Wandering way back down Memory Lane today….I feel incredibly fortunate to have had True Blue Girdwood a.k.a. Jughead…
Posted by Phillip Dutton Eventing on Thursday, July 9, 2020
It’s hard now to think of Phillip Dutton as anything other than a stalwart of Team USA, but way back before he was a star of U.S. eventing he was a star of Australian eventing. The Equilume sponsored rider represented Australia in three Olympics and four World Championships before becoming an American citizen and changing his competitive nationality in 2006.
True Blue Girdwood, an Australian-bred OTTB (Loosen Up x Paramel) affectionately known as “Jughead,” was Phillip’s first team horse, and the partner with whom he made a name for himself stateside after moving to the U.S. in 1991.
Photo courtesy of Phillip Dutton Eventing.
From Phillip: “True Blue Girdwood came over with me to the U.S.; we literally flew over together. I’ve sometimes heard people say that there are certain things that happen in your life — like going to college or meeting someone — that change your life forever. For me, Jug is one of these cases. If I hadn’t had a good horse like that when I started in this country, I’m not sure my career would have been as successful.
“He first represented Australia at The Hague in 1994, and then was on the Australian team at the Atlanta Olympics, where he was second-best horse and won team gold. Later, he competed at the 1998 World Championships in Italy and had a couple of great finishes at Badminton — an incredible feat for me early in my career — and he was third at Rolex. After the ’98 WEG, we didn’t compete too much; he competed at the lower levels for several years before he retired at our house in Pennsylvania to live out his days.”
In addition to his riders, Jug was well loved by many including his veterinarians Kevin Keane and Denis Goulding; his groom, Colby Saddington; his coach, Wayne Roycroft; his farrier, Dave Kumpf and his co-owner, Annie Jones.
Jug died peacefully on Thanksgiving Day in 2009 at home in his paddock in West Grove, Pennsylvania. He was 25.
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