WEG 2018: Steve Guerdat and his ‘brilliant’ Bianca

That’s a feeling Guerdat has often had since first crossing paths with Bianca in 2015 in Arezzo, Italy. “The feeling on her is even better than it looks,” the World No.9 toldWorld of Showjumping in the autumn of 2016, speaking of the Swedish Warmblood who claimed her first CSI 5* Grand Prix title at this year’s Royal Windsor Horse Show in May.

“I thank my lucky star that the two of them found each other,” Bianca’s owner Hannah Roberson Mytilineou observed in the same report. “Steve loves her, and understands her. Bianca really needed Steve to get that specialness brought out of her, and I think she came to him at the right time – she was green, but still ready to be pushed forward.”

And according to one of Bianca’s breeders and early guardians, Eamon Hicky, the mare – whose sire is Balou Du Rouet, dam Coco, and dam sire Cardento – was lively from the get-go: “Bianca was always very sensitive, and had a lot of energy – but in a good way. She was very awake and alert in a positive way.”

As owner Hannah Roberson Mytilineou added to World of Showjumping, “Even though she was not the easiest, I never thought about selling her. That being said, I sometimes questioned her. The scope was there, she was careful – but she over-jumped everything.”

“She is unreal. We had nice horses before, but never one as good as this.”

With show jumping continuing today and through Sunday’s Individual Final at the WEG, equestrian sports fans will be watching to see just how good this week will turn out for the speedy pair.