December 2, 2024 
In 2016, Spanish rider Gabriela Roger Ibars was just 21 and shopping for a young horse to bring along with her then-trainers Eric van der Vleuten and Maikel van der Vleuten.
She liked three at Hogel Hetzel’s auction, among them Beauville Z N.O.P. The deciding factor was price.
“He was the first to go in the auction, and one of the cheapest horses there!” Roger Ibars told World of Showjumping in 2021. Turns out, Roger Ibars got quite a deal on the horse who would one day jump to back-to-back, individual Olympic bronze medals in Tokyo and Paris.
And although she jumped plenty of clear rounds up to the 1.35m grand prix level with the Zangersheide gelding, he got careful when the jumps got bigger. That’s how Beauville ended up on her former coach’s Maikel van der Vleuten’s string: a place where he’s spent the last six years defying his price tag and expectations.
On Sunday, the now-14-year-old gelding marked his 100th 1.60m appearance with a third-place finish in the Longines FEI World Cup Qualifier in Madrid, Spain. It’s far from the only impressive stat on his resume.
Only three horses in history have earned back-to-back individual Olympic medals: Peder Fredricson’s (SWE) All In, who took individual silver in 2016 and 2020; and Tommaso Lequio di Assaba’s (ITA) Trebecco, who won individual gold way back in 1920 and individual silver in Paris in 1924.
In 2022, van der Vleuten and Beauville took individual bronze and team silver at the World Championship in Herning, Denmark. And they’ve been a longtime staple for the Dutch team, jumping two clears for the win at the 2021 Longines FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona, and 0/0 for a second-place finish for the Netherlands in the inaugural Longines League of Nations Final in 2024.
Together, the pair have earned well over €2 million, according to Jumpr Stats, with eight total grand prix wins—half of them at 1.60m. Not only do they boast a 59% clear round rate in those 100 rounds at 1.60m+, they finish in the top 10 65% of the time.
That’s the kind of rare consistency that pays off in a big way in show jumping, even if it’s not by jumping with the jaw-dropping athleticism of, say, United Touch S or Explosion W. “He was clear 95% of the time,” Roger Ibars said to World of Showjumping. “He was never a show-maker, he did not jump spectacular, but was always clear.”
And being clear has its benefits, especially when you’re doing it on the world’s biggest stages. That fact has earned van der Vleuten and Beauville a total of 27, 1.60m+ podiums all around the world. What’s more, the gelding currently ranks 9th in all-time 1.60m podium finishes, just ahead of Clooney 51 and behind Don Vhp Z, and among the likes of King Edward, HH Azur—and yes, Explosion W.
Not bad for a bargain basement special.
“[The] fact that he was the cheapest horse in the auction is funny: It is not always the horses that jump two meters over the wings that are the best in the end, it is the mentality that counts,” Roger Ibars added.“Beauville will always try his best.”
