Sandscript, Todd Trewin’s 1992 Olympic Games partner, died on Nov. 23 at Trewin’s home in Redmond, Wash. He was 28.

Sandscript, a Thoroughbred gelding, was bred and raised in New Zealand, where Nick Holmes-Smith purchased him and imported him to the United States. Holmes-Smith introduced Sandscript to Trewin in 1990 when Trewin was searching for a possible 1996 Olympic event horse. The pair worked so well together that Trewin bought him after one ride. Within a year they qualified for and competed at the 1991 Pan American Games (Cuba), where they placed seventh.

In 1992, Trewin and Sandscript won the final U.S. Olympic Selection Trial, held at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. The pair also won the USET Trophy that weekend and finished second in the event.

“What made Sandscript so great was the fact that he was a phenomenal cross-country horse. He could see his line [to the jumps] on his own and didn’t like to be taken off of it,” said Trewin. “Once, when I was riding over a Mark Phillips course, there was a tricky combination with a key hole that went down the hill into the water. I tried to take the conservative option, but Sandscript had already seen the line, and when I turned him he actually shook his head at me!” 

Sandscript’s last competition with Trewin was the 1995 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. He then competed in the preliminary division with some of Trewin’s students for a few years before being retired to Trewin’s home farm in Redmond. He lived out his final days there with his best friend, a retired Tennessee Walking Horse, and is buried on the farm next to Trewin’s first mount, a donkey named Jacob.