June 16, 2025 
Every true fan of show jumping has a combination that they secretly (or not so secretly) love to love.
Maybe it’s a clear bond of admiration and trust, like we saw between South Africa’s Bronwyn Meredith Dos Santos and her mare, Bibisi, jumping a huge clear at this year’s Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Finals. Or perhaps it’s the effortlessness and class of a young combination like Belgium’s Gilles Thomas (BEL) and Ermitage Kalone every time they enter the arena.
For me, though, these last two years, there are few pairs I enjoyed watching more than the USA’s McLain Ward and that handsome, light-bay son-of-a-gun, Ilex.
Co-owned by Ward and Bonne Chance Farm’s Gilberto Sayão da Silva of Brazil, the pair famously contributed to the U.S. Team silver medal at the Paris Olympic Games last summer. They also finished second in hallmark classes including the CSI5* Rolex Grand Prix in Wellington in March of 2024, and the CSIO5* Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen last July.
Mostly recently, they helped Team USA clinch a critical home win at the Longines League of Nations Ocala in March. The first time I watched them in person was also in team competition one year prior, during their first big test together under the lights in the CSIO4* Nations Cup of Wellington. In just their sixth international outing together, the pair jumped 0/4 for the U.S., and I was instantly smitten.
To be sure, Ward and Ilex have a couple of things in common. Namely, talent. Ilex is one of just a handful of horses in the world with the scope and power to essentially toy with 1.60m spreads. Ward, as we all know, can get the best out of just about any horse while simultaneously giving a master class on the proper heel-toe-turnout-angle of the lower leg.
To be fair, though, it was their clear contrast in styles that most captured my attention.
In just about every round he jumps, Ilex’s excitement for the job is evident. He often lands from a big effort bucking, sometimes leaping straight off the ground to double-barrel the air—and eliciting amused gasps from the crowd.
It’s the kind of thing you might find a young or green horse doing, or perhaps a spicy older mount competing at a lower level of the sport. But rarely do you see it in, say, a Longines League of Nations round, or an IJRC Top 10 Final. Or with the level of extra and theatrical zeal that the 12-year-old KWPN gelding so often brings to his performances.
Ward, meanwhile, is known as one of the most disciplined and methodical riders in international sport. As a lifelong competitor and horse dealer’s son, he’s likely ridden just about every type of mount in the book in his 30-some years of horse showing. But he once said that his fondest relationship with a horse was with Rothchild—another opinionated gelding who insisted on doing things his own way.
Whether or not Ward enjoyed the same independent streak when it came from Ilex is anyone’s guess, but it’s clear the gelding fits into a similar category.
Speaking for myself, it’s hard to watch his antics without smiling. And while I can only imagine that Ward’s eye twitches at the thought of the critical tenths of a second Ilex’s airs above ground have (probably) cost them these last two years, it’s clear they can, and have, come through for their country in a pinch.
This week, Ward announced on Facebook that Ilex would be returning to the Bonne Chance team this month to once again represent Brazil. And while the news is honestly making me a little misty, I’m choosing to focus on their brief but ample highlight reel.
The pair’s ability to forge an Olympic-caliber partnership in a mere six months’ time—not to mention bringing home a silver medal in Paris—speaks volumes. And when they were good, they were great. According to Jumpr, in 19 career starts at 1.60m+, Ward and Ilex finished in the top 10 a whopping 58% of the time.
I know I’m not the only one who will miss watching their secret sauce, and it sounds like Ward might too. “Ilex has been a wonderful partner with an exuberant and kind personality,” he wrote on Facebook. “We look forward to seeing his continued success in the sport.”
