Touch of Class was a bay American bred Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 mare

Mare (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...

 who was on United States Equestrian Team

United States Equestrian Team

The United States Equestrian Team, or USET, was founded in 1950 at the Coates estate on van Beuren Road in Morristown, New Jersey, and is the international equestrian team for the United States...

 at the 1984 Summer Olympics

1984 Summer Olympics

The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...

, winning the gold medal in the individual and team 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...

 events. She was ridden by Joseph Fargis

Joseph Fargis

Joseph Halpin Fargis IV is an American show jumping champion. In 1984 Fargis participated in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles where he won a gold medal in individual jumping with the mare Touch of Class...

.

Pre-1984 Olympics

Touch of Class was foaled in on April 27, 1973, and was first registered as Stillaspill with the Jockey Club, having a brief racing career before being trained as a show-jumper. In 1981, in her first year at the Grand Prix level, she won classes at several shows, and in 1982 she qualified with Fargis for the USET's team for the World Championships in Dublin. When an injury took Fargis out of the saddle in 1982, Touch of Class was turned over to Conrad Homfeld, and the team won the Grand Prix at Southampton and came in 4th in the 1983 World Cup. With Fagis back in the saddle, Touch of Class was part of Nation's Cup teams that won in Rome and Calgary in 1983, and in later in her career she was also on Nation's Cup teams that won in Aachen, Washington and New York. In 1984, Touch of Class and Fargis won the Grand Prix of Tampa.

1984 Olympics

Though consistent performances in Olympic trial events in 1984, Touch of Class and Fargis were named to the USET Olympic Show Jumping team, nicknamed the "Dream Team". Touch of Class posted the first double clear rounds in Olympic history, and cleared 90 out of 91 jumps, taking home two gold medals. In the jump-off, Touch of Class and Fargis competed against her former rider, Conrad Homfeld, who took home silver. She was the fourth horse in history to win two show-jumping gold medals, with the last being Hans Winkler's Halla

Halla (horse)

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.*Color: Bay*Markings: Star, black points...

in 1956. Her performance allowed her to be named the first non-human USOC Female Equestrian Athlete of the Year.

Post-1984 Olympics

Touch of Class continued to compete successfully throughout the 1980s, and took the top place in the World Cup U.S. East Coast League standings in both 1984 and 1985. She also had a successful breeding career. Touch of Class was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 2000, and she died at River Circle Farm in Franklin, Tennessee on July 1, 2001.

Pedigree

External links

• Show Jumping Hall of Fame