Explosion W (by Chacco Blue) won Olympic gold yesterday. Under the saddle of Ben Maher he lived up to his role as favourite and took the victory. We spoke with Marielle de Veer, a former rider of Explosion.
"Explosion W is really great," she starts. "He came to my stable big and still a bit limp. And very sensitive. We took our time to let him become strong and develop. Partly thanks to the patience of the breeder W. Wijnen, who gave us all the time we needed, he developed into an abnormally good horse when he was 5 or 6 years old. You could already see that he was very intelligent and eager to work. He learned everything easily and no test was impossible with him. He played with it. I rode him until he was seven. The last competition was at the age of 7 in Etten-Leur. But I never rode him for the first place, we found training him more important. He preferred to be cuddled all day long. So he got plenty of attention. Maybe a bit spoiled but luckily he has Ben and Cormac Kenny who spoil him just as much. Explosion W was always very sharp, for example I could not hitch him up when I sat on him or took off my coat. We have been on this adventure and have enjoyed it every day. We had a double feeling when he was sold. A lot of sadness when our buddy went but on the other hand we knew that he couldn't end up anywhere better than with Ben Maher and his team. And now all these successes. It seems like a dream! Olympic champion!!!!", she concluded.