Abigail Wexner has purchased top show jumper BMC Van Grunsven Simon for Beezie Madden to compete.

BMC Van Grunsven Simon, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Mr. Blue—Naline, Polydox) was very successful with Dutch rider Jeroen Dubbeldam riding. He and Dubbeldam were third in the Rolex Show Jumping World Cup Final (Germany) this spring, and won the $899,746 CN International at Spruce Meadows last year. Dubbeldam and Simon also won the Rolex Grand Prix of Verona CSI-W (Italy) last fall.

Madden will travel to Europe for the indoor shows there, where she plans to compete at Suttgart (Germany), Paris (France) and Geneva (Switzerland). “She may or may not show him a little bit at those shows,” said Madden’s husband, John. “He’ll come home to the United States after Geneva [Dec. 8-11].

“We’ve watched him for a number of years and we think he’s a really nice horse. He came on the market for whatever reason and we jumped on it. Luckily, Mrs. Wexner is a huge supporter of the sport,” John said.

In 2005, when Beezie’s superstar horse Authentic, who at that point had won team gold at the 2004 Olympic Games, was in jeopardy of being sold abroad, Wexner stepped in to buy him and secure the ride for Beezie. Beezie and Authentic went on to win team and individual silver at the 2006 World Equestrian Games and team gold and individual bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong. An injury took Authentic out of action in 2009.

Wexner also owns other grand prix mounts for Beezie, including Cortes C, Danny Boy and Mademoiselle. “It was a chance to add to the string and she stepped up to the plate in a big way,” said John.