Bert will always be my ideal of the coolest horse. I bought him in June 1998 after Cody didn't work out. He is a 16.0 hand high dark bay Dutch Warmblood gelding. He was foaled in May 1988. He is by the famous show jumper Voltaire. Bert was born in the Netherlands. His registered name is Gozewijn. Bert has the best personality of any horse I have ever known. He is smart, affectionate, and sensible. Not to mention that he is gorgeous. He's even good on trail rides, thouugh he is not overly fond of cattle. He loves to be groomed and he has nice ground manners.

I had Bert shipped from Canada sight unseen. I was very dubious. Bert was the third horse that my trainer Robert had suggested. The other two did not work out, and I was weary of getting my hopes up. Robert assured me that he could be returned if I didn't like him. Cody was already gone and I was not prepared to be pleased.

The night the van dropped Bert off at the barn I went up to meet him. It was already dark. Bert still had his shipping wraps on. I put him in the cross-ties and gingerly unwrapped him. He seemed pretty placid for having spent two days on a trailer so I decided to groom him a bit. As I curried my way toward his back end he began leaning into the curry. Finally, without moving his feet, he swivelled his whole bottom around to show me just the right spot. I immediately fell in love.

Sadly, Bert was ruined as a jumper. His previous owner pushed him too hard too soon and he just lost his heart for it. My trainers and I had hoped that he would come around, but jumping always upset him. He's in dressage training now and he loves it. In April 2002 I sold Bert to a dressage rider who can help advance his new career.

Bert had a nasty stubborn sinus infection that antibiotics wouldn't clear up. We had to resort to an interesting procedure to get rid of it. If you aren't squeamish check it out.