Patrick Nisbett believes there is plenty more to come from his dark brown gelding Quick Z after the pair finished tied for fifteenth in the final medal round of the show jumping at the Pan Am Games.

Nisbett might have enjoyed better finishes in his career, but few will have been more satisfying than Saturday’s two rounds in front of a large crowd at the OLG Caledon Equestrian Park.

The size of the occasion certainly spooked Quick Z, who is “still a baby” according to Nisbett.

Since Thursday’s second round of qualifying, Nisbett and Quick Z have repeated the same merry little dance prior to entering the competition ring.

At first Quick Z shows his reluctance to venture beyond the entrance gate with a series of agitated movements before having to be amusingly backed into the ring by a persuasive Nisbett.

Sensing all eyes are on them, Quick Z then starts to rear as nerves, fear and anxiety begin to take hold. And then a strange thing happens.

After a few gentle whispers in his ear and pats on the back by Nisbett, a calmness washes over him and Quick Z transforms into a focused, determined horse who is ready to jump.

It is a rather dramatic routine that Nisbett has no issues with while his horse is still developing.

“For the minute, the [entrances] are no problem for me,” said Nisbett, who finished with 13 penalty points from the two final medal rounds.

“If we have to enter that way, we have to enter that way. I don’t fight with him and let him take his time. I’m really happy with him and he’s done himself proud.”

Nisbett has no doubt that Quick Z, who is just nine years old, will have grown in maturity from experiencing his first major international competition.

“He can jump, that’s for sure,” Nisbett said. “He needs more experience, but the ridability is coming now. When you look at him without his tack on he looks like a baby in his body.”

Quick Z was aged just five with just two competitions under his belt when Nisbett “felt he had no choice but to buy him”.

“It’s a different feeling for it me because Quick is a horse we have had from scratch and it feels very rewarding for me,” he said.

“I’ve had better rankings, but as far as the total picture goes this is a high moment.”

Concerned about his tender years, Nisbett nearly opted against exposing Quick Z to the Pan Am Games and considered travelling to Toronto with another horse, Farah van Klapscheut, instead.

But after Quick Z’s impressive final-round displays, Nisbett said he was delighted with his “fifty-fifty” decision.

“We had two horses qualified [for Pan Am] and the other is a year older,” said Nisbett, who only just scrapped into the first medal round with 17 penalties from the three qualifiers.

“It was a real toss-up, but on the final day we decided to go with Quick. In the back of my head I thought it may be a touch too early, but I have to say I’m glad be came.”

“I dug up the video of when he first went into the ring with me the other day; he jumped then too.”

Jill Terceira and her mount Tamerino missed out on reaching the final medal round, finishing tied in 30th position in the first round on Saturday morning with 20 penalties. The top 20 riders advanced the afternoon stage when the podium places were decided.

“I felt he was a little bit empty with his jump and it was a bit disappointing because he is a good, experienced horse,” Terceira said.

“He took over a little bit and he’s a big horse and it was difficult for me to get back under control.”

Terceira, a two-times Olympian, said the Pam Am Games would probably be Tamerino’s last major competition.

“He’s 15 now and I think this will be his last big thing,” she said. “But if he still stays healthy he will do some normal international competitions.”

Heidi Mello, the chef d’equipe, said the final two rounds had been particularly tough given that both courses had been of Olympic standards.

“It was a new format for the Pan Am Games and the fences [1.65 metres] were higher than we normally go,” she said.

“There’s no question that was an Olympic track which asked a lot of questions.”

Mello said she was delighted with Quick Z’s showing at the Games.

“I was very impressed with Quick; he didn’t repeat his mistakes and is a very intelligent horse,” she said.

“I think he looked after the rider as much as the rider looked after him.

“He’s a super horse and Patrick has taken his time with. He doesn’t fight with him, they work it out and their relationship is building quite strong.”

Ward Mclain and Rothchild, of the United States, won the gold medal in a two-way jump off with Andres Rodriguez and Darlon Van Groenhove, of Venezuela.

Lauren Hough, of the US, on OhLaLa, won a five-horse jump-off for bronze.