January 11, 2026 
Poetry in motion.
Masters at work.
Excellence in action.
When Richie Vogel and and United Touch S saunter into the ring and execute the kind of jump off round they did at CHI Basel on Sunday, you just know you’re witnessing greatness in real time.
The 2025 European individual champions embody all the attributes riders strive for in show jumping. Perfect harmony. Pure partnership. Invisible aids. It’s like they’re of one mind, skipping across the arena and making deceptively light work of the world’s most challenging tracks.
Like they did in the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva and Nations Cup Finals in 2023. And in Lyon and Stuttgart in 2024. And in their record-setting European Championships finish in 2025. And this weekend in Basel, Switzerland.
“He has such a good character, a true fighter,” Vogel described his horse of a lifetime.
Since taking over the reins on the 14-year-old Westphalian—United Touch S was originally meant for Germany’s Sophie Hinners—Vogel has shaped the stallion’s Secretariat-sized stride (read: extraordinary) into a light-footed accordion of effortless adjustability.
In Basel, they were the penultimate pair to return in the seven-horse jump off for the FEI Jumping World Cup. Dropping strides with ease, they were already a full second faster at the split time after slicing an “eye watering” angle to the Emmental cheese wall at fence 16, to cross the timers in 40.12 seconds. It wasn’t even close. Friday’s Grand Prix winners Kim Emmen and Imagine N.O.P finished second in 41.55.
But this win came with one notable difference from jump offs past: Vogel ditched their loose-ring bit in favor of a hackamore on recommendation (and loan) by reigning World Cup champion Julien Epaillard. Epaillard routinely competes his top horses in a bitless bridle.
“I was happy that I won the game today, but I’m very grateful to [Julien]!” said Vogel.
If their JO round was awe-inspiring (it was), their Jumpr stats are even more so.
Over the past year, Vogel and United Touch advanced to the jump off in 50% of their 1.60m starts. When they do, they’re all but assured to podium, landing in the top three in 83% of those JOs—and invariably on the top step. Of their 8 podium finishes in the past 365 days, five are wins, including four at the 1.60m height.
Sunday’s World Cup victory capped a banner week in Basel for Vogel who also took home 5* wins on Phenyo van het Keysersbos and Diamant de Casall. He sits atop the Western European League standings with 56 points, ahead of Willem Greve (NED) on 52 and Julien Epaillard (FRA) on 46.
Five stops remain in the Western European League. The World Cup heads to Leipzig, GER next weekend, January 15–18. Tickets for the FEI World Cup Final in Fort Worth, TX this April are on sale now at fortworth2026.com.
