Toytown (horse) entire 2004 season, and an injury during final preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics forced the pair to concede their place in the British team. Zara Phillips officially retired Toytown from competition on the final day of the 2011 Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park. The popular gelding was paraded to fans and spectators in the main arena before leaving for the rolling Gloucestershire countryside of the Gatcombe Estate. Toytown made a post retirement public appearance with Phillips at Cheltenham racecourse in 2012 as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay. Zara's husband, Mike Tindall, announced Toytown's death
United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics became a major power in the Olympics from 1904 to 2000, winning 47 of 90 gold medals, but left out of the medals for the second consecutive Olympics. On July 15, 2008, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) named the rider/horse combinations for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. The horses were shipped to England on July 17, placed under quarantine on July 22, 2008, and shipped to Hong Kong for the Olympic Games on July 30, 2008. Before the start of the games, Heidi White-Carty and her horse Northern Spy withdrew from the U.S. eventing team because of a veterinary