Glock's Flirt, Hans Peter Minderhoud's top horse, has died. The handsome chestnut gelding was allowed to turn 21. Glock Horse Performance Center reports this via their social media.
The son out of a combination of Florestan I x Gaugin de Lully had an impressive career with several prestigious victories.
The beginning of this gelding was a bumpy ride because as charismatic and talented as he was, the gelding was not lacking in temperament either. As a three-year-old, he was not easy to handle and would not be saddled, let alone tolerate a rider on his back. As a four-year-old, he ended up under Jasmine Sanche where a year later, despite his difficult nature, he passed all the tests with flying colors. At six, he was ridden to Grand Prix level by Hartwig Burfeind. Under Hans Peter Minderhoud he evolved into a true world-class topper. Together they won three World Cup classes, exceeded 80% several times and as icing on the cake won the 2016 World Cup Finals in Gothenburg.
In 2017, Flirt still won the World Cup Freestyle Freestyle with a stunning score of 84.890%, which eventually turned out to be his last performance. The gelding suffered a tendon injury from which he never recovered 100%, interrupting his glory years prematurely.
In September 2022, the gelding was clearly in pain. He still had difficulty getting up and barely had an appetite. All of them remained confident that he would recover but his time had come.... On September 22, Glock's Flirt was put out of his misery surrounded by everyone who loved him, including Hans Peter Minderhoud.
Source: GHPC