January 17, 2022 
Reventón means “small explosion” or “burst” in Spanish.
It’s a fitting description for the partnership between Balou du Reventon and USA’s Brian Moggre. The pair burst onto the scenes in 2021 and promptly exploded on the world stage, earning a career best world ranking of 31 in July and a Olympic team reserve spot for the 20-year-old show jumper.
Their path to greatness: owner Ann Thompson.
Balou du Reventon was developed by Russia’s Liubov Kochetova (2014–2017) and campaigned briefly by China’s Jorge Matte Capdevila (2018) before being purchased by Thompson in 2018. She put originally put Ireland’s Darragh Kenny in the saddle to much success (2018–2020) before handing the reins to Moggre in 2020.
The Oldenburg and young American’s partnership has been nothing short of spectacular since.
In 42 FEI appearances in 2021, Balou du Reventon has only once pulled more than single rail with Moggre in the stirrups. The pair earned a 62% overall clear round rate last year—including clears in five consecutive 5* Grand Prix classes—and logged top 10 finishes in 75% of their 1.60m classes, according to Jumpr App.
Highlighting that impressive record is their team appearances for the United States—on home soil and abroad.
The dynamic duo was selected to represent the U.S. Jumping Team at the Wellington CSIO4*, where the team took their first win of the 2021 season. Moggre and the 16-year-old stallion rode for the red, white and blue again in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Poland CSIO5*, where the team finished seventh, and went on to win the Longines 1.60m Grand Prix CSIO5* that same weekend.
In July, the pair finished in ninth at the Rolex 1.60m Grand Prix at the Royal Windsor CSI5* and were named as a Reserve to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Team. Selected to represent the U.S. at the prestigious CHIO Aachen in September, the pairs double clear effort secured their starpower and helped Team USA to their first gold-medal finish at the event since 2005 in the Mercedes Benz Aachen Nations Cup. Moggre and Balou du Reventon capped the weekend with a second-place finish in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen, one of the most difficult classes in the world.
With a record like that, it’s hardly a surprise that Balou du Reventon is USEF’s 2021 International Horse of the Year.
