April 10, 2025 
With horses, it’s all about making the match. Sometimes that critical bond takes a decade to form; in other cases, it’s as simple as two, sentient creatures meeting each other at just the right moment in time.
For Harry Charles and Romeo 88, who officially retired from the sport this week, it’s the latter scenario.
Though they were together for more than three years, the heights they scaled at the top of the sport speak to a much lengthier partnership. What’s clear is that the now-16-year-old Zangersheide took Charles from a good rider at the international level to a great one—a fact that Charles touched on in his recent tribute to Romeo 88 on Instagram:
“Romeo, Thank you for everything- you changed my life and I’ll be forever grateful for you,” Charles wrote, before citing their lengthy list of accomplishments.
In fact, during his eight-year career at the top of the sport, Romeo 88 jumped for many flags before finding a lasting home at the Charles family’s Heathcroft Farm. He was briefly campaigned by such famous names as Alberto Zorzi (ITA), Jessica Springsteen (USA), Jeroen Dubbeldam (NED), and finally, Darragh Kenney (IRL), after he was purchased by current owner Ann Thompson in 2019.
But after taking over the reins at the tender age of 21, it was undoubtedly Charles who succeeded in bringing the gelding onto his side, telling Horse & Hound Romeo was, “A great fighter, with a great heart, and a great mind as well.”
Together, the pair landed on 14 total podiums, earning more than €528,000 in prize money (Jumpr). And though they never topped a Grand Prix, it’s clear that Romeo 88 was intended to be Charles’s championship-level mount from the start—a role he took to with ease.
Just months after partnering together, Charles and Romeo 88 made their Olympic debut in Tokyo. One year later, they qualified and jumped to a 4th place finish at the 2022 FEI World Cup Finals in Leipzig, Germany.
That summer, Charles and Romeo were part of the bronze medal-winning British squad at the World Championships in Herning, Denmark—a placing that helped to secure the country’s Olympic berth at Paris in 2024. And it would indeed be in the City of Lights that the British pair truly showed their quality.
Despite competing with a broken wrist, Charles jumped clear with Romeo in the difficult Team Final, helping Great Britain to secure gold, a feat he deemed “probably the best round of my life.”
After another clear effort in the Individual Qualifier, an overreach injury prevented Romeo from competing the Individual Final. But Charles couched his disappointment in gratitude toward his horse, writing: “[Romeo] has given me so much and took me beyond my dreams, we’re leaving paris [sic] with a gold medal and more importantly a happy romeo, so that’s way more than enough for me !”
In hindsight, Paris would mark the final rounds the pair would compete together. But, in addition to their medals, their stats leave behind their own legacy. Under Charles’s saddle, Romeo 88 jumped clear at 47% in more than 50 rounds at 1.60m+. The pair finished in the top 10, however, at a significantly higher 70% at the same height (Jumpr).
Today, Romeo is already settled in stateside, enjoying retirement at his new home at Ann Thompson’s farm alongside fellow legend and Charles ride, Balou du Reventon. Meanwhile, Charles’s “top mount” position is currently being fielded by the 12-year-old Belgian gelding, Sherlock, with whom he won the LGCT Grand Prix of London last year.
Not to be forgotten: New acquisition, Zineday, the former Philipp Weishaupt (GER) ride, who was purchased by Charles’s girlfriend Eve Jobs last fall and is already a proven entity at the championship level. One thing is clear, though: Romeo 88 is leaving behind some big-jumping shoes to fill.
“[It] makes me happy that he will leave the sport on the highest of the highs and have the long, healthy retirement he deserves,” Charles wrote in his farewell message to the gelding. “Thank you will never be enough – happy retirement my friend !”
