Dressage-News

Cadillac 35, the 14-year-old Danish warmblood gelding owned and competed by Catherine Haddad of the United States, was euthanized in New Jersey Saturday.

Cadillac (Solos Carex x Miss Ragtimes Minuett x Ragtime) was ridden by Catherine at international Grand Prix for more than four years, posting victories on both sides of the Atlantic. The pair competed at most of the major competitions in Europe. In 2009, they finished first or second at Leipzig and Munich in Germany; Göteborg, Sweden; Vidabaun, France and Hickstead, England.

The horse did not compete internationally in 2010, but this year returned to the show ring with high placings at Hickstead and Saugerties, New York.

Catherine lives in Califon, New Jersey, where her husband has a veterinary clinic, and Vechta Germany, where she has been based for several years.

“Today, Saturday the 12th of November, 2011, Cadillac was euthanized at my husband’s clinic in New Jersey,” she wrote in a blog in The Chronicle of the Horse.

“I have seen my husband, Dr. Greg Staller, save horses that other people have given up for lost. Sadly, even the strongest will and the greatest skill could not save this horse, this time.

“In the very end, the decision to take Cadillac’s life was inevitable. He was a special horse, something that I tried to honor by letting him leave this life without extended pain and suffering.”

She said, “As a lifelong horsewoman, I have already experienced enough heartbreak to know that one cannot always ride the highs in life. And as a Buddhist, I have worked hard to understand the transience of life in order to help myself overcome the lows.

“Having said that, I will be pulling myself out of the abyss created by Cadillac’s passing for a long time.”

Catherine and Maximus JSS was the reserve combination for the U.S. team at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, and on Winyamaro for the 2010 WEG in Kentucky.