The now 16-year-old stallion Nevados S (Calvados Z x Romualdo) will be retired from the sport with a farewell ceremony during Jumping Mechelen on December 29, Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet announced on social media today.

Produced by Wathelet from the beginning of 2015, Nevados won the WBFSH FEI World Breeding Jumping Championship in Lanaken (BEL) as a 7-year-old and the two then went on to become a solid part of the Belgian team for years. They took team bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games with the Belgian squad, jumped at the 2022 World Championships in Herning (DEN) and were part of the Belgian team that won the 2019 European Championship in Rotterdam (NED). In 2022, they helped Belgium to the victory in the CSIO5* 1.60m Nations Cup Ville de La Baule (FRA) and the year prior they were part of the Belgian team that claimed the title in the CSIO5* 1.60m Intesa Sanpaolo Nations Cup in Rome (ITA). Nevados and Wathelet also won several Grand Prix classes together, including the CSI5* 1.60m Rolex Grand Prix at Windsor (GBR) in 2022 and the CSI5* 1.60m GC Grand Prix of Valkenswaard (NED) back in 2020.

“I don’t know what words to use, because there are so many I could describe you with,” Wathelet wrote on social media. “However, the first thing comes to mind is a ‘thank you’. Thank you, for what you gave me and an entire team throughout your career. I’m thinking especially of Sylvain and Pauline, who have been with you since the beginning. Ten years ago, you came into our lives, and you have given us ten years of happiness, success and so many victories.”

“There is nothing more fitting than saying goodbye in Mechelen,” Wathelet continued. “You brough so much to Belgian sport.”

At World of Showjumping, we wish Nevados a very happy retirement!