Hempstead/USA – Sanceo, the horse that led the US team to the silver medal at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo and who attracted attention there under his rider Sabine Schut-Kery with harmonious rounds in the arena, will not return to the sport. His Schut-Kery has now made this public on social media. “Since our wonderful Sanceo was only three years old, he has given everything that was asked of him,” writes Schut-Kery. “(…,) and that’s why we made the decision to withdraw him from competitive sport.”
The Hanoverian stallion by Sandro Hit out of the Ramiro’s Son II daughter Rivera was bred by Gerhard Dustmann. When Sabine Schut-Kery from Krefeld, who was already living in California at the time, was approached by the American couple Alice Womble-Heitman and Dr. Mike Heitman was asked to find a young dressage talent, she flew to Germany. There she discovered Sanceo, who spent his life with the Westendarp family in Rulle, Lower Saxony, until he was three years old.
It happened to Sabine Schut-Kery as soon as she saw the three-year-old San Remo son for the first time. She was enthusiastic about him, his balance, his rhythm and so Sanceo became an emigrant and Schut-Kery his trainer. She herself learned her riding skills from Jean Bemelmans and trained with Jan Nivelle, Stefanie Meyer-Biss and later with Christine Traurig. In 2011, Sanceo qualified for the World Championships for five-year-old dressage horses in Verden, but did not compete. At the US Young Horse Championships, Sanceo finished fourth. In 2012 they finally flew to the World Championships for six-year-old dressage horses, where they came 14th.
They celebrated their Grand Prix debut in Del Mar in 2018: double victory! Sanceo and Schut-Kery also attracted attention in Wellington, so they were nominated for the World Championship team in Tryon – but one of the stallions was injured. Then in 2019 the comeback in Del Mar and from then on a very careful commitment to tournaments with consistently good results, always on American soil. At the postponed 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the couple appeared almost like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The two showed three harmonious, very correct and expressive rides, seventh place in the Grand Prix, third in the special and fifth in the freestyle – they made a significant contribution to the silver medal success of the US team. It was the last public appearance of Sanceo and Sabine Schut-Kery. He now lives with his owners in Hempstead, Texas, saying he is fit and healthy.
“We learned so much together and he was always there for me and I hold that in my heart,” Schut-Kery writes. “Retiring with them (the Heitmans) on their beautiful 1,000-acre ranch is just the thing for our ‘One in a Million.’ They have so much love for the sport, but Sanceo’s happiness always came first and I’m so grateful for her belief in us and her friendship throughout these wonderful years.”
