'He looked after me on my road to recovery': Aussie equestrian veteran Shane Rose's emotional tribute to horse

Australian equestrian veteran Shane Rose teared up while paying tribute to Virgil, the 19-year-old horse he rode around an Olympic course for the last time at the Paris Games.

"You're going to make me cry," Rose told Nine's Matthew Pavlich at the famed Palace of Versailles, before the tears started flowing.

"It's pretty good ... Sorry.

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"He's a freak. I spent 13 years with him. More than that, 15 years with him. You know, an hour a day, every day for 15 years. It's a good relationship."

The 51-year-old said Virgil was one of the main factors that helped him recover from a nasty training fall to get out of ICU and into Paris in less than five months, defying medical expectations.

He was thrown from a young horse he was training called Bandit and broke 18 bones in an accident he has no memory of.

He then had multiple operations and had to learn how to walk again.

"He's the reason I was pretty keen to get back out here," Rose said of his horse.

"He looked after me on my road to recovery. Look, I guess reflecting on that now, it's pretty cool."

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Earlier this year, Rose made headlines when he wore a Borat-inspired mankini at a fancy-dress showjumping event.

Some were horrified, including Australian Sports Commission chief executive Kieren Perkins, but others loved the antics and, in their eyes, he had become a cult hero.

Rose and Virgil were part of the Australian eventing team that won silver in Tokyo.