This week, the curtains close for Ben Maher's Explosion W (Chacco-Blue x Baloubet du Rouet, bred by Willy Wijnen and owned by Pamela Wright and Charlotte Rossetter) at the London International Horse Show where the 16-year-old chestnut gelding’s successful career will be celebrated with a retirement ceremony on Sunday evening. 

Together, Explosion W and Maher have had tremendous success and in 2021 they were crowned Olympic Champions in Tokyo, while in 2019 they claimed individual silver and team bronze at the FEI Jumping European Championship in Rotterdam. In 2021, they also took the title in the prestigious Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final in Geneva. 

The duo amassed an impressive record of wins: In 2018, they won the CSI5* 1.60m LGCT Grand Prix classes in Madrid, Rome and Doha – also taking the overall title in the Longines Global Champions Tour. The following year, they topped the CSIO5* 1.60m Turkish Airlines Prize of Europe in Aachen, the CSI5* 1.60m LGCT Grand Prix classes in London, Rome and New York, then winning the CSI5* 1.60m LGCT Super Grand Prix in Prague. With his success, Explosion W ended on top of the 2019 WBFSH World Ranking List for breeders of jumping horses – with his breeder Willy Wijnen being awarded as 2019 WBFSH Breeder of the Year. In 2021, the pair were victorious in both the CSI5* 1.60m Rolex Grand Prix of Windsor and in the CSI5* 1.60m LGCT Grand Prix in Valkenswaard – in addition to their Olympic gold in Tokyo and Top 10 title.

With these photos, we look back at some of the many magical moments as we say Thank You Explosion W! 

All photos © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping. No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.