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Olympic gold horse Nino des Buissonnets first time in Doha

Partnering with Swiss rider Steve Guerdat brown Nino des Buissonnets won Gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games – now the 14-year-old French gelding competes at CHI AL SHAQAB 2015. It is his first visit to Doha. . “Nino is a good traveller. He loves warm temperatures and the conditions in Doha are excellent”, Steve Guerdat decided to take his best horse to Qatar.

Olympic winner Nino des Buissonets is very carefully managed. CHI AL SHAQAB is the first important show for him after a break of nearly three months. His last big entry was CHI Geneva in December. Since then he has had only light work with plenty of fresh air when hacking outdoors. Steve Guerdat is lucky enough to have several top horses for top challenges. Therefore very rarely his horses have to compete at several shows in a row. Always they have weeks without competition in between. “Iwant my horses to stay fit, physically and mentally, and to preserve the fun in jumping for them”, 33-year-old Guerdat explains. He does not plan ahead the whole year for his horses but decides according to their individual level of fitness where they should be competing.

Guerdat describes Nino des Buissonnets as a horse “between genius and madness“. Whether it is dealing with him in the stable, grooming, saddling or hacking in the forest, he would be the nicest horse in the world. “But as soon as he sees a jump he turns into a wild thing. He almost explodes and attacks the fences as if he wants to swallow them“, Guerdat says. Added to this comes an extreme sensitivity and caution. “He hates to make mistakes.”

The Olympic gold medallists Guerdat and Nino des Buissonets will compete in the CHI AL SHAQAB’s Grand Prix on Saturday and try for the 500,000 Euro purse. Wherever they compete this power combination is a fixture to be counted on.