If Exilio the horse could talk, maybe he could tell us how he felt when New Zealand's Emily Fraser cried and hugged him after winning gold in equestrian at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.
The 18-year-old won the individual show jumping gold medal on Sunday after delivering a clear round a day earlier and setting up a jump-off decider against three other riders.
"It was really nerve-racking," she said.
"I kept my head and tried to handle my nerves. I just rode for my life."
Fraser opened the jump-off with a time of 39.75 seconds.
Argentina's Martina Campi matched the Kiwi's zero-fault record while riding Darina, but trailed Fraser by 0.25s to claim silver.
Australia's Jake Hunter collected four faults to claim bronze with horse For The Star, while El Salvador's Sabrina Rivera Meza was left empty-handed after scoring eight faults on Con-Zero.
Fraser could not hold back her tears when she realised that gold was hers.
"I've never cried this much but I'm the happiest person alive," she said.
"I knew one person was going to be the unlucky one and I just hoped it would not be me."
Australia's bronze medallist said he couldn't be happier with his performance after posting zero faults in the first round on Saturday.
"My horse jumped fantastically," he said.
"In the jump-off she got a bit tired but she gave it everything she had.
The equestrian medal is New Zealand's second at the Games after Dylan Schmidt won the men's trampoline gymnastic.
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