Bovill Zed | Beauville Z

چهار نعل: Bovill Zed | Beauville Z

In a small, home-style farm on the outskirts of Kerkrade, in the Limburg province of the Netherlands, a colt was born to a stallion, and no one in those days…

Beauville Z was born in 2010 on the small family farm of Pascal Habets and Monique Limpens in Kerkrade; the fourth generation of the home-bred show jumping horses of this little stable. His sire was Bustique (by Indoctro) and his dam was the Dutch mare Wrinton (daughter of Jumpy des Fontaines and by Pinxter). In his early years, he seemed like an ordinary horse; those close to him said, “He’s good, but not exceptional,” and that is why he was sold for a relatively low price.

His fate changed at the beginning of his six-year-old season, when French rider and dealer Maxime Rius spotted this horse at a regional competition in France and bought him. But the partnership that turned Beauville Z into a star began in mid-2018, when Dutch Olympic rider Maikel van der Vleuten took the reins. Ownership of the horse eventually passed to Spanish businesswoman Marta Ortega Pérez (from the Inditex/Zara family), and he now competes with the suffix “N. O. P. ” — the mark of Stichting Nederlands Olympiade Paard, the Dutch Olympic Horse Foundation.

Beauville Z’s rise was astonishing and rapid. In June 2019, while still considered an inexperienced horse, he was unexpectedly sent into the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Monaco — his first appearance in a five-star class — because Van der Vleuten’s other horses were tired from the packed competition schedule. He won in a thrilling jump-off by the narrowest of margins. That same year, in December, he also claimed the FEI Longines World Cup Jumping in La Coruña, Spain.

But the peak of the Beauville Z legend came at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (held one year late), where he and Van der Vleuten earned the individual bronze medal with two clear rounds and a fast jump-off in 38.90 seconds — behind Ben Maher of Britain and Peder Fredricson of Sweden. He repeated this achievement at the 2022 FEI World Championships in Herning, Denmark; once again individual bronze, this time behind Henrik von Eckermann and Jérôme Guery, and alongside that a share in the Dutch team silver.

Between these major victories, Beauville Z became one of the most consistent horses on the Global Champions Tour and Global Champions League circuit; he repeatedly took Marta Ortega’s “Madrid in Motion” team to the podium and, for the 2023 season, with an average of just 1.2 penalty points per round, he claimed the title of “GCL Horse of the Year.”

At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in the historic gardens of Château de Versailles, Beauville Z once again showed himself at the top and, with one fault in show jumping (4 penalty points) and a time of 39.12 seconds, won his second Olympic individual bronze medal — this time behind Christian Kukuk of Germany and Steve Guerdat of Switzerland. This honor made him one of the few horses in Olympic show jumping history to have won two individual medals.

In the summer of 2025, and at an age close to middle age for a competition horse, Beauville Z returned to Monaco once again and, six years after his first victory, was again crowned LGCT Grand Prix champion; a sign of exceptional durability at the highest level of five-star competition. His story — from a “good, but not exceptional” foal on a small farm in Limburg to a two-time Olympic medalist and the legendary horse of Maikel van der Vleuten — remains one of the most inspiring stories in the world of show jumping.

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