Over two more spectacular rounds on Sunday, Germany’s Richard Vogel and stallion United Touch S maintained the lead they had established on Thursday to top the podium at the Longines FEI Jumping European Championship ahead of Great Britain’s Scott Brash with Hello Folie in silver, and Belgium’s Gilles Thomas and Ermitage Kalone in bronze.
This was Germany’s 16th individual title in the history of the Championship that dates back to 1957, and 28-year-old Vogel has entered his name onto the roll of honour that includes many German legends including three-in-a-row champion Paul Schockemöhle, and Vogel’s former boss, Ludger Beerbaum.
Big courses
Course designer Santiago Varela (ESP) presented two more big courses, but such was the calibre of horses at this championship that 18 of the 25 starters jumped clear first time out, and 10 of the 12 that returned for the final round were also foot-perfect once again.
“The level was fantastic!”, Varela said, and he was so right. He steadily increased the challenge during the week and the horses just kept rising to that challenge with every round.
As the action began with the top-25 Sunday afternoon there was no room for error, with less than a fence between the leading 13 combinations.
The top three places belonged to Vogel followed by Brash, with defending champion Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat in third. But the latter saw his medal chances slip away at the very last fence this time out with Albfuehren’s Iashin Sitte, which allowed Gilles Thomas to move into bronze medal position.
It was still agonisingly close in the second and final round with the top seven all within a fence of the leader. So when Ireland’s Darragh Kenny and Eddy Blue, who were lying seventh, went clear they put the pressure on the remaining six.
Germany’s Sophie Hinner and Iron Dames My Prins followed suit, then 22-year-old Irishman Seamus Hughes Kennedy did likewise with ESI Rocky and Britain’s Ben Maher and Dallas Vegas Batilly were faultless, forcing the top three to hold their nerve if they were to make it onto the podium.
Spectacular
Thomas’s Ermitage Kalone had been spectacular all week, and again simply soared around the track which had been reduced to just 10 fences this time. Brash’s rounds with Hello Folie have been electrifying, as the feisty chestnut mare has battled bravely but with little regard for her rider’s instructions at times. However once again they brought it home to a roar of excited relief as they crossed the line.
And then in came Vogel with the extraordinary United Touch S whose sheer size is his only real complication. Adjusting this magnificent horse with his big stride through short distances is the greatest challenge that Vogel faces, and the last line was always going to test them. Varela set a triple combination of vertical to vertical with water tray and finally an oxer which was followed by a skinny vertical and then finally an oxer off a right-handed bend.
The crowd gasped when the stallion rattled the final element of the combination, and again when he tapped the timber at the last, but the poles all stayed in place and it was time for big German celebrations.
Second podium
For Gilles Thomas it was his second podium of the week after gold for Belgium in Friday’s team final.
“Before I came here, I was hoping for a medal, especially with the team. And then after the team competition my horse felt very good so I started to believe in another medal. Coming home with two medals is a dream. I always dreamed of having a medal in a big championship – and now I have two!” said the delighted 27-year-old individual bronze medallist who was already a gold medallist at both Children and Junior level before moving into the senior sport.
He talked about the relationship he has with the very handsome 11-year-old chestnut stallion with the dreamy jump. “I started with him when he was just three, so we’ve really grown up together. I think I met him and he made me. He’s been a life changer for me – like everything he’s done already for me and now to be here at the Europeans, it’s really made me step up and that’s only possible thanks to him I have to say.
“It’s a very great trust I have in him in him. I’ve never had it with any other horse before. I think really this year it’s coming together even more than last year… it feels like we can go in and we know exactly what to do,” said the young man who is trained by fellow-Belgian Niels Bruynseels.
“Niels has been guiding me throughout the years. Of course, I’ve had a lot of support at home as well but Niels has really helped me in all ways along the track, not just the riding,” he pointed out.
Dramatic fashion
Brash knows a thing or two about podium placings, but few have been earned in a more dramatic fashion than they have been this week in Spain. The double Olympic team champion’s heroics onboard Hello Folie have kept spectators on the edges of their seats every time they entered the arena, and Sunday again was no exception. Because Folie, as his 10-year-old chestnut mare is known, just doesn’t “do” waiting. Brash has had to find a way to negotiate with her as she wants to rush at all her fences, but shows extraordinary ability when she gets there. Losing his reins going into the triple combination, but somehow still getting through it, in last Thursday’s competition will go down as one of those unforgettable moments in championship jumping.
“She’s very excitable and keen to get on with the job, she doesn’t want me to tell her what to do at times. It’s about trying to find that fine line, that fine balance so that I can put her in the right spot. She’s just super-keen, she has a massive engine behind, so much power behind and is a little bit on her head then so – she knows she’s good, she’s like a small pony, a bit greedy, quite lazy, so we have to talk to each other to find a compromise!” he explained.
Asked to describe his week, Brash said this evening: “It’s been eventful, and I was glad I managed to keep all the reins [Sunday]! She’s just showed the world how talented she is. I’ve always felt that she’s going to be a top, top horse. But until they actually come and do it this level, you don’t really know. But she’s certainly proved that more this week. So I’m delighted with that”.
Despite all the previous drama, he said he was happy to face into Sunday’s two final rounds. “I was happy with the second team round class on Friday. She just felt really good. After having the drama the day before, to bounce back and jump around like nothing had happened, it felt very good and gave me a lot of confidence going into [the Final]. But I didn’t know what this man (Santiago Varela) was going to build. These are certainly the biggest courses she’s jumped so far in her life. I think it’s been a great championship to look after a young horse. I feel like she’s grown up through the week. She’s certainly going to use this championship to grow for the future I think,” added the 39-year-old Scotsman.
Newly-crowned champion
Newly-crowned champion Vogel could hardly have been happier.
“I think everyone knows United Touch probably also prior to this week and everyone knows how amazing he is. But when we first started, his enormous stride and enormous scope was for sure a big strength of him, but also in the same moment a kind of weakness, because in those technical courses and now in this championship, just everything got asked from those horses. There are always some lines where we have to shorten our strides, where he needs to slow down, and some short doubles where he needs to use his body and put his stride together. For him that’s certainly not easy, but I’m just so happy how he managed that. When we were able to, we tried to leave some strides out, but as I said, we couldn’t do it everywhere, especially in the doubles where he really needs to slow down. But he jumped amazing and performed better than I could wish for!”
Talking about the final few fences where his stallion rattled the poles, he said: “The last line was really not so easy for us, and we also had the luck on our side I would say! The right lead is not his strong side, so coming home towards the in-gate he always gets a bit more stride, plus it’s on the right lead, which is his weaker side. But he managed it perfectly, and I’m just very relieved and so happy and proud of him.”
He’s very aware that United Touch has his own real star quality that draws attention wherever he goes. “That obviously is something very nice. It’s a nice feeling that so many people are following him, are attracted by him, are so encouraged by him,” Vogel said. His biggest fan however is possibly his groom, Felicia Wallin, around whose neck he placed his gold medal during the prize-giving ceremony, and who will be hacking the new European champion steed around the forest at his home in Gestut Prinzenberg in Pfungstadt tomorrow to relax after his triumphant championship victory.
Source: FEI press release
