When perusing the internet for background on the splashily colored gelding who is the subject of this week’s helmet cam, I came across a comment on Andrew Hoy’s posts on Instagram: “Sometimes when watching 5* horses it’s easy to forget they weren’t born like that but nurtured slowly.” It’s for this reason why I find these helmet cams, even at a lower level than the big five-stars, to be so fascinating.
And so we come to another Thursday, another trip around a cross country track, once again this week with Andrew, who has just completed three weeks at the Portugal Winter Tour with his string. This week we’re pleased to meet Hasenacher Balou Couleur (Balou du Rouet – Glenara Mudslide, by Copabella Visage), an 8-year-old gelding bred in Australia with prominent show jumping talent featuring in his pedigree.
Bred by Glenara Stud owner Melissa Froesch, Hasenacher Balou Couleur started out with stallion duties in the Southern Hemisphere but was gelded before his trip to Europe to join up with Andrew’s program. “We have high hopes that Hasenacher Balou Couleur´s pedigree and his character will set him up for his career as an international sport horse, which is why we want to give him the best possible start – with being trained at Andrew Hoy´s yard,” Hasenacher Stud wrote on their website.
The young gelding is just in his second season of eventing, but he capped off his 2020 with a fifth place finish in the CCI1* division at the final leg of the Portugal Winter Tour at Barroca d’Alva. He and the rest of Andrew’s string will take a well-earned rest now as the team looks ahead to 2021.
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