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January
9, 2000 - The barns in the equestrian community of Wellington,
Florida, the largest community and showgrounds of its kind
in the world, continue to swell to full capacity. At his
winter residence, in the first barn on the right off of
South Shore Drive, reigned the greatest show jumping horse
of all time. Abdullah. Often with his head out the stall
door he would watch, as none of the tens of thousands of
horses that passed by daily have come close to matching
his record.
The
great Trakehner stallion, Abdullah, who clinched the first
team gold medal for the United States in show jumping at
the 1984 Olympic Games died from complications due to colic.
Williamsburg Farm, owned by Terry and Sue Williams, purchased
Abdullah in 1973, became one of the first American farms
to begin breeding Trakehneer horses, the German breed to
which Abdullah owes his heritage.
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Together
with Conrad Homfeld, Abdullah won the Olympic Team Gold
and individual silver medal in 1984, the World Cup Finals
in 1985, and the team gold and individual silver medal at
the World Championships in Aachen 1986. With over 400 offspring
many creating records of their own, Abdullah has left his
mark, imbedded deeply into the history and records of equestrian
sport.
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