Valentina Truppa's first Grand Prix horse, the 20-year old Danish warmblood gelding Chablis, has been officially retired from sport in a special ceremony during the international show jumping competition in Verona, Italy, on 26 - 29 October 2017.
In a special three-rider dressage demo, Truppa and Chablis were final pair to go on Saturday night 28 October 2017. They performed a freestyle to music, after which Chablis's tack was removed and a special retirement cooler put on after which they left the arena.
Chablis is a Danish warmblood gelding bred by Morten Thomsen in Denmark. He is by Castro out of Fauna (by Leonardo II).
The chestnut was acquired by the Truppa family as a 3-year old. Over the years Valentina and Chablis moved from junior level up to senior Grand Prix.
They won the 2005 and 2006 Young Riders World Cup Final held in Frankfurt, the individual gold medal at the 2006 European Young Riders Championships and the individual bronze at the 2007 European Young Riders Championships. In 2008 Truppa made her debut at international Grand Prix level with him. They were Italian Grand Prix champions in 2010 and 2014. The 2016 Olympics in Rio were their swang song.
Photo © Fieracavalli Verona
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