A tribute....by Jan Heine

With four days till Christmas the news nobody wants to hear is the news which broke - Fabenfroh has died.

The chestnut Westfalian gelding who created so much discussion at Sydney Olympics in 2000 when he was a 10 year old did so much for Dressage. People either loved or hated his tests - nobody was indifferent to his performance - but nobody ever suggested that this was not one of the most exciting horses to watch.

My passion has always been for showjumping but Dressage at the top level can be interesting - watching Fabenfroh was exciting! From the moment he entered the Sydney Olympic Arena in 2000 the place went silent as people, myself included, sat in silence and watched this young horse who was so obviously enjoying every moment of his performance - and that was before he had even entered the arena itself to begin his test!

For those not partial to dressage, Fabenfroh drew them in to watch dressage - wherever he performed the crowds gathered and a silence fell over them as they watched him dance his way through the test.

As I said, I am not a dressage person and I have no idea as to whether this horse was true and accurate in all he did but Judges at the big events obviously thought he was special - in Sydney 2000 Olympic Games he was awarded the Individual Bronze medal and the Team Gold with his rider Nadine Capellman and then in 2002 at the Jerez World Equestrian Games he was awarded both Individual and Team Gold medals.

I count myself fortunate to have seen this wonderful combination at both Sydney and Jerez and the memory of this combination dancing will live with me forever as a wonderful example of what Dressage can and in my humble opinion, should be - a partnership of joy between rider and horse and this is what Nadine Capellman and Fabenfroh were in my eyes.

Fabenfroh sustained an injury after the World Gamesin 2002 and despite several attempts to make a return he simply was not able to physically - the news as we understand it is that Fabenfroh suffered a freak accident after surgery to correct his injury - an enormous loss for Nadine Capellman and to the Dressage world.

This wonderful Dressage horse will dance on in my memory forever as he is the one who showed me that Dressage is not boring ............jumpingaround.com send our thoughts to Nadine Capellman who will be feeling this loss in a way none of us can begin to understand.

For details on "what happened" click here for Euro Dressage's report on this sad day.