It’s not every day that a skewbald horse that has competed in a Driving competition qualifies for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final. But the 16-year-old gelding, Life is Beautiful, is a real all-rounder, and he can expect a very warm welcome when he enters the Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg, Sweden as the Longines 2019 FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final begins next April, because he is coming home to where he was born.

Shino Hirota (JPN) & Life Is Beautiful

Ridden by 35-year-old Shino Hirota, this special horse competed in five of the six legs of the FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2018/2019 Japan League, and with three wins and two runner-up placings topped the series leaderboard by a long distance to claim a qualifying spot for the Swedish showdown. It will be a huge step-up for Shino, but her horse is likely to take it all in his stride.

Sold as an unbroken three-year-old to Stefan Karlsson who is based in Markaryd in the south of Sweden, Life is Beautiful was originally named Tour de France and was already showing promise when finishing eighth at the Swedish Young Horse Jumping Championships as a four-year-old. However he wasn’t altogether straightforward. “He was troublesome at competitions, getting spooky and agitated, and I wanted to find a way to help him to settle down – I believe that horses should do a bit of everything!”, Stefan explained this week.

Life Is Beautiful

So with help from a good neighbour he put him in long-reins, and then Stefan began driving him in a single-harness gig. By the time the pair competed together in a Dressage Driving competition at Krapperups Castle on the west coast of Sweden the transformation was already taking place. The horse we now know as Life is Beautiful was able to focus on his work, and was also proving quite successful in the Jumping arena under the saddle of Swedish rider Jörgen Larsson.

“He was a nice horse but a little too good for me to keep on” said Stefan who has produced many good horses down the years, including one sold to Finland for a national team rider and a thoroughbred mare that found her way into Peder Fredricson’s string when the multi-talented Swede, and current European Jumping champion, was competing in the sport of Eventing.

Shino Hirota (JPN) & Life Is Beautiful  flying high

Life is Beautiful was eventually spotted by Kiwi rider Bruce Goodin who advised his business partner, Ryuma Hirota, to buy him. Ryuma, who represented Japan at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney (AUS) and at three FEI World Cup™ Jumping Finals, wasn’t overly impressed when he tried him at first because he had such an economic jump. But the higher the fences were raised the higher the horse would go, and from the moment Ryuma’s wife, Shino, took up the reins they really clicked. Now the pair are seen as potential candidates for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on their home turf, so they couldn’t have arrived at the peak of their performance potential at a better time.

Stefan meanwhile was planning a visit to Bruce’s yard the following in Sweden  week to see the horse he still calls Tour de France. “I have very fond memories of him” said the Swedish horseman.

The complete line-up for the 41st FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final has yet to be decided, with the results of the Central European Northern and South Sub-League and the Longines North American Eastern Sub-League to be decided week ending 10 March.

All the results to date can be found here.

Source: Press release by Louise Parkes for FEI – Fédération Equestre Internationale

Photos: © FEI / Yusuke Nakanishi