Bermudian international show jumper, Patrick Nesbitt, believes he has just qualified a second horse for the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Kentucky later this year while competing on the Sunshine Tour in Spain.

Nesbitt has been in Spain since early February and left this week with his horses for the long trek to Munich, Germany where he is moving to from his base in southern England.

And the Bermudian rider is also hoping to qualify a third horse for the WEG in Kentucky so he doesn't get in the position he was in before the Beijing Olympics when he had to pull out after an injury to his big, rangy mare Antille.

"I do not want to be in the same predicament as I was before the Olympics where I had all my eggs in one basket and then he gets injured and I end up not going," said Nesbitt this week.

The second horse to qualify for October's WEG is Cantaro who has been a revelation to Nesbitt this year.

"I have had him for three or four years – I bought him as a seven year old so he is still young for show jumping. Last year I jumped him in only a couple of two star Grand Prixs – nothing major – about 1.45 metres. Last year he was also suffering from a shoulder injury which set him back a bit. But this year he really stepped up to the plate.

"He has been on good form for the whole time (in Spain). This is his first year of stepping up and consistently jumping at the three star or Grand Prix level and he has been in fantastic form even though some of the results do not reflect that.

"My phone has been ringing off the hook from people wanting to buy him after watching what he did in Spain. I have had offers left, right and centre for him."

One of the last events of the Sunshine Tour on the weekend was the six bar competition which is all about power jumping. There are six fences all in a straight line with two strides apart.

Nesbitt said: "The first fence is 1.35 metres and the two strides later it goes to 1.45, then 1.50, 1.55 and so on. It is six verticals in a row and he had never been in one before."

And the six bar competition was also in the main big ring. "I only took him into that so that he could get some experience of competition in the main ring. And he jumped phenomenal – not great, not fantastic – but phenomenal! We were tied with (world renown English rider) Robert Whitaker who was on Finbar who has a great record of winning six bars. Cantaro jumped two metres and tied for first – and all those watching said he did so easily – many said they had not seen a horse jump that easily for a long time. He had room to spare over the jump."

Nesbitt said that Cantaro is now learning to compete with confidence and "not making a mistake from nervousness".

Cantaro qualified for the WEG last weekend in the four star competition where he had four faults and finished 11th. "It was a big track and there were initially 78 starters but a number pulled out because the course was tough. But I decided to give it a go and he jumped phenomenal but had a bit of bad luck when his back foot just touched the tape on the water jump. But he was superb – it was a big course and he did it easily."

And Nesbitt also took along his 10-year-old stallion Milton to Spain.

"He is coming into form. I have had him for about a year and have had some good placings with him in the 1.45 metre (classes). I think that the whole time I have been down here he has only put down two or three fences."

Most of the faults from Milton have had to do with time.

Nesbitt said: "He not ready to be fast yet. But he will be as good as Cantaro and maybe this year if he comes along well I will be able to qualify him for Kentucky. The cut off date is in July and my backup plan is to get him qualified."

As for moving to Munich, Germany is concerned, Nesbitt said he is excited after being based in England for over a decade.

"For competing in shows is will make things far easier. It is more centrally based especially when you are competing in places like Italy and Austria."

As for Antille he said: "She is back in England resting. But soon she will get back to work. I plan to start with her in May. She was not fit enough to come to Spain so that is also one of the seasons why I was so happy with Cantaro and Milton.

"She has already qualified for the WEG so you have to plan the year around that. It doesn't make sense to start her year off too early – let her take some time off and relax and feel fresh and when we come back to work we will start rolling."

Antille qualified for the WEG last year in Portugal when the mare finished in fourth place at the Villamoura Grand Prix.

The Sunshine Tour attracts some of the best riders in the world eager to get started outdoors early in the season.

This will have been Nesbitt's fourth trip to the Tour although he did skip it for the last couple of years.

The Sunshine Tour is in Vejer de la Frontera in the province of Cadiz, Andalusia.