Earlier this month, John Whitaker announced the retirement of his top horse Argento (Arko III x Gasper). Argento, that already has several promising offspring coming up in the sport, will now be focusing entirely on his breeding career. 

During their long and successful partnership, Whitaker and the now 18-year-old stallion won several big Grand Prix classes together: The CSI5* Grand Prix of St. Tropez in 2016, the CSI5* Grand Prix of Hong Kong in 2015, the CSI5* Grand Prix of Treffen in 2014, the CSI4* Grand Prix of Amsterdam in 2014, as well as the CSI3* Grand Prix of Munich in 2014 and 2013. The pair was also on the winning British Nations Cup team in Rome in 2015, and has countless of other victories to look back at.

In 2015, Argento topped the WBFSH World Ranking for breeders of jumping horses for several months and also finished second on the 2015 FEI Combination in Jumping Ranking.  

"He has actually been my biggest money winner, and a fantastic horse for me – always giving a 110%,” John said to World of Showjumping. “Some of the best memories with him would be winning the St.Tropez Grand Prix and also winning at the Longines Masters in Hong Kong when he started three times and had two firsts and a second.” 

And with this dive into our photo archives, we wish Argento a happy retirement!

All photos © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.