By Sandra Karman / KWPN
Photography: FEI

Beezie and John Madden announced last week that KWPN ambassador Simon (Mr. Blue - Naline x Polydox) has passed away at the age of 22. Simon enjoyed a hugely successful showjumping career, first establishing his world-class talent with Jeroen Dubbeldam, and later with Beezie Madden.

Simon (Mr.Blue - Naline ster prestatie D-OC x Polydox), bred by M.J. Vermeulen from Altforst, has grown into a top class jumper. Eric van Grunsven discovered him at the age of four and had him trained by his former stable rider Martijn Verpoort. They took all their time with Simon and the duo was cleared the 1.45m classes of Jardy, Zuidlaren and Wiener Neustadt.

Jeroen Dubbeldam and Simon

The Van Grunsven brothers then had the top talent trained and shown by Jeroen Dubbeldam at the end of the year, when he was nine. With Jeroen, he was given every opportunity to develop further as an international show jumper, which turned out very well. At the beginning of 2009 they made their debut at the international competition in Zwolle, where they immediately jumped clear. In February, Simon jumped his first 1m50 course in Neumünster – again clear. In March, in his Grand Prix debut, Simon jumped magnificently and placed second in a strong field in Den Bosch. This was the start of a striking career as in May they won the Eindhoven GP... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber

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