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Death of the huaso horse

Sold first to a polo club and shortly after to the Chilean Army, the animal was prepared and instructed for the dressage category by Captain Gaspar Leuje. But luck was still not on his side, since in the first test he suffered an accident due to an iron and was even close to being sacrificed.

But the animal’s life and bad fortune changed completely when he met Captain Alberto Larraguibel, a Chilean military man who, in addition to changing his name from Faithful to Huaso, decided to instruct him in equestrian jumping. Although the equine would end up triumphing in this activity, at first he did not seem to be very good at jumping in circuits, so Larraguibel opted to perfect the horse’s high jump and train him to the maximum in this discipline.

Equestrian history

Later, he won ten gold medals in jumping and dressage tests in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the United States, Mexico and Venezuela, “being one of the best riders for Grand Cup courses.”[30] Subsequently, he continued to be linked to equestrian activity by organizing official competitions of the specialty.[3] This test was part of the program of the Equestrian Competition.

This event was part of the program of the International Equestrian Competition, where the jumping teams of Bolivia, Chile and Colombia participated. In the final, the teams of Captain Alberto Larraguibel and Huaso and that of Lieutenant Luis Riquelme and Chileno were competing.[1][7][8] The first jump was over 1.80 meters high; both Chileno and Huaso cleared it on the first attempt. The second was 2.14 meters; Huaso passed it on the first attempt – after jumping the obstacle, Larraguibel threw himself to the ground when his horse stumbled on landing – and Chileno, on the second. The next height was 2.47 meters to break the world record. Chileno was unable to pass it in his three attempts -Riquelme fell on the third occasion-.[7][8][9]

Why faithful was renamed huaso (horse)

The animal was bought by the Chilean Army and was initiated by Captain Gaspar Lueje in dressage, but in his debut he had an accident; his immediate withdrawal from training was to bury an iron in his buttocks, for which he was almost sacrificed.

It was Captain Alberto Larraguibel Morales who redirected his activity towards equestrian jumping. It was at this time when he changed his name from “Faithful” to “Huaso”. At the beginning, he was not an animal that was taken much notice of, since he jumped poorly in circuits. Captain Larraguibel decided to train him in high jumping.

There are books that tell the story of Huaso’s life, one entitled Caballo Loco campeón del mundo, by Luis Alberto Tamayo, and another Quique Hache y el caballo fantasma, by Sergio Gómez. There is also El jinete alado, by journalist and historian Roberto Silva Bijit.

Alberto Larraguibel and the huaso horse

Larraguibel explained that he jumped even higher, since by jumping over the side of the fence, he surpassed 2.52 meters and not the 2.47 meters measured at the center of the fence, where the 7.30 meter eucalyptus pole is arched. In any case, one must think that at the moment of the jump, the lieutenant’s eyes went over the four meters and from there to the ground, in a clean, direct fall.

When the horse put his forelegs to the ground, it seemed as if he connected the imaginary speakers of the jumping arena, because the audience went from a devout and nervous silence to a euphoric applause, with cheers and singing, while the officials on the other side of the obstacle, lifted the rider on their shoulders to put him on the world stage, from which no one has been able to take him down until today.