The curtains closed for Carlo 273 (Contender x Cascavelle) at Casas Novas, A Coruña yesterday evening as the 17-year-old gelding was officially retired from the sport. 

Sergio Alvarez Moya, Carlo’s rider for the last six years, took the saddle off for the last time to put on a blanket embroidered with "Thank you Carlo". Alvarez Moya said he has been "privileged" to share a part of his career with Carlo, that he described as "exceptional in every way". 

During his long and successful career, the flamboyant grey has jumped at the Olympic Games, made three appearances at the European Championships as well as competing in two World Cup Finals. With Great Britain’s Nick Skelton in the saddle, Carlo won the individual and team bronze medal at the European Championships in Madrid in 2011 before he was sold in the autumn of 2012 and Moya took over the reins. Together, Carlo and Moya went on to take several big wins: The CSI5* Grand Prix of A Coruña in 2012 and the CSI5* World Cup in Zürich in 2015 being two of them. The pair also finished 4th in the World Cup Final in Gothenburg in 2013 and 6th individually at the European Championships in Aachen in 2015.

We wish Carlo a wonderful retirement!

Source: Press release from Oxer Sport

Photo © Manuel Queimadelos / Oxer Sport