USA's Beezie Madden has today announced that she withdraws the 10-year-old KWPN gelding Garant (Warrant x Verdi TN) from consideration for the US Olympic team for Tokyo. In April, Madden was named to the US short list for the Tokyo Olympics with three horses – one of them being Garant. 

On her official Instagram account, Madden writes: "After Garant’s extraordinary effort in the first round of today’s Nations Cup in Rotterdam, Beezie, John, and Mrs. Wexner have decided to withdraw Garant from consideration for the US Olympic Team this year. We all believe strongly in Garant’s future as a championship horse, but know it’s not the right time for him yet. We hated to let our country and teammates down today, but the only thing more important than the team is the horse.

“I love Garant and wouldn’t trade him for any other horse in the world. He is healthy and sound, but just is not quite ready for what the Olympics would ask of him. We have to put his best interests first,” said Beezie.

Fortunately, the short list for the US Show Jumping Team remains strong and we have no doubt the riders and horses chosen will make the United States proud in Tokyo. All of us at Team JMS look forward to cheering them on next month."

Madden and Garant jumped in today's first round of the Longines FEI Nations Cup in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and picked up five penalties after a fault on the water jump. The pair did not come back for round two of the competition. Team USA finished 7th of the ten teams in the Nations Cup.