After jumping ten clear rounds for the Swiss team in the Nations Cup events in 2017 – and four of them double clear – as well as winning ten Grand Prix classes, Steve Guerdat surely deserved to be awarded as the 'Rider of the Year 2017' in Switzerland. Receiving the honours during the CSI5*-W event in Zürich on Saturday afternoon, his 12-year-old mare Bianca (Baloubet du Rouet x Cardento) was also named the 'Horse of the Year 2017'.
The owner of Martin Fuch's 12-year-old gelding Clooney 51 (Cornet Obolensky x Ferragamo), Luigi Baleri, received the 'Owner of the Year' award while Bryan Balsiger, the individual gold medal winner at the European Championships for young riders in 2017, was named 'Rookie of the Year'.
Text and pictures © World of Showjumping by Nanna Nieminen