The European Show Jumping Championships celebrates its 50th anniversary at Mannheim, Germany this summer. For the first 18 years after the inaugural event was staged in Rotterdam, The Netherlands in 1957 horses and riders competed on an individual basis, and it was only in 1975 that a team competition was introduced. Some very special horses have stolen the limelight during this memorable half-century.......Deister and Mr Softee are two of them.......

DEISTER - An extraordinary horse with an extraordinary record. With Germany's Paul Schockemohle on board this brilliant bay Hannovarian gelding won three consecutive individual gold medals - in Munich, Germany in 1981, Hickstead, England in 1983 and Dinard, France in 1985. Bred by Hermann Hahl in Osterbruch, Lower Saxony, Deister was by Diskant out of Adlerklette by Adlerschild, stood 171cms high and had the heart of a lion.

It was in Rotterdam in 1979 that the partnership claimed their first European medal, taking silver behind Gerd Wiltfang riding Roman also for Germany. But once Deister got the taste of gold at Munich two years later, where Schockemohle pipped Britain's Malcolm Pyrah and Alglezarke, he learned to like it. At Hickstead in '83 he left both the remarkable Ryan's Son with Britain's John Whitaker and Frenchman Frederick Cottier and Flambeau in his wake, and at Dinard another two years further on, Whitaker had to settle for individual bronze with Hopscotch while Switzerland's Heidi Robbiani and Jessica slotted into silver medal position behind the dynamic German duo. Deister might well have gone on to make it four-in-a-row had it not been for an injury sustained on poor ground in the early stages of the 1987 Championships at St. Gallen.

Deister's European medal haul also included team gold at Munich in 1981, team silver in Rotterdam in 1979, and team bronze at both Hickstead in 1983 and Dinard in 1985. During his exceptional career he claimed the German Championship title on five occasions, won the prestigious Grand Prix at Aachen in 1984 and made Hickstead a home-from-home when winning the King George V Gold Cup in 1983 and the formidable Hickstead Derby in 1982 and 1986.

Despite his incredibly active career the hardy Deister, who was born in February 1971, lived to the ripe old age of 29.

MR SOFTEE - The closest challenger to Deister for the title of Champion of the Europeans is the Irish-bred Mr Softee - a three-time winner, but with two different riders.

Mr Softee enjoyed a hugely successful career with David Broome. However it was with another Briton, David Barker, that the chestnut horse with four white legs took the individual European title for the first time at the fifth championships in London in 1962.

The formula had been changed several times over the previous four years and when the FEI opted for yet a new variation - with three qualifications and then a two-round final starting from scratch - only seven riders turned up! David Barker rode both Mr Softee and Franco and came out on top ahead of Germany's Hans Gunther Winkler riding Romanus and Feuerdorn, while Piero D'Inzeo with The Rock finished in bronze medal position for Italy.

The Rock had an impressive record in these championships, taking individual silver at Aachen in 1958 and contributing to d'Inzeo's silver medal winning performance in 1961 before earning bronze for his rider in 1962. And he also played a part in Graziano Mancinelli's gold medal winning result in Rome in 1963.

By the time David Broome secured the first of his double-victories with Mr Softee in Rotterdam in 1967 the formula had been altered again and appeared much more to the competitor's liking. A total of 23 riders took part from 13 nations and it was Broome's fellow-countryman Harvey Smith who claimed silver with Harvester ahead of Germany's Alwin Schockemohle and Pesgo in bronze.

However the following year at Hickstead the number of participants had diminished again with just 11 riders from six nations lining out this time around. On his home turf, Broome steered Mr Softee to victory ahead of Alwin Schockemohle and Donald Rex, while Hans Gunther Winkler and Enigk finished third.

Broome once said that, like many other top horses, Mr Softee had a big opinion of himself - "He thought he was a king - and he was right!"