I want to tell you about a great sportsmen and his magnificent horse. The gold medal of the Olympic championship in  Rome (Italy) in a dressage in personal superiority was won for the first time by the Russian horseman - Sergey Ivanovich Filatov, the serviceman from Moscow. It was a furor for our country as it was the same great event as the first manned flight into space. He gathered a bigger quantity of points in personal offset and won everything on a black stallion named Absente.

Sergey Ivanovich Filatov was born on September 25, 1926 in the village of Bald mountains (Lysye Gory). In 1960 he became master of sport (Equestrian). In the age of 27 he had 3 sports categories. Absent started to work under Sergey's saddle two years before the Olympic Games. Sergey was one of the best masters of dressage in the world.

Absent is a black Akhal-Teke stallion born in 1952. He was a repeat champion of the USSR from 1959 to 1963. Absent was the best-known horse of the USSR. It glorified the Akhal-Teke breed for the whole world. The elegant black handsome horse with a white asterisk on its forehead and white socks. I think this is a magnificent pair. It made a huge contribution to dressage development. Many young horsemen aspire to be similar to Sergey Ivanovich Filatov and Absent.