Flim Flam
BreedHanoverian
DisciplineDressage
SireWilhelm Tell I
GrandsireWedekind
DamCilia
Maternal grandsireCavalier
SexGelding[1]
FoaledMarch 27, 1987
CountryUnited States
ColorDark Bay
OwnerFritz Kundrun[2][3]
TrainerSue Blinks
Flim Flam
Medal record
Representing  United States
Equestrian
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney Team Dressage
Silver medal – second place 2002 Jerez de la Frontera Team Dressage

Flim Flam (March 27, 1987–October 28, 2004) was a Hanoverian dressage horse who, along with rider Sue Blinks, competed for the United States at the 2000 Olympics. The pair was eighth in the individual competition and was part of the bronze medal-winning US team. Flim Flam was sired by the stallion Wilhelm Tell I, out of the mare, Cilia.

Life and career

Flim Flam was foaled in 1987, out of Cilia and by Wilhelm Tell I.[4] He was a dark bay who stood 16.1 hands (65 inches, 165 cm) at maturity. [5] Flim Flam began training with rider Sue Blinks at two and a half years old.[2] He was owned by Fritz Kundrun and Renate Kundrun, who bought him initially hoping he could be an approved Hanoverian breeding stallion as well as a dressage hopeful.[6] However, after he placed third at the Bundeschampionate, Kundrun realized the horse could not be successful in dressage as a stallion, so Flim Flam was castrated and went on to succeed as a dressage horse.[6]

Flim Flam's first major international competition was in 1998, at the World Equestrian Games in Rome. He and rider Sue Blinks finished 12th individually and 4th as part of the US team.[5] In 2000, Flim Flam and Blinks won the US Equestrian Team National Grand Prix Championship.[7] It was stated that he could quietly "steal" the show.[8] The horse was listed as being in the top half-dozen Grand Prix level dressage horses competing at the time.[9]

Flim Flam competed for the United States in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia with Blinks, winning 8th individually and taking the bronze team medal with fellow members Robert Dover, Guenter Seidel, and Christine Traurig.[10] Jane Savoie was credited with coaching the pair; She had helped Blinks with Flim Flam since he was three years old.[11] In 2001, Flim Flam won first place in the Dressage Special and second place in the Grand Prix dressage competition at the Devon Horse Show.[12] Blinks and Flim Flam were the leading horse-rider pair on the United States' silver medal dressage team at the 2002 World Equestrian Games, topping their 1998 win.[1][13]

After his retirement in the summer of 2004, Flim Flam was relaxing in a field when he showed signs of colic.[5] After his condition was noticed, he was taken to the Palm Beach Equine in Wellington, Florida. Flim Flam died October 28, 2004, of complications arising from colic surgery; his stomach burst, causing him to be euthanized on the operating table. He was 17 years old.[1][7]

Legacy

Breyer Animal Creations released a model horse based on Flim Flam between 2003 and 2004.[14] Blinks credits the horse as having been "a huge part of my education" as a rider and competitor.[15] She also noted one of his strengths, saying, "He can piaffe forever, basically."[16]

Pedigree

Through his sire, Film Flam is the "nephew" of Wilhelm Tell II.[17] Wilhelm Tell II is the sire of many notable Show Jumping/Dressage horses.

Pedigree of Flim Flam[4]
Sire
Wilhelm Tell I		 Wedekind Ferdinand Ferrara
Herzenskind
Atlasmaedel Athos
Koenigsliebe
Donauliese Don Carlos Dominik
Fasanenmoos
Festglorie Fernruf
Frisenblume
Dam
Cilia		 Cavalier Cardinal Off Key
Chevaliers Star
Fackel Ferdinand
Asternprinzess
Liebelei Lugano II Der Loewe
Altwunder
Dascha Domaenenrat I
Astgirl

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Flim Flam Passed Away". Eurodressage.com. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Sue Blinks Reigning 2000 dressage". Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  3. ↑ "eqiosearch.com". Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Pedigree of Flim Flam". Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "Farewell to former Olympic horse". Horse & Hound. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "American owned Roosevelt Qualifies for the 2007 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Verden". June 6, 2007. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Died". Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Highbeam love of horses". Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  9. ↑ "For the record". New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Profile: Christine Traurig". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Janesavoie". Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Retired Olympic horse Flim Flam euthanized following complications". Horse Tack Review. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Dressage news". Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Identify your Breyer". Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  15. ↑ Slade, Lisa (May 6, 2013). "Ringside Chat With Sue Blinks". Chronicle of the Horse. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Sue Blinks and Flim Flam Win Grand Prix Freestyle". Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Forget me not at warmblood sales". Retrieved March 23, 2016.
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