Nicola Philippaerts’ top horse H&M Chilli Willi (Casall x Lord – bred by Peter Diedrichsen) has passed away, at the age of 13. Yesterday, Nicola and H&M Chilli Willi were competing at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, when the stallion after the last jump stumbled and broke his left foreleg. Unfortunately, examinations revealed a very complicated fracture, which forced Nicola, his father Ludo and co-owner Frans Lens to take the tough decision to euthanize the stallion. “Team Philippaerts is in mourning,” reads a statement from the family. 

H&M Chilli Willi came to the Philippaerts-family in 2015, and went on to have great success with Nicola. The pair got their breakthrough in 2017, when they finished third in the CSI5* Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Miami. In 2018, H&M Chilli Willi and Nicola won the Longines Global Champions Tour of Chantilly and followed up with a third place at the same venue in 2019 as well both a second and a third place in the CSI5* Grand Prix classes in Doha earlier that year. For Team Belgium they jumped double clears in the Nations Cups in Samorin, Sopot and Rotterdam – and they also represented their country at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon in 2018. 

For 2021, Nicola and H&M Chilli Willi had travelled to the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, USA, where they were getting ready for an important season – aiming for the Olympic Games in Tokyo later this year. 

Our thoughts go out to the Philippaerts-family and also those close to H&M Chilli Willi.