The Hanoverian partner of Dutch rider Anky van Grunsven, Salinero won individual Olympic gold medals at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

"Salinero, my hero, left us in tears behind," van Grunsven wrote on social media revealing news of Salinero's death.

"Memories will never fade away."

The pair had set a world record for the freestyle at ’s-Hertogenbosch in 2006, scoring 87.925 per cent, and followed it up with individual gold at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen that year.

Over the course of his career, Salinero won five individual World Equestrian Games gold medals, at every consecutive championship from 2004 to 2008, as well as four International Equestrian Federation World Cup Final titles.

Salinero was officially retired in March 2013, aged 19, less than a year after finishing sixth individually at his final event, the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where he and van Grunsven were members of the bronze medal-winning Dutch team.

Salinero and van Grunsven had also won an Olympic silver medal in the team dressage event at Beijing 2008.

Salinero had enjoyed a sedate retirement in the years since, going out each day with Shetland companions.

Van Grunsven first rode Salinero when he was six when she was looking to find a horse to replace Bonfire, on which she had won the Olympic gold medal at Sydney 2000.

Salinero was bred in Germany from jumping bloodlines by Horst Bünger Essel and had several full siblings who show jumped to a high level.

Despite his jumping bloodlines, he had been identified as a potential dressage talent by van Grunsven’s husband Sjef Janssen, who coached the Dutch national team for eight years.

Salinero had been intended for another rider but was bought back by Janssen.

"He was meant for an American client, but he didn’t buy him," van Grunsven said 

"Sjef said I should definitely ride him once.

"Sjef was riding him and kept saying I should sit on him.

"But I thought he was way too big for me and looked very strong.

"I like sensitive horses, like Bonfire, and I thought Salinero wasn’t my type."

But as soon as van Grunsven rode Selinero she knew what a special horse he was.

"Within one round I knew," she said.

"I thought, ‘OK, that’s it.

"I need to have this horse, no matter what it takes.

"It was not based on looks, but on feeling.

"When you saw him, he looked strong, but to ride he had such an amazing natural hind leg and was incredibly powerful."