Star Power and Jonathan Millar, January 2016.
The 15-year-old KWPN gelding Star Power (Quick Star x Calvados) has passed away. The internationally-successful show jumper was ridden by Canadian Ian Millar, and more recently, his son Jonathan Millar.
Purchased in 2010 by the Team Works syndicate, Star Power successfully fulfilled Ian Millar’s goal of competing at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Star Power and Millar put in a strong performance in London, marking a record 10 Olympic appearances for ‘Captain Canada’ and finishing as the top-placing Canadian pair. Prior to London, Millar and Star Power medaled in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Star Power was bred in The Netherlands and sourced by Paul and Emile Hendrix of Stal Hendrix in Holland, who found the horse in Italy. It was under the saddle of Millar that Star Power moved up to become a successful international horse; among their individual accomplishments was a 2nd place in the 2012 $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix at WEF and success in Caledon, Ontario and Ottawa.
Millar renamed the gelding “Star Power” in an acknowledgment of his “diva” temperament. Millar spent over a year schooling Star Power on his rideability and building a strong partnership with him, noting that he was one of the more difficult horses he had trained. But Star Power was also one of the most talented horses Millar had ever had, a horse that truly loved to show and jump.
Groom Danny Ingratta cared for Star Power for the last three years. “He would do anything you asked him to most of the time, sometimes you would just have to ask it in a different way,” Ingratta remembered. “He was truly a talent, and a great horse to take care of. He will forever be missed.”
Star Power competed lightly with Jonathan Millar this winter and last fall, and last represented Canada with Jonathan in the irons at the Ocala Nations Cup CSIO4* in February. Shortly thereafter, the decision was made to transition him into a much-deserved retirement. However, on April 15, he suffered a soft tissue injury in his paddock and had to be put down.