He’s a regular American hero. He’s served on winning Nations Cup teams around the world and in 2013, Abigail Wexner’s Simon (Mr. Blue–Naline) soared to victory in the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, giving the United States its second consecutive win in the event while also making decorated partner Beezie Madden just the fifth woman to claim the prestigious title in its history.

Next week, the 16-year-old bay gelding, 2013’s USEF International Horse of the Year, will attempt to do it again, as he heads to Las Vegas from Authentic Stables in Wellington, Fla.

Simon is the consummate professional, but he’s set in his ways. Here’s what you may not know about the horse affectionately known as “Sy”:

• His stall is easy very easy to spot at Authentic Stables, where the luxurious equine housings have large back windows for horses to hang their heads and observe the farm’s ongoings. As longtime groom Clark Shipley will tell you, just look for the hay.

“He dunks his hay, but he doesn’t like wet hay,” Shipley said. “He dunks it, and then he won’t eat it. He drags some dry hay to one side of the stall, and then he’ll sit there and dunk this other hay and throw it in a pile, and then we’ll have to throw it out.

“He likes to stand with his head out the window and eat some hay and then drop other hay out the window. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but it’s just something to pass the time I guess!”

• Saying he doesn’t like to be alone might be an understatement.

“If there are no other horses around, he hates it,” Shipley said. “He gets attached to other horses he’s with. He kind of likes whoever’s around. If you take him somewhere by himself—I had him in a two-horse by himself in a box stall [at HITS Ocala (Fla.) for the Great American $1 Million Grand Prix]—he’s fine.

“For the Nations Cup in Ocala, I took him and Brietling LS, and they had huge stalls for us in Ocala, so his stall was on one end, and there were two or three stalls between him and Brietling, who was on the other end [of the barn]. There were horses all around him, and he had a fit. He didn’t see Brietling, and it was so funny. He screamed for like a day.”

• He and stablemate Cortes C team up to have fun with their handlers when they’re traveling.

“He and Cortes know each other very well, and they ship together all the time in Europe,” Shipley said. “They do funny things together, like, Cortes doesn’t want to get on the truck first, but Simon doesn’t want to be alone on the truck, so you have to make sure they’re both out there at the same time.

“So, we put Simon on first and make sure he can see Cortes, and then we try to take them off at the same time. I had Simon actually standing in the feeder in one of the lorries in Europe when we first got him. I put him on, went to get Cortes, and came back, and he was standing up in the feeder. I was like, ‘Um, maybe he shouldn’t do that!’ He wasn’t really having a fit. He was just standing in it.”

• He has an irrational fear of clippers.

See those nicely trimmed ears? They don’t come easy with Simon.

“Simon hates clipping—I mean, really hates clipping,” Shipley said. “You have to be very patient, and it takes forever. You could be clipping Simon’s legs, and he could be fine, and then you could decide to give him a little break and take him back out and not be able to touch his legs. You just have to wait and wait. It doesn’t do any good to fight with him. If the clippers even touch his halter, he feels the vibration, and he’s gone. It’s not like he’s never been clipped before. He’s just set in his ways, like we all are.”

• He loves to play follow the leader.

“When you walk him to the ring, he walks right behind you with his head on your back,” Shipley said.

• He likes to show off his chompers.

“He’s very friendly and very easy to take care of, but he bites putting the girth on,” Shipley said. “Bites you like an alligator!”

• He’s hot-blooded.

“He’s pretty brave, pretty careful,” Shipley said. “He’s got a lot of energy, and you have to work him down a little bit [for the show ring]. He’s not a quiet horse.”