Ronald Zabala Goetschel and Forever Young Wundermaske. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
One of the most incredible facets of equestrian sports remains the fact that they are, in many ways, ageless and nondiscriminatory toward elder athletes, both two- and four-legged. This year in Paris, the oldest horse across disciplines is 21 years old, making a new record as the oldest horse in the Olympics.
Many U.S. eventing fans will recall the name Wundermaske as a former CCI5* partner of Sharon White, earning two top-25 finishes at the then-4* level at Kentucky and Pau under her tutelage. Now, competing under the recently designated moniker Forever Young Wundermaske, “Patch” is set to make his Olympic debut this weekend in Paris with Ecuador’s Ronald Zabala Goetschel.
Sharon White and Wundermaske. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Truth be told, the Olympics weren’t necessarily on the plan for the Oldenburg gelding bred in the U.S. by Tracy Barbeito (he’s also the sole U.S.-bred horse in the Olympic field this year!). In fact, Ronald had tried to retire the gelding twice before, not due to injury but simply because he was getting older and Ronald had some younger horses to focus on. And also — Patch simply didn’t want to sit in a paddock.
“He has never had an injury — never pulled a tendon or a ligament, not even a common cold,” Ronald told me. “When I tried to retire him, he would just run his paddock.”
Ronald did try to qualify for Tokyo, but with the postponement and also a slew of injuries to contend with, including a concussion, the Olympics weren’t meant to be for Patch. As Ronald prepared to travel to Europe from his home base in Florida as he sought qualification for Paris, his team made a suggestion. Why not bring Patch along?
“I had retired him again and I was going in September of 2022 to buy horses, and my groom started telling me, why don’t you bring Patch?,” he said.
And so Ronald’s grand European adventure began, starting with a flight from Miami in February to Holland, where he spent two weeks. Since then, he’s traveled to Italy, Poland, Germany, and Switzerland, competing his string of horses which also includes Charly van ter Heiden, the former ride of and 5* winner for Britain’s Mollie Summerland. Charly was originally intended to be Ronald’s horse for Paris, but an untimely bout of ulcers meant the horse would not be able to obtain sufficient qualification. Ronald’s other horses were a bit too inexperienced to shoot for Paris, and so the torch once more fell to Wundermaske.
Ronald Zabala Goetschel and Wundermaske (ECU). Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
“Out of my three horses, it would be whoever was feeling the best that would go to Paris,” he explained. “The mare I had, she is only turning nine in April and so I didn’t want to put the additional pressure on her. There was no favorite, though Charly would have been my most competitive horse maybe. Patch with the new rules had to do a confirmation event, so we did that at Sopot [Poland] in May and had a clear round there. Patch deserves this. He has qualified for three Olympics now.”
How do you keep a horse that’s been going at this level sound for so long? For Ronald, it comes down to selection of events and when to run. “I withdraw a lot,” he said. “Because I go and if I don’t like the footing — too wet or too hard — I don’t compete. I am not a commercial rider, so if the ground is not good I don’t feel obligations to compete.”
Ronald also described his training regimen with Patch, which at this point in his career doesn’t involve a lot of hard, intensive training. “He goes to the walker and trots on good footing,” he explained. “And we have a pool when we’re in Pennsylvania or he goes swimming in Ocala. I ride him a few times a week, I pretty much never jump — maybe once a month. He knows his job. I keep him happy. I will gallop him every five days when it’s time for competition, and if not I will just keep riding him like normal and making sure he is on good footing and he stays sound.”
One has only to watch Ronald’s latest cross country round at Avenches (Switzerland) to see this intentional preparation pay off with a smooth and clear trip. It’s left Ronald feeling as prepared as ever for what lies ahead.
WUNDERMASKE – “PATCHITO” – TO PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS !!
At 21 years young confirms his qualification to the Paris 2024 Olympics!
My amazing Patchito is always there for me. Has qualified for 3 Olympics:
– Rio 2016 Olympics – didn’t compete because of politics – no fault of his own.
– Tokyo 2020 – 2021 Olympics – didn’t compete much in 2019, the qualifying year, and could not get enough points to earn the Olympic spot as I got injured twice falling off of another horse in March and spent 3 months in bed with a concussion. Then on August on my second fall, my left hip was destroyed and could not ride well to get points – no fault of Patchito.
– Paris 2024 – qualifies and gets enough points to compete at this Olympics.
No other horse of mine deserves more than him to compete at this Olympics !! He never gets sick… never has had an injury in his life… never calls in sick (hahaha). He is always there for me !!
Thanking GOD everyday for letting me be part of the story of this amazing horse.
THANK YOU – THANK YOU – THANK YOU PATCHITO !!
Posted by Ronald Zabala Goetschel on Saturday, June 29, 2024
“I’m going to be honest, we have jumped so many big, technical courses here in Europe so I think we are very prepared,” he said. “With Patch I only competed twice, at Sopot and Avenches, and with the other horses I did more. I think I am readier than ever. I’ve never been that ready for a competition, and Patch is feeling fantastic. Adding in the gallops on the hills of England has him feeling super fit.”
The Games will be a special and a bittersweet one for Ronald, who has confirmed that this will be his one of his final major eventing competitions as he will then switch to focus on dressage. The decision comes out of a desire to spend more time with his 19 month old son, Ronito (who is also a huge fan of Patch himself).
“He is the love of my life,” Ronald said of his son. “After this, I will just focus on the Bolivarian Games in Peru in 2025, which will be my last competition in eventing. This is a dangerous sport. I want to be here for my son always. It’s been hard because I’ve been away for six months. I talk with him every day. And he will have these pictures when he grows up so he knows I was always thinking about him. He changed my life.”
Ronald Zabala Goestchel and Forever Young Wundermaske. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
That being said, the Olympic dream will remain alive and well for Ronald, who says he’d love to get to the Los Angeles Games in 2028 in dressage. He also plans to get back into show jumping, as he did compete at the Grand Prix level before switching full-time to eventing. With dressage, though, he could conceivably compete and qualify for an Olympics on the U.S. circuit, whereas with show jumping he would potentially have to travel overseas more.
As for his goals for Wundermaske this weekend, Ronald remains realistic but positive. “Patch is not the best horse in dressage. He’s not built to do it,” he explained. “He’s about 76 percent Thoroughbred, so it’s difficult. I need to ride him very carefully and tactfully, and I can’t put too much pressure on him. However in 2020 when I brought him back, he gave me a 29 at four-star, so if he has a good day and is relaxed he can give me a good test. This test is very difficult, it’s very fast. So we’ve been working on it and I will do the best I can with him. But I’m sure he will give me his heart as always.”
Catching up with Ronald after his test in Paris, which earned him a score of 37.7, which is relatively consistent with this pair’s typical scores, he was pleased with his efforts and already focused on the cross country task at hand. For his part, “Patchito” tried to spin his way back up the ramp after the test — “he says, ‘where’s the cross country??’,” Ronald laughed — as if to further prove that age is just a number.
Dale Clabaugh and Wundermaske share some bonding time. Photo courtesy of Dale Clabaugh.
Making the weekend all the more special is the fact that one of Patch’s original connections, Dale Clabaugh, will be in attendance to watch. Dale actually bred Patch for herself originally, working with Tracy Barbeito to produce a horse that she could ride and compete herself.
“I wanted a foal by Weltbekannt, a Hanoverian stallion owned by Suzanne Quarles of SomeDaySoon Farm,” Dale told me. “My friend, Tracy, wanted to purchase a Thoroughbred mare to expand her breeding program from Quarter Horses to Appendix Quarter Horses, and we collaborated on tis breeding so that I would have a foal I wanted. An unexpected divorce changed my plans, and I gave Wundermaske to Sharon White as a gift. I was blessed with an amazing horse who has been a blessing to both Sharon and Ronald. His talents would have been wasted on me, but I am living the dream with my dear pony.”
“We are very proud and no matter what, I know he will give me his best like he always does,” Ronald echoed. And truly, no matter what, the story of “Patchito” will also stay “forever young”.
Go Eventing.
