A horse that has reached the very top of the international show jumping world has been awarded the title of ‘Holsteiner of the Month’ for October. The horse in question is Cloudio, another successful son of the ‘breeder of the century’ Casall, out of a Cassini I dam.

Cloudio was born at Heike Ahrend’s stud in Sollwitt and hails from the Holsteiner line 5889. However, before the grey came to his current rider, Richard Vogel, he had already had several other trainers. Until the end of his third year, he was stabled with Jana Wargers, who developed him from show jumping classes right through to his first international young horse competitions. After spells with Laura Hetzel and Tobias Kuhlage, Cloudio moved to Richard Vogel last year. The pair quickly grew into a world-class partnership, securing placings in Frankfurt, ’s-Hertogenbosch and La Baule. In the Prix de l’Europe at the CHIO in Aachen in July, the pair finished fourth over 1.60 metres. Their first major victory together came in early September at the CSIO5* in Spruce Meadows, Canada, when they excelled in a challenging 1.60-metre show jumping class: As one of seven pairs out of around 60 entrants, they progressed to the jump-off – and left the competition trailing behind them.

“Cloudio is a fantastic horse; we’re a good match. We haven’t been a pair for very long and he doesn’t have that much experience at this level yet. But I feel he’s getting better and better,” says Richard Vogel, describing the Holsteiner’s progress.

Photo: Stefan Lafrentz