Halla (horse)

Halla (16 May 1945 – 19 May 1979) 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. She stood 16.2 hands (66 inches, 168 cm).

Halla (also listed as "Sonnenglanz") was born in the yard of Gustav Vierling in Darmstadt. Her parents were Helene, a French trotter horse of unknown breeding, and the Standardbred Oberst. Halla was first trained as a steeplechaser before she was discovered by the German Olympic committee. She was to be used in eventing competitions, but was considered very difficult and changed riders several times. Despite her great talent, she remained unsuccessful. In 1951 she was taken over by the then rising star Hans Günter Winkler.

Halla had already won back-to-back World Championships in show jumping when she and Winkler competed at the 1956 Olympics in Stockholm. During the first round, Halla took off early for the penultimate fence. Winkler was thrown into the air, landed heavily back in the saddle and tore a groin muscle. He knew that if he withdrew from the final round, the German team would be eliminated. In great pain, he rode anyway, only being able to give the slightest direction to his mount. Halla completed the course without a fault, and they earned gold in both the individual and team events.

Four years later, at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Halla and Winkler led the German team to another victory.

Together they won a total of 125 jumping competitions. Thus Halla stands as the horse with most gold medals from the Olympic Games in The Guinness Book of the Records.

Halla retired from the sport on 25 October 1960 to begin her career as a broodmare. She had eight foals but none was a champion like herself.

Halla died on 19 May 1979 at the advanced age of 34 years.