For many riders, it can take years to put the pieces of a partnership together with a new mount. For Richard Vogel, it took five weeks.
On Sunday, the German show jumper took WEF Premier Week at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington by storm, winning the Adequan® WEF Challenge Cup Premiere Round with Levi Noesar on Thursday, and the $75,000 WEF Premiere Grand Prix with Event De L’Heribus on Sunday.
And if back-to-back victories weren’t enough to announce the World’s #6-ranked rider is now officially stateside—where he plans to base for the remainder of the winter season—there’s also the small matter of the win, itself. Vogel and Event De L’Heribus, known as “Sven” in the barn, have only been together for a little over a month.
“I’m very excited about our future with him,” said Vogel. “It’s a super way to start the season and a spectacular way to begin our partnership.”
But Vogel’s been a fan of the 10-year-old German-bred gelding for a while now, having purchased an earlier horse from the Berger family in South Germany, where he was found, a year ago. It was during that transaction that Vogel first saw Sven, who has been produced up the ranks by Sabrina Berger since his 8-year-old season.
“In the stall I could see that he was smart. I knew him from videos and followed the horse quite a bit, but they weren’t ready to sell,” Vogel explained. “I went back two months ago to try him and the feeling was very good.
“In the stable, [Sven] looks heavy, but under the saddle he gets quite modern,” Vogel continued. “If you see him without a saddle, you almost think it’s an old-fashioned type, but he has so much blood and is so intelligent. I think that’s what makes him special.”
On Sunday, Sven’s “special” talents were on display when he and Vogel bested 12 combinations on course designer Eric Hasbrouck (USA)’s jump-off track, stopping the clock at 34.086 seconds, pipping Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and Gilona AO on 34.24 seconds. American rider Jacqueline Ruyle rounded out the podium with Cyramo Z on 35.065 seconds.
According to Vogel, Sven’s two years under Sabrina Berger laid the foundation for his successful transition to German Olympian’s string. “Sabrina did a super job with him; brought him up very well so that we can take over the reins and straight away have success. That’s a nice feeling and a compliment to their work also,” he said.
Event De L’Heribus is just one of a handful of up-and-coming mounts Vogel is likely to campaign at Wellington International this season. Another one to watch: His partner of just under a year, the newly 9-year-old KWPN stallion Levi Noesar.
Not only Vogel and Levi Noesar kick off the new year with a win in the WEF Challenge Cup on January 2, they took home the 1.55m Big Ben International Challenge at the Royal Horse Show in Toronto in November.
According to Jumpr, the stallion is also the winningest 9-year-old horse in 2024 by prize money, raking in a cool €77,476 in the last 365 days, just head of Kevin Staut’s (FRA) Vida Loca Z with €71,364.