At the age of 17, Lauren Hough’s Waterford (Coolcorron Cool Diamond x Julio Mariner Xx) retires from the sport.
Waterford has had a long and successful career, starting with Sweden’s Ebba Larsson who rode him to individual gold at the European Championships for young riders in 2015. The year after, Hough took over the reins. The pair helped USA win the BMO Nations Cup at Spruce Meadows in 2017, finished second in the CSI5* Grand Prix in Treffen and third in the CSI5* Grand Prix at Brussels Stephex Masters in 2018. The pair can also look back at numerous top-five placings in big classes all over the world.
On her Instagram account, Hough writes:
“While all of us in the equestrian world are being forced to slow down, it has given me a lot of time to reflect on how lucky I am to work with these amazing animals. I have been so privileged to have crossed paths with one very special guy named Waterford aka “Walter”! Walter is going to retire from the sport as he is 17 now and he owes me nothing. He is very sound and in good health. It was always my plan to retire him this year, and I‘ve decided with this long break, now is the perfect time!
Thank you to his amazing owners, Laura and Meredith Mateo, for trusting me to use my best judgement to always do whatever was right for Walter. Walter will live out his retirement years at Samantha Will’s beautiful farm in Lexington, KY.
Many thanks to all who have been a part of Walter’s journey!”
At World of Showjumping we wish Waterford a happy retirement!