On Saturday, the curtains closed for Don VHP Z's incredible sports career with a retirement ceremony during GC Valkenswaard. 

With Harrie Smolders in the saddle, the now 16-year-old stallion by Diamant de Semilly x Voltaire won the individual silver medal at the 2017 European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden and that same year they were on the winning Dutch team at the Longines FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona. They also jumped at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, USA in 2018. 

In 2016, Smolders and Don VHP Z won the CSI5* LGCT Grand Prix in Rome and in 2018 the CSI5* LGCT Grand Prix in Hamburg. Last year, they won the CSI3* Grand Prix in Knokke. The pair has CSI5* Grand Prix podium finishes from Brussels, Doha, Hamburg, Leipzig, Los Angeles, Mechelen, Mexico, Miami, Paris, Rome and Vienna to look back at – as well as having jumped several double clear rounds in Nations Cups for the Dutch team. In 2017, Don VHP Z was crowned Horse of the Year in Belgium. 

Photos © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.