Gazelle tops rich list for horses in 2017

Hippomundo’s annual ranking of the top earning horses in Show Jumping, Eventing and Dressage in 2017 was published recently, with the 12-year-old mare of American Farrington leading her equine counterparts thanks to total prize money of €1,026,435. Among her triumphs last year, the daughter of Kashmir Van Schuttershof and Diva ‘ter Elsen’ had victories at Spruce Meadows, Madrid, Wellington and notably Geneva, where their Grand Prix victory in December came with a whopping paycheque of more than €340,000.

Most of the money in the three Olympic disciplines is in Jumping, and the second biggest salary in that sport in 2017 was earned by L.B. Convall, the grey stallion of Germany’s Philipp Weishaupt. The 11-year-old earned €807,648 over the year, a large part coming from the €660,000 they won in September at Spruce Meadows near Calgary — a double clear and very rewarding performance in the richest Grand Prix in the world.

The runners-up to Weishaupt and L.B. Convall in Canada, Portugal’s Luciana Diniz and Fit for Fun 13, are third in the Hippomundo salary standings for Show Jumping. The 14-year-old mare, whose sire is For Pleasure, had total earnings of €710,244 last year, with a significant portion also coming from their Calgary second place. And fourth in the equestrian earnings rankings is the third-place finisher from Calgary — HH Azur, the Longines FEI World Cup-winning mount of McLain Ward of the United States, with €687,915. Next in the list are Grégory Wathelet’s Coree and Eric Lamaze’s Fine Lady 5 (€594,140 and €581,045 respectively).

Looking at the other disciplines, the gap with Jumping is evident. In Eventing the top-earning horse in 2017 was Nereo with €142,510 in prize winnings. Among other accomplishments, New Zealander Andrew Nicholson’s 18-year-old gelding helped the veteran rider get a long-awaited win at Badminton. Next in the list are World No.1 Michael Jung’s 13-year-old mare Fischerrocana FST (€109,710) and Oliver Townend’s 11-year-old grey Ballaghmor Class (€100,260). The full rankings for the different disciplines can be viewed at the Hippomundo site by changing the category above the list. 

For Dressage, Isabell Werth’s 13-year-old Olympic mare Weihegold OLD had total earnings of €243,420 in 2017, with a victory at the World Cup in Omaha among their many laurels this past year. Laura Graves’ 16-year-old gelding Verdades is second with €167,250, while Werth’s Don Johnson FRH comes in third (€148,364). The German’s Emilio 107, winner of the inaugural Dressage Top Ten in Stockholm, is fifth on the earnings list.