Grass Valley, a four-star horse competed by New Zealand’s Mark Todd and more recently by Brazil’s Gabriel Cury, was euthanized after breaking his feltlock on cross-country at the Belton Horse Trials CIC*** in Great Britain.
According to Horse & Hound, the 16-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Legal Pressure—Connaught Gold, Clover Hill), sustained the injury on a corner after a big table at fence 7ab.
“He may not have been the best event horse in the world, but he was an absolute gentleman, and everybody who knew him loved him,” Todd, coach of the Brazilian eventing team, told Horse & Hound. “He had a very special relationship with Gabriel, and they achieved a lot in a short time together.”
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Grass Valley started his eventing career with Eric Smiley, and then Julian Cournane and Alberto Giugni also rode him at the Fédération Equestre Internationale levels.
Todd started riding the horse in 2008, and he competed him through the four-star level—including winning team bronze with New Zealand at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (Ky.)—before selling him to Cury, who completed the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (France) and last year’s Mitsubishi Motors Badminton CCI**** (Great Britain) on him.
