grand Prix victory to the next. But who was the mare and how did she reach the highest level? A portrait...