| HH Azur | |
|---|---|
| Breed | Belgian Warmblood |
| Discipline | Show jumping |
| Sire | Thunder Vd Zuuthoeve |
| Dam | Sion Vd Zuuthoeve |
| Sex | Mare |
| Foaled | 2006 |
HH Azur is a horse ridden by McLain Ward. The duo competed at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016 and earned 9th place individually as well as earning a team silver medal. The pair also went on to win the 2017 Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final and have won many other notable classes.
HH Azur was foaled in 2006. She is a Belgian Warmblood mare sired by Thunder Van De Zuuthoeve and out of Sion Van De Zuuthoeve; her damsire is Sir Lui. She is owned by Double H Farm in partnership with François Mathy. [1] Along with being a talented jumper, "Annie" also has a friendly personality. According to her grooms, she is friendly and will come say hello upon entering the barn. [2] She is cared for by a team of grooms including Lee McKeever, Chris Cook, Sean Kissane, Kirsty and Kelly Massari.
Originally named Azur Du Garden, Azur was ridden by Pedro Nolasco up to the international level before being bought by François Mathy and his rider Diego Perez Bilbao took over the ride, who developed her up to 1.45m classes. [3] Although initially passing up on HH Azur as a five-year-old, Ward's sponsor, Double H Farm, purchased half of her in December 2014, giving Ward the ride. [3] In their first year together, Ward and Annie won many major classes all over North America. [4] The following year, the pair competed in their first championship together at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro placing 9th individually and team silver. [4] HH Azur jumped completely cleanly at the 2017 World Cup Jumping Finals in Omaha, Nebraska to take the championship for the first time in Ward's career. HH Azur jumped only clear rounds in team competition in 2017. [5] She also jumped at the 2018 World Cup Finals in Paris where she finished 4th overall. [6] HH Azur struggled with some injuries in 2019, but won the Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix in Wellington, Florida in February 2020, shortly before the horse show circuit was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [7]
HH Azur is shown in a twisted snaffle bit. Although quiet on the flat, HH Azur can light up to the jumps. She has enough energy that can carry her through a championship format such as the Olympics. She tends to be calm and not phased and is easy to work with in the barn. [2]
| Year | Result | Competition | Rating | Show | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 | $401,000 Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix | CSI5* | Winter Equestrian Festival | Wellington, FL (USA) |
| 2019 | 1 | Canadian Utilities Cup 1.55m | CSI5* | Spruce Meadows | Calgary, AB (CAN) |
| 2019 | 1 | $250,000 Sapphire Devon Grand Prix | CSI4* | Devon Horse Show | Devon, PA (USA) |
| 2019 | 1 | $500,000 Rolex Grand Prix | CSI5* | Winter Equestrian Festival | Wellington, FL (USA) |
| 2018 | 1 | $132,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup | CSI5* | Winter Equestrian Festival | Wellington, FL (USA) |
| 2017 | Gold | Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final 2017 | FEI World Cup Finals | Omaha, Nebraska(USA) | |
| 2017 | 1 | $380,000 Suncast Grand Prix | CSI5* | Winter Equestrian Festival | Wellington, FL (USA) |
| 2016 | 9 | Show Jumping Individual Competition | The 2016 Summer Olympics | Rio de Janeiro (BRZ) | |
| 2016 | Silver | Show Jumping Team Competition | The 2016 Summer Olympics | Rio de Janeiro (BRZ) | |
| 2016 | 1 | €200,000 Loro Piana Grand Prix City of Rome | CSIO5* | Rome Horse Show | Rome (ITA) [8] [9] |
| 2016 | 1 | $380,000 Suncast Grand Prix | CSIO5* | Winter Equestrian Festival | Wellington, FL (USA) |
| 2015 | 1 | Douglas Elliman Grand Prix | CSIO5* | The Hampton Classic | East Hampton, NY (USA) |
| 2015 | 2 | $100,000 1.50m Final | CSIO5* | Winter Equestrian Festival | Wellington, FL (USA) |
Anne Kindig Kursinski is an American showjumper and two-time Olympic silver medalist in team jumping, at Seoul 1988 and Atlanta 1996. Representing the United States, she was a member of five Olympic teams, forty-seven Nations Cup teams, and three World Equestrian Games teams. In 2017, she was inducted into the Showjumping Hall of Fame.
Joseph "Joe" Halpin Fargis IV is an American showjumper and Olympic champion. Fargis won showjumping individual gold and team gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He won showjumping team silver at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He is the owner of Sandron Farm.
Elizabeth Madden is an American Olympic champion equestrian competing in show jumping. She has two Olympic golds and one silver in team jumping, and an individual bronze. She won the FEI Show Jumping World Cup twice; won two silvers and two bronzes at World Championships; and won two golds, one silver and two bronzes at the Pan American Games. She was the first American to break into the international top three show jumping ranking, and the first woman to win over one million dollars in show jumping prize money.
McLain Ward is an American show jumping competitor and four-time Olympic medalist.
Edwina Tops-Alexander is an Australian showjumper known for her participation in three Olympics, finishing in the top ten twice. She is the first Australian to place in the top 10 at the World Equestrian Games and the first rider to earn more than €1 million in prize money on the Global Champions Tour. She is Australia's most decorated female equestrian.
Benjamin Richard Maher MBE is a British show jumper. He represented Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2009 European Championships in Windsor, 2012 London Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He won the team jumping gold at the London Olympics with Team GB, their first team jumping gold medal for 60 years, and an individual gold for Great Britain at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He also won bronze at the 2011 Europeans Championships in Madrid, Spain. He has won many international Grand Prix, including the Olympia Grand Prix, the King George V Gold Cup at Hickstead and an FEI World Cup Qualifier Grand Prix at Wellington with various rides.
Alberto Michán Halbinger is an Israeli-Mexican Olympic horse rider. Born in Mexico, he competes for Israel. He qualified to represent Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Luciana Diniz is a Brazilian-born Portuguese equestrian whose discipline is show jumping. She currently ranks thirteenth on the FEI Rolex Ranking List. In addition to her show jumping work, Diniz is also known for G.R.O.W., an "informal education philosophy" that teaches adults and children. She is also started a documentary series on her horses called the Hoofprint Series.
Jessica Mendoza is one of the UK's top female equestrian athletes who broke into the World's top 100 riders, and into the top 10 British showjumping riders in Spring 2015. Jessica is also a regular contributor to the British monthly magazine PONY.
Andres Rodríguez was a Venezuelan businessman and an international show jumping competitor. He travelled between Caracas, Paris, and Florida. Rodriguez trained with rider and coach Eddie Macken. His achievements included the team silver medal at the 2005 Bolivarian Games, the team bronze medal at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, an individual silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games of Toronto, and subsequent qualification to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Rodriguez entered the world top 50 for the first time in August 2015, and the subsequent series of results enabled him to be world no. 42 in the Longines rankings of October 2015 and no. 2 in the Latin America rankings.
Bertram Allen is an Irish show jumping rider. Originally from Wexford, Allen has won international medals at the pony, junior, and senior levels. He won the opening round of the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy at age 19, receiving international recognition. Allen is the youngest winner of a Grand Prix on the Longines Global Champions Tour, and was a team gold medalist at the 2017 European Championship in Gothenburg.
Cortes 'C', or Cortes, is a horse ridden by four-time U.S. Olympian Beezie Madden in show jumping. He is owned by Abigail Wexner. The pair have won many competitions and have competed in the Olympics together, including being named the 2014 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) International Horse of the Year.
Daniel Bluman is a Colombian-born Israeli Olympic show jumping rider. In July 2019 Bluman, as part of Israel's four-rider squad, qualified to represent Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Ashlee Bond is an American-Israeli show jumping rider who competes for Israel. She has qualified to represent Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Adrienne Sternlicht is an American show jumping rider, most notable for being part of the gold medal winning team at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina. She is most well known for riding the mare, Cristalline.
Audrey Coulter is an equestrian who has won several major horse jumping competitions and participated in the Rio Olympics. She is the daughter of financier James Coulter and Penny Coulter.
Tripple X III is a horse formerly ridden by Canadian Tiffany Foster and British Ben Maher. Most famously he and Maher were on the gold medal winning team at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Foster also rode him to the team gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto on home soil.
Pieter Devos is Belgian show jumping rider from Diest, Belgium. He is a regular on the Belgian team and has won team gold medals at the 2019 European Championships in Rotterdam (NEL) and 2018 FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona (ESP), both on Claire Z. He runs his family's fruit farm and he and his brother share Devos Stables BVBA. He married Caroline Poels in 2015 and the couple have a daughter, Lisa, born in 2017, and a son, Vic, born in 2019.
Lillie Carmichael Keenan is an American show jumping rider. As a junior rider she won the ASPCA Maclay Finals, the USEF Medal Finals, and the Washington International Horse Show Equitation championship, as well as the USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals and double gold at the North American Young Rider Championship.
Katie Monahan-Prudent is an American equestrian, best known as the 1986 World Champion in team showjumping, and the coach of Olympians Beezie Madden and Reed Kessler. Monahan-Prudent rose to prominence in the 1980s, when she was an Olympic team member, three-time American Invitational winner, and Whitney Cup recipient. In 2016, Monahan-Prudent was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame. She owns Plain Bay Farm, located in Middleburg, Virginia, with her husband Henri Prudent.