Grandioso ridden by Jose Daniel Martin Dockx at the Rio Olympics, the stallion's last competition Grand Prix and will be retired to the American owner's farm. © 2016 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 10, 2016–Grandioso was ridden for the Spanish team in his second Olympic Games Wednesday, the final competition for the 17-year-old PRE stallion owned by America's Kim Boyer.
Grandioso with Jose Daniel Martin Dockx who has been his rider for more than five years competed for the Spanish team at the Olympics in London in 2012, the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy and the European Championships in 2013 and 2014.
“Dani” and Grandioso scored 71.014 per cent for the team. The pair were selected for the team after Grandioso recovered from an injury that was feared would knock them out of contention.
Kimberly Boyer, who lives in Wellington, Florida on her Hampton Green Farm, was at these Olympics, as she was in London four years ago and at the Grandioso's other championships, to witness the final competition ride.
“Four years ago when we were called up as the reserve to join the Spanish Olympic team in London many people thought Grandioso was just a little Andalusian, a pony with a limited future,” Kim told dressage-news.com.
“Instead, his name defined his career: London Olympics, two European Championships, the World Equestrian Games , two Spanish national Grand Prix Champion titles, FEI rankings in the top 25 for two years and now the Rio Olympics.
“At 17, Dani and I feel we have asked enough from him and what more can he accomplish.
“Personally, this little horse has changed my life forever in ways I can't describe. He has given me experiences I would never have had without him and I have learned so much about our sport, about the world and about myself from the privilege of being the 'owner' of Grandioso.”
Daniel Martin Dockx and Grandioso at the 2012 Olympics in London. © Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com
Grandioso (Adelante x Sevillano IX) was ridden by Courtney King-Dye to Intermediate 2 but after her career-ending injury Kim waited a year before giving the ride to “Dani.” He competed Grandioso in the horse's first CDI Grand Prix more than five years ago.
Dani and Grandioso was one of only seven combinations competing in Rio that had been in the London Games in 2012.
Kim is a major supporter of American dressage youth programs, a partner in the group that owns and operates the Global Dressage Festival as well as the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington and heads up the U.S. Equestrian Federation Owners Task Force aimed at connecting riders and owners and has long been active in the U.S. PRE organization as well as a breeder of Pura Raza Española horses.
Grandioso, she said, will be retired to the Hampton Green Farm in Fruitport, Michigan but will go to Florida with Kim “if he wants to make the trip with us.”
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