La Biosthetique Sam FBW, the only eventing horse to claim the Olympic, world championship and European gold eventing titles in the same time frame, has died at the age of 25.
Michael Jung and Sam on their way to gold at the 2010 world championships. (Photo © 2010 by Nancy Jaffer)
He and Germany’s Michael Jung, his equally great rider, became a match early in this century and continued as a magnificent combination until Sam’s retirement in 2018. Sired by Stan the Man, an Irish thoroughbred, and out of a mare named Halla, Sam was rejected by a stallion licensing committee because he lacked quality.
The committee observed, “He is nondescript, his head is too big, he has no presence and a funny jumping technique.” Shows how much they knew.
But that conclusion made him a $10,000 bargain for Sabina Kreuter, who paired him with Jung, a promising rider on the way to becoming an international star. The horse eventually was purchased by the German equestrian federation, the Jungs and a friend of that family, insuring after a brief period of uncertainty that Michael would keep the ride.
Michael Jung and Sam were golden at the 2012 London Olympics. (Photo © 2012 by Nancy Jaffer)
Sam and his partner started winning with the world championships for six-year-olds, then went on to gold at the 2010 world championships, the 2011 European championships and the 2012 Olympics. He won Burghley in 2015. Then a victory at Badminton in 2016 gave him the elusive Rolex Grand Slam in a year when he took another Olympic gold.
The Badem-Wurttemberg gelding was buried on the German farm where he spent his retirement.
“We reached every milestone side by side, and for years I found daily happiness in seeing you grazing in the field,” Jung said of his legendary mount.
“Thank you for 20 years together. You will be deeply missed by all of us. Rest in peace, my friend.”
This was a horse for the ages, fluent in every phase of eventing, a joy to watch. He wasn’t flashy, but knew how to get the job done correctly and with stye.
Jung said it all when he declared about Sam, “He is a special personality and a very good friend to me. I think no horse is better than him.”