February 24, 2025 
MTM Vivre Le Reve doesn’t have a great poker face. When he comes to the ring amped to compete, Brian Moggre says, he’s not exactly subtle about it.
“I knew he was game tonight,” Moggre said after his win in the CSI4* Florida Coast Equipment Grand Prix at the World Equestrian Center (WEC) Ocala. “He was whinnying down the ramp as we were going in.”
After nearly a decade together, you best believe that the American rider knows his gelding’s moods inside and out. After all, Moggre was 15 when he first imported the now-16-year-old Westphalian to compete in the junior jumper divisions.
After graduating to the international level together, the pair earned nearly €360,500 during their best competition year to date in 2019. That season, Moggre and “Erkel” took home two FEI World Cup Jumping qualifiers: the 3* at Live Oak in Ocala in March, and the 4* in Lexington, Kentucky in November. They also earned multiple podium finishes, including a second place in the 5* Grand Prix in Saugerties, New York.
According to Jumpr stats, in 2019, the pair finished in the top 10 at a 53% clip in 15 rounds at 1.60m, improving to 71% in both clears and top 10 finishes in seven rounds at 1.55m. Solid stats, to be sure. But 2019 also marked Moggre and Erkel’s last Grand Prix win together—until recently.
In October, the duo took home the 3* Silo Ridge Masters Grand Prix. A month earlier, they were second in the 4* 1.55m Blue Diamond Cup in North Salem, NY; in January, they placed seventh in the Saturday Night Lights 4* Grand Prix in Wellington.
And, this weekend, during Week VI at WEC Ocala, they longtime partners once again came to play—and with the whinny to prove it. “Even in the leave-outs on the last two lines, I kept galloping, because if I had to slow down, that’s where I’d lose time,” Moggre said of the jump-off course designed by Colm Quinn (IRL).
Only seven horses from in field of 21 moved on to the shortened course, where Aaron Vale (USA) and Gray’s Inn took a short-lived lead on 36.39 seconds. Next in the ring, Moggre and Erkel shaped their turns while keeping up a blistering pace, finishing just three-hundredths of a second faster. Daniel Coyle and Farrel were third on 36.41 seconds.
It’s a finish that’s on par with their performances over the last six months, when Moggre and Erkel have competed 13 rounds at 1.50m and higher at 53.6% clear rate. At two rounds at 1.60m, they’re clear at 50%; in seven round at 1.50m, that number jumps to 86%.
By the numbers, there’s a case to be make that Erkel jumping as well as he ever has—even if, at 16, he’s competing fewer rounds than he has in the past. “He’s the kindest, sweetest horse I’ve ever had,” Moggre said.
“He’s my horse of a lifetime, and he continues to surprise me every day.”
