Halla (horse)
Encyclopedia
Halla was a horse ridden by Hans Günter Winkler
. She is the only horse ever to win three Olympic
Gold medals in the sport of show jumping
.
Halla (also listed as "Sonnenglanz") was born in the yard of Gustav Vierling in Darmstadt. Her parents were Helene, a French trotter horse of unknown breeding, and the Standardbred Oberst. Halla was first trained as a steeplechaser before she was discovered by the German
Olympic committee. She was to be used in eventing
competitions, but was considered very difficult and changed riders several times. Despite her great talent, she remained unsuccessful. In 1951 she was taken over by the then rising star Hans Günter Winkler
.
Halla had already won back-to-back World Championships in show jumping when she and Winkler competed at the 1956 Olympics
in Stockholm
. During the first round, Halla took off early for the penultimate fence. Winkler was thrown into the air, landed heavily back in the saddle and pulled a groin muscle. He knew that if he withdrew from the final round, the German team would be eliminated. In great pain, he rode anyway, only being able to give the slightest direction to his mount. Halla completed the course without a fault, and they earned gold in both the individual and team events.
Four years later, at the 1960 Olympics
in Rome
, Halla and Winkler led the German team to another victory.
Together they won a total of 125 jumping competitions. Thus Halla stands as the horse with most gold medals from the Olympic Games in The Guinness Book of the Records
.
Halla retired from the sport on October 25, 1960 to begin her career as a broodmare. She had eight foals but none was a champion like herself.
Halla died on May 19, 1979, at the advanced age of 34 years.
International Grand Prix Wins include:
Hans Günter Winkler
Hans Günter Winkler is a successful former German show jumping rider...
. She is the only horse ever to win three Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
Gold medals in the sport of show jumping
Show jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
.
- Color: BayBay (color)Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a reddish brown body color with a black mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common coat colors in many horse breeds....
- Markings: Star, black points
- Height: 16.2 hhHand (unit)The hand is a non-SI unit of measurement of length, now used only for the measurement of the height of horses in some English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA. With origins in ancient Egypt, it was originally based on the breadth of a human hand...
approx. - Sex: MareMare (horse)A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...
- Breed: HesseHesseHesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
- Breeding: by Oberst (1935) out of Helene (1935)
- Breeder: Gustav Vierling, DarmstadtDarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... - Rider: Hans-Günter Winkler
Halla (also listed as "Sonnenglanz") was born in the yard of Gustav Vierling in Darmstadt. Her parents were Helene, a French trotter horse of unknown breeding, and the Standardbred Oberst. Halla was first trained as a steeplechaser before she was discovered by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Olympic committee. She was to be used in eventing
Eventing
Eventing is an equestrian event comprising dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This event has its roots in a comprehensive cavalry test requiring mastery of several types of riding...
competitions, but was considered very difficult and changed riders several times. Despite her great talent, she remained unsuccessful. In 1951 she was taken over by the then rising star Hans Günter Winkler
Hans Günter Winkler
Hans Günter Winkler is a successful former German show jumping rider...
.
Halla had already won back-to-back World Championships in show jumping when she and Winkler competed at the 1956 Olympics
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. During the first round, Halla took off early for the penultimate fence. Winkler was thrown into the air, landed heavily back in the saddle and pulled a groin muscle. He knew that if he withdrew from the final round, the German team would be eliminated. In great pain, he rode anyway, only being able to give the slightest direction to his mount. Halla completed the course without a fault, and they earned gold in both the individual and team events.
Four years later, at the 1960 Olympics
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Halla and Winkler led the German team to another victory.
Together they won a total of 125 jumping competitions. Thus Halla stands as the horse with most gold medals from the Olympic Games in The Guinness Book of the Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
.
Halla retired from the sport on October 25, 1960 to begin her career as a broodmare. She had eight foals but none was a champion like herself.
Halla died on May 19, 1979, at the advanced age of 34 years.
Pedigree
Major achievements
- Winner Individual Gold Medal 1956 OlympicsEquestrian at the 1956 Summer OlympicsThe Equestrian Events at the 1956 Summer Olympics were held in Stockholm due to the Australian quarantine regulations and included Dressage, Eventing, and Show Jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions...
in Stockholm - Winner Team Gold Medal 1956 Olympics in Stockholm
- Winner Team Gold Medal 1960 OlympicsEquestrian at the 1960 Summer OlympicsThe Equestrian Events at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome included dressage, eventing, and show jumping. Eventing and show jumping presented both individual and team medals, dressage presented only individual medals...
in Rome - Winner 1954 World ChampionshipsShow Jumping World ChampionshipsThe Show Jumping World Championships, or the show jumping competition at the FEI World Equestrian Games, was started in 1953, with individual competition. In 1978 Team competitions began, and men and women began competing against one another. From 1990, show jumping was brought together along with...
in MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... - Winner 1955 World Championships in AachenAachenAachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
- Individual Bronze Medal 1958 European Championships in Aachen
International Grand Prix Wins include:
- 1957 Aachen (CHIO) Grand Prix
- 1958 WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
Grand Prix - 1959 Rome (CSIO) Grand Prix
- Winner 1955 HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
Derby