Unfortunately no Olympics this year. The world wide Corona crisis has led to the fact that the Olympics will be postponed to 2021. This means that the current Olympic Champions, Nick Skelton and Big Star, have one more year to enjoy their Olympic title. But how did they reached the highest level?
Big Star was born in 2003 in The Netherlands and he has a KWPN passport. The son of Quick Star is bred by Cees T. Klaver. He was sold as a 3-year old to one of the sponsors of Nick Skelton: Gary and Beverley Widdowson.
His big international career started at the age of 7. In the year that followed, the stallion jumped several Grand Prix classes in Wellington. In 2012 he won the Grand Prix of Hamburg. In that same year, Skelton and Big Star were a part of the British Olympic team that jumped to the Olympic title in the team competition during the Olympics of London. In the individual competition the combination got one penalty for jumping; resulting in a fifth place in the overall standings. Big Star was the youngest horse competing at the Olympics in that year.
In 2013 the stallion won the Nations Cup of Dublin, the Grand Prix of Rome and the CSIO5* of Aachen. In August however, the stallion got injured during the Nations Cup of Dublin and didn't jump any competitions anymore during that year. In 2014 Big Star appeared on the international circuit again under the saddle of Skelton. The British rider competed him during the FEI World Equestrian Games of 2014, but in July the stallion got his leg injured once again. He once again took a break to recover until he jumped in Vilamoura and Wellington in 2015.
In 2016, Big Star returned to Wellington. He jumped two clear rounds in the CSIO of La Baule but Skelton decided not to ride him in the final to give him some rest before the Olympics. The rest is history, ..
Source: FEI, Equnews
Big Star was born in 2003 in The Netherlands and he has a KWPN passport. The son of Quick Star is bred by Cees T. Klaver. He was sold as a 3-year old to one of the sponsors of Nick Skelton: Gary and Beverley Widdowson.
His big international career started at the age of 7. In the year that followed, the stallion jumped several Grand Prix classes in Wellington. In 2012 he won the Grand Prix of Hamburg. In that same year, Skelton and Big Star were a part of the British Olympic team that jumped to the Olympic title in the team competition during the Olympics of London. In the individual competition the combination got one penalty for jumping; resulting in a fifth place in the overall standings. Big Star was the youngest horse competing at the Olympics in that year.
In 2013 the stallion won the Nations Cup of Dublin, the Grand Prix of Rome and the CSIO5* of Aachen. In August however, the stallion got injured during the Nations Cup of Dublin and didn't jump any competitions anymore during that year. In 2014 Big Star appeared on the international circuit again under the saddle of Skelton. The British rider competed him during the FEI World Equestrian Games of 2014, but in July the stallion got his leg injured once again. He once again took a break to recover until he jumped in Vilamoura and Wellington in 2015.
In 2016, Big Star returned to Wellington. He jumped two clear rounds in the CSIO of La Baule but Skelton decided not to ride him in the final to give him some rest before the Olympics. The rest is history, ..
Source: FEI, Equnews