OCALA, Fla,--Richard Vogel of Germany on Cardentos, a new ride, won the $65,000 Grand Prix CSI2* on Sunday, Feb. 15 at the World Equestrian Center.
Richie Vogel on Cardentos (Photo by Andrew Ryback)A field of 37 competed over a course designed by Bernardo Costa Cabral of Portugal, with 11 going clean, seven of which were also clean in the jump-off.
It was a very tight jump-off, with the top five times all within one second.
Vogel was clean in 32.44 seconds to win, with Vaclav Stanek of Czechoslovakia on Langley second in 32.52 seconds, and Mark Bluman of Colombia on Hastella third in 34.54, just two one-hundredths of a second back.
This was the first FEI competition for Vogel on Cardentos after first competing three weeks ago in a national competition.
“Cardentos is a very exciting addition to our string of horses,” said Vogel of the nine-year-old Holsteiner stallion. “He felt very good today. I think with him, it's just about giving him confidence. He has a lot of quality, and I'm super happy with the result today."
“He wants to be very, very careful, so I don't have to protect too much,” he said. “I can really focus on having good foot speed and almost, in a way, attack the jumps. I think that was a good advantage today that I could keep going everywhere.”
“THAT'S VERY rare that you can bring so many horses to gain that much experience in such a great facility with perfect conditions, the environment, and the ambience like we find here,” he said. “It's probably one of the very few places in the world, so we're very glad we can come here and take this opportunity.”
Out of the 12 horses that Vogel has recorded results on in FEI competition, eight of them are stallions.
Vogel said that he doesn’t specifically seek out stallions, but that “they seem to find us.”
His team has devised a good system to keep them all happy, knowing they require more specific care to keep them relaxed and settled.
For Cardentos, that means twice-daily “strolls” around the show between riding and competing to greet everyone he encounters.
“He's very happy to talk also,” said Vogel of the handsome grey horse. “Every time he comes out of the stable, he says hello to everyone; every time he enters the arena, he also says hello to everyone. He’s easy to handle, and he’s a very kind horse. I think that’s what makes him so great. He's a very positive horse and always likes to give his best.”
