International event horse Kingpin died from a hemorrhage of the large vessels in the abdomen on April 25, while competing in the cross-country portion of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in Lexington (p. 8). He was 13.

Julie Richards imported the Irish Sport Horse gelding, and she competed him at preliminary before sending him to Michael Winter of Canada for training. He was purchased by the Kingpin Syndicate a short time later.

“He was probably one of the most talented horses I’ve ever sat on,” said Winter, based in Newnan, Ga. “He was quite a character. He made a lot of nasty faces at horses and people, but he never did anything. He definitely tried every single person who got on him. We’d be out for a gallop, and if I was not quite paying attention he’d always try to reroute back to the barn. He always was testing how soon he could be done and back in front of his hay net.”

Winter began campaigning “Billy” in August of 2003, and they competed in their first two-star in May of 2004. Kingpin reached the three-star level in the spring of 2005.

“Early, I had a bunch of success. I had a sort of non-confrontational approach,” said Winter. “So when David O’Connor became the coach of the Canadian team and insisted on a higher level of communication and skill level, he had a bit of a setback when I actually tried to train him. As the program progressed he became a better horse for it and began to prosper. At Rolex [in 2008, where he was 12th] he showed a level of maturity that really amazed me. He really started to come into his own. I thought it was fantastic.”

Kingpin represented Canada at the Pan American Games in Brazil in 2007, where he was eighth individually and part of the silver-medal team, and again at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong. Winter said that he loved the attention of flying and getting to go places.

“I hope that having known me improved his life,” Winter said. “I’d like to think that some of the great success and opportunities he brought to me are in gratitude of the things I tried to do for him. I want him to be remembered as my partner and an exceptional athlete that I had an enormous amount of respect for.”

Winter said some of the greatest moments he had with Kingpin were not necessarily in competition.

“I remember when my daughter was 3 years old and she was sitting on him, holding onto the front of his blanket while I led him around,” he said. “Those are the fondest memories: the time we spent together as a family and how we interacted with him on a daily basis. The competitions are what we are judged on as riders, but I think a greater percentage of the time is spent with the horses at home. Going out on hacks with [Kingpin] and my daughter on her pony stick out in my mind more than going through the finish flags. Especially now that he’s gone.”