Jacquie Brooks’ D Niro is a crowd favorite in the Grand Prix freestyle at shows like the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (Fla.) and Dressage at Devon (Pa.). They’ve represented Canada in the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 2013 Reem Acra FEI World Cup Final (Sweden).

He might be a star in the ring, but like any gray horse, “Goose” greets every morning covered in manure. 

“He enjoys having green eye shadow,” his groom Alison Johnson, from Nova Scotia, Canada, said. “Each and every day, but I think he takes special care at the horse shows to get as covered as possible. No matter how carefully we pick his stall, he finds the one pile in that 14’ x 14’ stall.” 

Goose splits his time between Brooks’ facilities in Wellington, Fla., and Newmarket, Ontario. Brooks has ridden him since March 2011 after buying the Swedish Warmblood (D-Day–Alitalia, Napoleon 625) and she shares his adventures on her popular Facebook page. Brooks also blogged about her 2013 World Cup Final experience for the Chronicle.

D Niro and his groom, Alison Johnson, share a special bond.

“Other than getting dirtier, he’s content at horse shows and enjoys competing,” Johnson said. “At Global, he gets a window stall to watch the action. He knows when it’s show time. He knows he’s a superstar.”

Brooks agreed, adding that he’s not a show-off. “He’s not that kind of athlete,” she said. “He goes out and does the most athletic job he can do and he’s proud of his coordination. He’s proud of how he presents himself.  But he’s not arrogant at all. There’s no ego there.”

Here’s what you might not know about Goose:

• He mentors Emmett, Brooks’ 6-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Negro—Turania), who is Goose’s traveling companion at horse shows. “Actually, seeing Emmett do silly things at the horse show has made him grow up because he’s like, ‘Wow. He’s acting like a real loser,’ ” Johnson said. 

• He’s the guard horse at the barn. “He had a lot of anxiety when we got him, but I understand,” Brooks said. A lynx attacked him when he was a yearling, and the cat had to be pulled off the horse’s neck. He wasn’t expected to survive and he wasn’t expected to be sound, but his breeder nursed him back to health.

  “He’s still a little spooky around places where a lynx could hide, especially the plants around the judges’ hut,” she said.

Goose has some leftover scars from his encounter with a lynx.

• He doesn’t like to stand still while being braided and he twists his head and neck while making the process as difficult as possible. His groom has to use double the thread to keep the braids from popping loose.

• He loves his groceries and whinnies to his food. “It’s like he’s ordering his meal,” Brooks said. He also whinnies to his trailer. “When you come up with the trailer, he’s full whinnying, like ‘Hey, you gotta park that like this so I can get on there. That’s mine. Don’t go anywhere,’” Brooks said, adding that he insists on loading on last and off first.
• As The Godfather of the barn, Goose is the one calling the shots. His breeder in Sweden, Christina Almstrom, called him “Robert” for Robert De Niro.

  If Goose could talk, he would nail his namesake’s line from “Goodfellas”: There are three ways of doing things around here: the right way, the wrong way and the way that I do it. “We have to respect his rules,” Johnson said. “He’s very opinionated. He likes things done in a certain order at a certain time on his terms.” 

Jacquie treats Goose to a little bottled water.

• Goose is quirky and makes goofy faces. When he wants a treat, he twists his head sideways. When he’s in the ring, he’s so relaxed his ears flop with each step. He hides no emotion, whether it’s delight or anger. He’s the first to be fed since Goofy Goose turns ferocious during feeding time.

Goose and Jacquie Brooks