British Olympic Team Horse Rascher Hopes Passed Away

Dressage

Great Britain

British Olympic team horse Rascher Hopes has passed away. He was 33 years old.

Rascher Hopes was a Danish warmblood by Dwight out of Tosen (by Luxemburg x Atlantic). He was bred by Kristen Thomsen and originally named Danish Delight.

Owned by Hilary Sawyer and Leonie Porter, Rascher Hopes was secured by Hillary Saywer as an untrained 3-year old in Denmark in a horse swap deal with a brood mare.

Sawyer trained him to Prix St Georges level. The bay became Emile Faurie's catch ride in 2000 when his Olympic hope Legrini suddenly passed away. As one of the youngest and smallest horses in the field, he competed at the 2000 Olympics. In Sydney they scored a personal best of 66.96% in the grand prix, qualifying them for the special and making them the highest-placed British combination.

The combination went on to be a stalwart of British teams in the early 2000s, representing Great Britain at the 2001 European Championships before peaking with a bronze medal at the 2003 European Championships at Hickstead.

The pair was sponsored by news agency Reuters and carried the prefix Reuters in his show career with Faurie.

Rascher Hopes, aka Streaky, was retired from sport in 2006 at the British Grand Prix Championships. He has been based with Hilary Macdonald in Gloucestershire ever since.

In June he celebrated his 33rd birthday. In December he was put to sleep as reported by Macdonald to Horse & Hound.

“He had torn a superficial digital flexor tendon in the field, but up until then he had enjoyed a healthy, albeit quiet life with his younger friend in the field and stable," said Hilary. “Right until the end he had a great, bright and cheerful, somewhat cheeky personality and was very much loved by all who cared for him. I have to thank our equine nutritionist Clare MacLeod for helping devise a diet for Streaky once he stopped being able to eat hay properly. The diet kept him in good condition to the very end."