As always, when facing important jumping tournaments and big challenges, Steve, as he is known for, has set clearly defined targets for each of his horses.
With his great Corbinian he achieved the brilliant 3rd place in the Final of the Top 10, for which Steve had carefully prepared, and after two flawless rounds he was only beaten by the two much faster finalists. Accordingly, the audience honored the magic winner trio by long ovations, especially Eric Lamaze, who was a class of its his own in this final.
Also Big Red had jumped great, and although he was a bit unlucky in each of his starts, he showed his class and the good communication with Steve, so not much was missing for mutual success.
But the best of all, of course, was Nino, who had all eyes on him in the Rolex Grand Prix, and who, once again, lived up to his reputation.
Following a just perfect first round, in which Nino was in no way to be noticed soon to retire, after a strong start in the jump-off a fatal refusal on the second jump as a result of an error of his rider (Steve as always blamed himself for that mistake) all chances of a title defense were gone, even though it was so close!
But as Steve said at the emotional farewell to Nino following this final show jumping competition in his tribute to his best companion: The most important thing today was not the targeted victory.
Sport, tears, appreciation, emotions, gratitude, there was plenty of it today, but two important things remain: Nino des Buissonnets, sometimes a clown, sometimes an artist, but so lovely - and Steve, a great Horseman, who with his decision once again proved how much his primary concern is the welfare of his horses and how deeply he feels responsible and connected to his companions with all his heart.
Goodbye, Adieu, Farewell Nino - You will remain forever in our hearts, as while there are great and famous horses in the world, only a few made great contributions to sport history, and you certainly belong to them.