July 25, 2024 
The concept of nominative determinism was first coined in an issue of The New Scientist back in 1994.
Basically, it means that individuals gravitate toward areas of work that fit their surnames.
British writer Daniel Snowman, who chronicled polar explorations in his book, Pole Positions, is one example. Sigmund Freud, the famed psychologist who studied pleasure (among other things), and whose surname translates to “joy” in German, is another.
And while no one has yet suggested that this concept could be extended to include Olympic horse-and-rider combinations, if they did, they might consider starting with Ecuador’s Ronald Zabala-Goetschel and the-very-aptly-named, Forever Young Wundermaske.
At age 57 and 21, respectively, Zabala-Goetschel and Forever Young are the most senior combination in eventing in Paris this summer. But this won’t be the first championship appearance for the pair, who competed as Individuals at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon in 2018. That competition made Zabala-Goetschel the first athlete from Ecuador ever to compete at a WEG.
The Quito-born rider is also an Olympic veteran, becoming the first Ecuadorian athlete to compete in eventing at the London Games in 2012 aboard Master Boy. Born second in a family of seven children, Zabala-Goetschel has said he was always ‘horse crazy,’ opting to make horse sounds at age three instead of talking.
He went on to earn a business degree at Boston University in the States and, in addition to riding, he continues to operate a variety of diversified companies (including previous ventures in saddle- and riding boot-making) in Ecuador and beyond.
Zabala-Goetschel has been paired with “Patchito” since 2016. The Irish Sport Horse gelding began his career under the USA’s Sharon White, with whom he competed up to the CCI4* level—including a clear run around the Kentucky Three-Day cross-country back in 2014. The pair finished 23rd overall.
Patchito and Zabala-Goetschel finished 21st this year in the CCIO4*-NC-S in Avenches, Switzerland. Last fall, they were 8th at the CCI4*-S in Fairburn, Georgia. According to Zabala-Goetschel’s Instagram, the pair were unable to gain enough points in 2019 to qualify for Tokyo in 2020/2021 after the Ecuadorian rider was injured, twice, in falls off another horse early that year.
At 21, Forever Young will be one year older than the most senior eventing horse at Tokyo, Chinese rider Thomas Heffernan Ho’s Tayberry, then 20. But he will be far from the only venerable equine competitor in Paris.
Jérôme Guery’s (BEL) Quel Homme de Hus, and Peder Fredricson’s (SWE) Catch Me Not S are considered competitive entries in show jumping at the age of 18. Meanwhile, the 17-year-old Dalera BB, currently ranked at no. 1 in the world with German dressage rider Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, will be vying for back-to-back team and individual Olympic gold medals.
“No horse of mine deserves more than him to compete at this Olympics !! He never gets sick… never has had an injury in his life… never calls in sick (hahaha). He is always there for me,” Zabala-Goetschel wrote of Patchito on Instagram.
“Thanking GOD every day for letting me be part of the story of this amazing horse.”
Watch Zabala-Goetschel and Forever Young Wundermaske prove that age is just a number when they take center stage in Paris on Saturday, July 27, during the opening day of eventing dressage competition. Here’s how to watch!
