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After being crowned the new world champion last year, Swedish rider Henrik von Eckermann paid a touching tribute to his “once in a lifetime” horse King Edward who, for a second championship in a row, sailed through the competition without touching a single fence.

“I owe him for this for life” says Henrik. “I will remember this to my last breath.”

For the past few years, we have become utterly smitten with this charismatic little spring-heeled chestnut and his heroic will to win, and last week (8 April) he added to his tremendous list of accolades by claiming the World Cup Final in Omaha, USA.

Of course, there’s been much rivalry with Ben Maher’s brilliant uber-horse of the same colour, Explosion W – the question is often asked, who is the best in the world, King Edward or Explosion W? But at the moment, it is King Edward’s turn to reign – never has a horse been better named to rule the world.

To celebrate this all-conquering superstar, we caught up with his rider, the Swedish world number one Henrik von Eckermann, to find out about King Edward’s phenomenal rise to the top.

Once upon a time in Belgium…

King Edward started life in Belgium in 2010 boasting great genetics, but his bloodlines certainly aren’t striking or fashionable in the jumping world. Breeder Wim Impens put the mare Koningin De Lauzelle, by Feo, to the stallion Edward 28, a son of Embassy I. The resulting Belgian Warmblood colt, who was originally named King Edward Ress, was his dam’s 12th foal and sadly the 13th, who would have been a full-sister to King Edward, died at birth. The versatile mare’s other offspring include everything from 1.40m jumpers to a dressage stallion and Edward was sold as a yearling.

The early years: ‘Such unbelievable power’

Belgian rider Ines de Vos bought King Edward when he was five and produced him through national young horse classes, where he became champion seven-year-old, and soon caught the eye of Peter Eeckman, who set about trying to purchase the youngster for his Swiss rider Janika Sprunger. Ines was totally devoted to her talented young horse and despite growing interest in him, she had no plans to sell. However, realising King Edward’s scope and potential to go far in the right hands, she agreed to let Janika and her partner Henrik try the gelding – but only once, because it was so hard for Ines and her family to say goodbye.

“Both Janika and I were sure he would be something special – we obviously didn’t know he’d be what he is now, but we thought he’d be very good,” says Henrik. “But after we tried him once they said no, either you buy him or we keep him. So we had to figure out how to buy him, and then the owner [under the Dufour Stables banner] came later. He watched him and it was no discussion because he also saw something special. When you trotted and cantered, King Edward had such unbelievable power, and that power is what he has when he springs off the ground. I don’t know where it comes from, it’s just unbelievable.”

From 1.30m to five-star hero

Janika immediately clicked with the gelding and the pair began competing at 1.30m level early in 2019, when King Edward was a nine-year-old.

“He has always been a very careful horse, he has a big stride,” says Henrik, saying his fiancee did a “fantastic job” with King Edward.

Their first big win came in a four-star grand prix in Poznan, Poland, at the end of that year and they were placed in the five-star World Cup qualifier in Basel, but their journey would soon be halted as first Covid struck, halting all international sport, and when Janika became pregnant with their first child, she passed the reins to Henrik.

The new partnership made their competitive debut in a 1.40m at St Tropez at the end of 2020 and produced some good results in their first few months together, stepping up well to five-star level, but something just wasn’t quite right, says Henrik.

‘Taking off his shoes was a complete game changer’

It was while competing in Doha, Qatar, that Henrik decided to remove King Edward’s shoes.

“I was not happy with the way he was landing over his fences – he was jumping too much to one side,” explains Henrik. “He’s a very sound horse, so we were always trying to find out why he was doing this. Taking off his shoes was the only thing we could think of that was causing him to be a bit sore sometimes in his feet. He’s a very sensitive horse, so even if his discomfort was very small, he reacts to it. Taking off his shoes was a complete game changer. Directly you felt he was more relaxed and more satisfied. Since then he’s been without the shoes.

“I still believe that if we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t have been here today.”

From that moment, the accolades began flooding in; their first five-star grand prix podium came in May of that year, back at St Tropez, and they thrilled British crowds shortly after when jumping double clear to take fourth in the Rolex Grand Prix at Royal Windsor – the first time they’d gone head-to-head with Ben Maher and Explosion W, who won the title there.

Henrik describes the gelding as having “everything you want; his brain is clever, he’s so careful but still so brave, and such a sweet horse.”

Olympic gold: ‘For us, it was lucky we could wait’

Just a month later, Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward were wowing a global audience at the Tokyo Olympics where they were part of the phenomenal Swedish team who claimed the gold medal. But Henrik explains that, had the Games been run in 2020, rather than being postponed a year, King Edward would not have been ready.

“I’m sure we wouldn’t have won an Olympic gold medal with King Edward,” says Henrik. “That gave him another year to develop. He’s a very careful horse, so he needed confidence and to take his time to slowly get into the sport. For us, it was lucky that we could wait one more year to get that experience.”

Agonisingly, however, the pair had narrowly missed out on an individual medal at the Olympics when finishing fourth – once again to champions Ben and the mighty Explosion W – in the six-way jump-off to decide the podium.

Best of the best in the Super Grand Prix

King Edward and Henrik finished 2021 on a tremendous roll. After jumping double clear in the Nations Cup Final in Barcelona, the pair won the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) grand prix of Samorin, qualifying for the prestigious Super Grand Prix in Prague, in which they triumphed in impressive style, despite King Edward getting his tongue over the bit.

“When you have a run, things do go smoother,” says Henrik, who beat Ben and Explosion into third on this occasion. “This is my run and I appreciate it, I really try to enjoy it.”

In their final outing of 2021, Henrik and King Edward finished runner-up in another feature class on the international jumping calendar, the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final in Geneva. The winner that day? Ben Maher and Explosion W.

“He’s never had bad form, ever,” says Henrik of King Edward. “He has the whole package, he’s so consistent, we know him very well now and what we have to think about with him, for example he’s a very sensitive horse so he needs to be very relaxed – when he’s tense, his jump gets a bit tense. So that’s what you need to focus on. Otherwise just keep him happy and healthy.”

All roads lead to the World Showjumping Championships

This year was all about building up to the World Showjumping Championships in Herning, Denmark, in August and this gallant pair took in a grand prix victory in St Tropez, before a runner-up spot in Stockholm and a Nations Cup appearance at Knokke en route.

Henrik also pays tribute to King Edward’s owner, who has turned down astronomical sums of money to allow this astounding partnership to continue their enthralling journey together.

“We are so privileged that this horse has not left our stable,” says Henrik.

Their fate was almost written in the stars in Denmark, but as we all know, nothing about the sport of showjumping is predictable – except, perhaps, the magical King Edward. Once again this hugely consistent gelding delivered five faultless rounds to not only help Sweden claim the world title, but then despite the cauldron of pressure and the eyes of the world watching, the pair – always so in tune with one another – climbed from fourth individually on day one to the top of the leader board.

After Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward soared over the final fence to earn one of the sport’s ultimate accolades, the Swedish rider flung his hat into the air – the ecstasy was evident for all to see. This superb horseman and his “unbelievable” horse had earned their place in history as the new world champions.

“I believed we could do it – I have a fantastic horse,” says Henrik. “Edward has the capability from I don’t know where, it’s beyond something else. He can jump a big fence without any effort. No other horse I’ve ever sat on has given me that feeling.”

The hero of the 2023 World Cup Final

In April 2023, Henrik and a 13-year-old King Edward breezed home to secure victory from a star-studded field for the World Cup Final and Henrik’s joy at adding this accolade to their illustrious list of titles was clear to see.

“It was always a big, big goal and a dream for me to be able to have my name on that World Cup trophy. So for me, this is very special,” he said after taking the World Cup crown. “King Edward is a very small horse, but when he comes into the ring, it feels like he’s growing five centimetres more, and that makes the difference. It’s like starting an engine.”

King Edward, we salute you.

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