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In our series ‘That Special Bond’ – first introduced in 2016 – World of Showjumping highlights what equestrian sport is truly about; a unique connection between horses and humans. This time around, we speak with Felicia Wallin, who works for Germany’s Richard Vogel and takes care of crowd favourite United Touch S. 

Felicia has been working with Vogel for four years, and began in the job just when the German rider started up his business together with David Will. “In total, we now have 45 horses in training and then several youngsters on top of that. David is mainly at Dagobertshausen, while we are now based at Gestüt Prinzenberg,” Felicia explains. “We have all the young horses at Prinzenberg, and then it is my part of the stable with 14 boxes where Richi has nine horses and Sophie Hinners – who is also part of the team – has four. I manage our stable and stay more and more at home than previously. When I do shows, it is first and foremost when United Touch S is competing.”

Here, Felicia tells about the horse that stole her heart, the one she misses the most and the ones that have been the most difficult to get to know – and if they all have one thing in common, it is integrity.

”That must be United Touch S,” Felicia says with a smile. “He has a very special character and is one of a kind. We are best friends and know each other inside and out. United can be a bit shy with new people, as he also was with me in the beginning. He doesn’t search for contact with people he doesn’t know and is not comfortable around them. Now when I go to his stable, he is whining and comes to the door to be cuddled. It is very obvious which people he knows and likes and which he doesn’t.”

“To be honest, we didn’t have such high expectations when United Touch came to us,” Felicia admits. “He developed quickly though. His biggest challenge has been his huge canter; however, he is a really clever horse and learned fast. And he is such a fighter. So suddenly, we had a horse that can jump houses and on top of that has the best mind.”

“What made a big difference for United is that we took off his shoes and let him be barefoot. This greatly facilitated his canter, and he got lighter in his movements. He really likes to be barefoot. Combining that with a rider and training that suits him perfectly was a winning concept.”

“We’ve had so many special moments with United. Like in the Rolex Grand Prix in Geneva last year when he went in and did such a spectacular jump-off to win. So happy, with his ears pricked and took on all the difficult challenges with such ease. United is a living proof that hard work pays off.” 

“He is the nicest stallion ever. I can’t say anything negative about him,” Felicia continues. “Many get intimidated by him though, since he is so big and has a stallion appearance. Even our other stallions get very calm when he is around. However, he has such a big heart and is incredibly sweet. He is a bit like Ferdinand the bull – he is happy if he can eat his cookies.” 

“That is Floyo VDL,” Felicia tells. “He was our best horse when I started to work for Richi. Floyo was the first horse we did a Nations Cup with – he was double clear when Germany won the CSI3* Nations Cup in Vilamoura back in 2020, and also the first horse we won a CSI3* Grand Prix with together. Floyo really meant a lot to us when looking at the sport side, but he also had a fantastic character. He loved everyone and everyone loved him. Floyo was always happy and a pleasure to ride and take care of. He was 1.85m high and had the biggest heart. He was later sold to the US, and I miss him a lot.”

“Cepano Baloubet has been the most difficult to get to know. I have been taking care of him since he was six, so for four years, and he has quite a tricky personality. On the outside he can be a bit angry, and he is a loner – if he could muck out and feed himself, he would definitely do that,” Felicia tells laughing. 

“In the beginning, he was difficult to care for, because he is protecting himself with an arrogant attitude. When you get to know him however, he is like a big baby. For me, he is like a human. He understands everything that is going on and reacts to different moods. He has a huge character that is not so easy to see if you don’t know him.”

“When he was 7, we had a new girl in the stable who offered to wash him off. I told her to be careful, since he can be a bit special with new people. It all ended with him making himself free and walking away. You just need to know him and know all his tricks. He wants things to be done in a special way – in his way. And that way can alter a bit, depending on his mood that day. He can wake up in a good or a less good mood. There are just very tiny things, that makes it possible to read him.” 

“Lesson Peak was another horse that was very special,” Felicia continues. “Richi started to ride him when he was still at Ludger’s and when he left there, he got to take Lesson Peak with him. He and Richi had a very special connection. Lessie thought me a lot about how one system doesn’t work for all horses. He was almost too clever for his own good. One day he could be positively fresh and other days just stressed. For us, it was all about finding ways to get him to cool down. If he for example was stressed in the evening, it could mean that he needed to sleep out in the field that night, despite the other horses being in the stable, or that he needed to be lunged and get out once more.” 

“Some days he could be tied up, and other days he needed to be free to stay calm. At the shows, we could plait him when he had his calm days, other days we had to lunge him, or hand walk him, instead and just skip the plaits. Richi and I were his persons, and he was very close to us. If we were away, it always took a few days before he accepted other people around him.”

“Lessie is 18 now and we still have him. He is in a stable just 20 minutes from us, where he is a teacher to a 14-year-old boy. They jump some 1m classes together and even though he calmed down a lot, Lessie can still have his days. He really likes to be a one-person horse though, and to have his one boy that does everything with him.” 

12.11.2024 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.