Vivant van de Heffinck retired from sport

The day after his seventeenth birthday, Vivant van de Heffinck is bowing out and retiring from sport.

Born on a Friday in May 1998, Hubert Hamerlinck (Van de Heffinck stud farm) took a bet on crossing the blood of Fuego du Prelet with Landino to produce a champion. The Flemish breeder accomplished his objective.

At just ten years of age, the stallion performed in renowned rings under the saddle of Australia’s (Chris Chugg). Acquired by Oleksandr Onyshchenko and competing for Ukraine from 2011, Vivant continued to display his exceptional talent. With strength, carefulness and a competitor’s mindset, he represented the country’s blue and yellow colours in almost 20 Nations Cups throughout the world.

With Cassio Rivetti, the bay stallion competed on the most beautiful equestrian grounds. Vivant shined in Saint-Gallen, Barcelona and Rome. Placed in the Grands Prix of Valkenswaard, Dublin, Gijón as well as Doha, the audacious stallion made an impression on many enthusiasts.

The same fans will also remember his eighth place individually at the World Equestrian Games in Caen in 2014.

“Vivant still behaves like a young stallion each time he competes. His is in great shape, but after all he has accomplished, it was the right time for him to retire. And as we really respect what he has achieved, we wanted him to stop when he still was still competing at the top shows.”

With his strong character, Vivant has been accompanied throughout all these years of competition by professionals who really loved him and without whom his career might not have been quite as remarkable – thank you to all of them.

Thank you Vivant, the devoted champion, without whom none of this would have been possible. These exceptional sporting moments will never be forgotten.

source: cassiorivetti.com