Tampa, FL—April 4, 2005—The Show Jumping Hall of Fame conducted its annual induction ceremonies during the intermission at the Budweiser American Invitational on Saturday, April 2, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. The legendary horse Snowbound was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame. He joins 54 previous inductees whose contributions to the sport set them apart and earned them the honor of enshrinement in the Show Jumping Hall of Fame.

Snowbound was a mediocre, unsound racehorse, kicking around Northern California in the early 1960s who went on to make history by carrying Bill Steinkraus to the first individual Olympic Gold Medal ever won by a U.S. rider, capturing Mexico City's show jumping Gold in 1968. Discovered by John (later Sir John) Galvin as a green hunter being shown by Show Jumping Hall of Famer Barbara Worth Oakford, who had bought him off the racetrack, Snowbound was presented as a gift to his daughter, Olympic dressage rider Patricia, and loaned to the USET for Steinkraus to ride.

A brown gelding just over 16 hands in height and foaled in 1958, Snowbound was by Hail Victory out of Gay Alvena and had jumping blood on both sides of his pedigree. He was precocious from the start and equally at home indoors and out, though he was never much at home in heavy footing. In 1965, he jumped double clears to clinch the Nations' Cups of London and Dublin, won the Grand Prix of New York, and capped the year by helping the U.S. win two more Nations' Cups. The following year, he won the Grand Prix at Harrisburg and the Democrat Trophy in New York, and he contributed to another Nations' Cup victory.

This was Snowbound's pattern: try to jump double clear rounds in Nations' Cups--over one stretch he jumped 15 Nations' Cup clear rounds in 16 attempts--and try to win Grand Prix. Always threatened by recurrence of the tendon trouble that had driven him from the track, Snowbound was too valuable to the Team to risk in ordinary classes and was shown lightly. In 1968, he jumped double clears in all of the European Nations' Cups in which he competed. He also won London's coveted Daily Mail Cup prior to the Olympic Games. At the Olympics, he jumped one of only two clear rounds in the first round of the Individual Competition, and though he finished on three legs, incurred only a single fault over the huge fences of the second round to win the Gold.

In 1970, Snowbound won four individual competitions in Europe--two in Lucerne and two in Aachen--but ended up sidelined again for most of 1971. The following year, his preparations to defend his Olympic title went well, but though he scored several victories in minor international competitions, he failed to qualify for the second round in the individual competition at the Olympics, and Steinkraus was obliged to ride Main Spring on the Silver Medal-winning U.S. team.

After the Munich Olympics, Snowbound was retired to the Galvins’ farm outside Dublin. He and Steinkraus had shared a remarkable career and had become one of the best-known horse-and-rider combinations ever to represent the United States. Though Snowbound set no endurance records, he combined remarkable gymnastic ability with a stubborn determination not to hit fences. He was a truly extraordinary water jumper and will always be remembered for his consistent brilliance when the chips were down.

“The one thing I must say is that the USET, and I personally, will be eternally grateful to Sir John Galvin’s family and especially to Trish, the Princess de la Tour d’Auvergne, the wonderful dressage rider, for their generosity in making available to the show-jumping team such horses as Snowbound, San Lucas and Night Owl. The Team’s jumping record would read very differently, as would our dressage and eventing records, too, without their contributions,” said Bill Steinkraus.

Steinkruas continued, “I am thrilled that Snowbound has been inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame, for I think he truly belongs. Like all great horses, Snowbound was very much a one-off, a totally unique individual, with a very distinctive personality. He was not the fastest horse I ever rode, nor the strongest, nor could he jump the biggest puissance fence, and he certainly didn’t have the easiest temperament. However, the bigger the occasion, the more he rose to it, and he never gave up. I’ve wracked my brain for a long time trying to formulate a short description that did him justice, but the best I can come up with is this simple statement: If my very life depended on jumping a clear round over the biggest, trickiest, most technical jumper course I can imagine, the horse I would want to be riding would be Snowbound at his best.”

Snowbound joins an impressive list that the Show Jumping Hall of Fame has inducted since 1987. The list includes William C. Steinkraus, Bertalan deNemethy and Idle Dice (1987); Patrick Butler and August A. Busch, Jr. (1988); David Kelly, Jimmy Williams, Ben O’Meara and Frances Row (1989); Arthur McCashin, Kathy Kusner, Brigadier General Harry D. Chamberlin and San Lucas (1990); Adolph Mogavero, Whitney Stone, Morton “Cappy Smith” and Pat Dixon (1991); Eleonora “Eleo” Sears, Mary Mairs Chapot, Barbara Worth Oakford and Snowman (1992); Dr. Robert C. Rost and Joe Green (1993); Frank Chapot and Gordon Wright (1994); Mickey Walsh and Trail Guide (1995); Pamela Carruthers, Jet Run, Richard “Dick” Donnelly and Heatherbloom (1996); Edward “Ned” King, Bobby Egan and Sun Beau (1997); Fred “Freddy” Wettach, Jr., Melanie Smith Taylor and Johnny Bell (1998); Rodney Jenkins, Sinjon, Franklin F. “Fuddy” Wing, Jr. and Democrat (1999); George Morris, Carol Durand and Touch of Class (2000); Eugene R. Mische, Lt. Colonel John W. Russell, Bobby Burke, and Untouchable (2001); Harry R. Gill, Clarence L. “Honey” Craven, Calypso and Gem Twist (2002), and Mainspring and J. Russell Stewart, Sr. (2003).

For further information about the Show Jumping Hall of Fame and Museum, please visit the Hall of Fame website at www.showjumpinghalloffame.net.

Photos Available on Request