Dacardo, a talented and accomplished FEI-level dressage horse, was euthanized on Jan. 8 due to a broken bone fragment in his neck. He was 11.

A Swedish Warmblood gelding, he was fondly called “D” by his owner Melissa Taylor, who imported him from Sweden in 2003.

Lars Petersen started Dacardo’s dressage career, winning the 6-year-old FEI Young Horse test in 2004 at Dressage At Devon (Pa.). He went on to find success in the Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire levels, winning nearly every CDI he entered.

In the spring of 2007, Taylor began showing Dacardo, winning the CDI Intermediaire I at Saugerties (N.Y.). The pair qualified for the National Intermediaire Championships in 2008 and also won the Great American/USDF Qualifier at Prix St. Georges at Dressage At Devon.

“He was such a character,” said Taylor. “He had one of those jolly balls in his stall, and I taught him how to squish it on command. We put all kinds of squeaky toys in his stall for him. He would hear my footsteps coming and would squeak his toys for me.”

Taylor was aiming for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (Ky.) with Dacardo.

“Dacardo was the love of my life,” she added. “I’m so grateful to have had him. He was my dream, a world-class horse, plain and simple.”