Halla (horse)

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Equestrian
Olympic medal record
Gold	1956 Stockholm	Individual jumping
Gold	1956 Stockholm	Team jumping
Gold	1960 Rome	Team jumping

Halla (May 16, 1945 - May 19, 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.

Color: Bay
Markings: Star, black points
Height: 16.2 hh approx.
Sex: Mare
Breed: Hessen
Breeding: by Oberst (1935) out of Helene (1935)
Breeder: Gustav Vierling, Darmstadt, Germany
Rider: Hans-Günter Winkler

Halla was born in the yard of Gustav Vierling in Darmstadt. Her parents were Helene, a French trotter horse of unknown quantities, and the Traberhengst Oberst. Halla was first discovered by the German Olympic committee. She was to be used in the Military, but was considered however very difficult and changed riders several times. Despite her large 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 they 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 pulled 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. Halla completed the course without a fault. 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.

She retired from the sport on October 25, 1960 and went into the breeding farm, although Halla brought eight foals in to the world none was a champion like herself.

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