La Biosthetique-Sam FBW, the prolific event horse campaigned by Germany’s Michael Jung, has died at the age of 26. Widely considered one of the best event horses of all time, Sam was the first horse to hold World, European and Olympic titles simultaneously.
He was second in the six- and seven-year-old World Young Horse Championships at Le Lion d’Angers in 2006 and 2007, before winning his five-star debut at Luhmühlen in 2009.
Michael made his senior squad debut on Sam at the FEI European Eventing Championships in 2009, where they won individual bronze and went on to become world champions at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky the following year.
Together they also won individual gold at the European Eventing Championships in 2011, before becoming Olympic champions at the 2012 Games in London, taking home both team and individual gold.
This was followed by team silver and individual gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. That same year, Sam contributed to Michael becoming only the second rider in history, after Pippa Funnell, to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing.
Defining an era
Sam defined an era of the sport of eventing, finishing in the top three in seven of his nine five-star (then classed as CCI4*) events.
On top of his 2009 Luhmühlen victory, he finished second at Badminton in 2013 and was third at Kentucky in 2015, as well as third at Luhmühlen and a win Burghley that year too. He also won Badminton in 2016 and was second at Badminton in 2017.
Michael broke the news about the gelding’s death via social media on Monday, 16 February, saying: “This evening I lost my best friend, Sam 🖤💔. We reached every milestone side by side, and for years I found daily happiness in seeing you grazing in the field.
“Thank you for 20 years together. You will be deeply missed by all of us. Rest in peace my friend 🌈.”
Sam was retired in 2018 and lived out his days mostly in the field alongside other greats of Michael’s stable, such as the wonderful five-star-winning mare, FischerRocana FST.
Main image of Michael and Sam competing at Aachen 2017 © Davide Mobelli/Crobis/Getty Images
