Arctic Soul went out a winner: Suspected heart attack claims top eventing horse
Gemma Tattersall’s Arctic Soul died at the weekend of a suspected heart attack after crossing the finish line at the Weston Park Horse Trials.
The 19-year-old had won the advanced event on April 9, which was part of his preparation for the Badminton Horse Trials.
Tattersall said the two most memorable achievements of the pair over their 10 years together was third at Badminton in 2016 and being the pathfinder on the cross-country at the 2016 World Equestrian Games in the US, with the team going on to win gold.
After the loss of Artic Soul – known as Spike – on Saturday, Tattersall said: “Today he won his last ever event finishing on a lovely dressage, he flew around the cross-country with his ears firmly pricked finding the next fence on his own!
“Words don’t even come close to what I feel right now, literally horrendous, I will miss him terribly every day.”
The former racehorse started out with Nicky Roncoroni in 2009 and worked up to one-star level in 2011. His first British Eventing start with Tattersall in March, 2012, was successful, with the pair winning a novice at Tweseldown. They followed that up with second at their next start in Lincolnshire.
The combination was rarely out of the top 10 in more than 70 starts.
• Receive a notification when a new article is posted:
