I bought Donner six years ago. He was 5, and I was retiring my previous four-star horse to the lower levels. I initially got Donner as a project.

He was a beautiful stamp of a horse, had a good canter and a good enough jump. He was wild, but the price was right so I figured I'd take the chance. Either he would turn out to be something for me in the future, or I'd put some work into him and sell him on if he didn’t turn out to be an upper level horse.