HOY Nominee: Colestus Cambridge

Longines EEF Series Newsroom

Report: Eleanore Kelly
Images: Yadel Mohler Photography

Katharina Rhomberg’s lovely grey has been on top form in this season’s Longines EEF Series.  This no doubt encouraged selectors to include him on the Austrian team at the Paris Olympics last week, where he is one of the youngest horses in the field. The nine-year-old Westphalian gelding is by Colestus and his dam Chantal is by Cambridge 8.

His rider, Katharina Rhomberg couldn’t be happier with him;

“He is just an incredible horse. I think in he is the smartest horse I have ever ridden and he learns everything so fast. We bought him a six-year-old and I did some small shows and then some youngster trials and we just got higher and higher.  It was difficult to not jump him too high, too quickly because he was doing everything always perfectly. If we taught him anything in training he could just always do it. The other horses need some training to learn and he was always like “ok I can do this” then we move onto the next thing. If you ride him, the more difficult it gets, the more excited he is for the challenge. If it is too easy, he is not so focused and bucking around. If he gets a big challenge then he is really ‘on’.”

Making his Series debut last year in Bratislava, the combination arrived in strong spirits to Mannheim earlier this season. Two faultless rounds showed Colli’s strength and scope, which was followed up by another impressive performance at the semi-finals in Budapest in which just 1 time fault was accrued.

“As a character he would be a very social person. I have never seen him putting his ears back. He likes everyone and he likes every horse. He is very easy to handle and if you do something with him he is always motivated. He is always very friendly and want you to scratch him. He enjoys his food, he likes going to the field and he enjoys going for a hack” added Katharina.

The stunning grey has proven a real horse of a lifetime not just for Katharina, but his owner Gerhard Rauch too. “He is a very happy, unconcerned and likeable horse. If you watch him jumping in a playful way. He brings a lot of joy to us! I see him as an extraordinary talent and I am sure we will have a lot of joy and success with him the future.”

Colli is looked after by long term groom Julia Strauss who was forced to watch some of his early season success from home after an injury but still proved to big their biggest supporter, now enjoying the journey to Paris with this special horse. “For the age of nine he is already very experienced and has always given a good performance  at the bigger classes. He is a really lovely, uncomplicated horse. In the course he is so clever, always motivated and careful”.