Goodbye Vincent

Horse sport in Mexico has suffered a great loss yesterday with the death of Vincent, property of Pamela Franco and ridden by Berna Pujals, with whom he gave us all great satisfactions and an example to follow.

Vincent was a Hannoverian son of Weltmeyer, approved stallion who left this world at barely eighteen years, as his birthday was on the 29th of April.

Vincent left us whole, happy and full of life, he didn’t want to grow old, rather he preferred to leave the same way he lived, with strength and courage.

To know him was an adventure, he was very much a gentleman in the arena, where he gave his all for Berna and Mexico. He was an exceptional being, we could see him compete in front of 50,000 spectators as if nothing and half an hour later he would get exited over a piloncillo, a piece of raw sugar, we treat horses with.

There is no doubt that he was the king, from beginning to end he knew so, we knew it and everybody else did as well. He could make his presence felt.

In a tribute to the pair for the results obtained at the 2008 Olympics, someone asked Berna to describe Vincent, to which she answered:

“He is the best horse in the world!”

Until yesterday Vincent lived quietly, enjoying every training day with Berna and his pool routine which he sometimes asked for, while they were preparing for the next World Equestrian Games, to which they qualified last year.

Watching them train every day was a feast for the eyes.

Their most notable triumphs were the 10th place at the 2006 WEG in Aachen where Berna and Vincent were defined as the first in Mexico and Latin America to reach so high in international Dressage. And then two years later they reaffirmed this by finishing 9th at the 2008 Olympic Games, in Hong Kong.

Today we do not mourn the death of Vincent,

We celebrate the life of a Champion.

author: edith vega

Translation: eugenia lelo de larrea