Text © World of Showjumping

There are not many horses that have the presence of Tornado VS. When the little bay gelding enters the ring, it is easy to see that he might be small in size, but not in ability – and definitely not in spirit. 

With Spain’s Armando Trapote in the saddle, the now 12-year-old Tornado VS (Toulon x Contender, bred by Vanessa Schockemöhle) jumped double clear in the team final at the FEI Jumping European Championship 2023 in Milan, Italy, helping the Spanish team secure their qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games. Prior to Milan, the two also picked up a 4th place finish in a four-star Grand Prix in Vejer de la Frontera (ESP), and in their debut at Spruce Meadows in Calgary (CAN) they placed in the top ten in three of the five five-star classes they jumped. 

“Competing in Calgary was a dream come true for me,” Armando Trapote tells World of Showjumping. “And so were the Europeans, where Tornado arrived in top shape and delivered a fantastic performance. And now, he again gives me hope to reach another childhood dream; the Olympics.”

“Tornado is a horse that has taught me a lot,” Armando continues. “From him I have learned how this sport should be; it is all about building a partnership and respecting each other. He has taught me the importance of hard work; work that is not anxious but resilient and patient, work that does not push the horses too much or do wrong by them. I am sure that if Teresa [Editor's note: Trapote’s wife Teresa Blazquez Abascal] did not build him up with so much time and patience when he was younger, it would be impossible for us to be where we are now.” 

Before finding his way to Trapote, it was Germany’s Philipp Schulze who rode Tornado as a young horse in Germany for his owners at that time – Vanessa and Alwin Schockemöhle. Schulze got the ride on Tornado when the gelding was just weeks into getting used to the saddle. “I had already seen him at the stallion approvals in Holstein,” Schulze recalls. “He was too small and not mature, but jumped amazing – his jump was from another world. As a young horse, he was full of blood and always wanted to go forward. What makes it difficult for him at times, is the fact that he is small but actually has a huge stride.”

“In the end I rode him at the World Championship in Lanaken when he was five,” Schulze continues. “At the time, I thought it was too early and too much for him, but we qualified for the final and he jumped clear in the main arena. In the jump-off, I wanted too much – and with his 1000 horsepower, we had a fence down when I wanted to go fast.”

He lives from his energy, which is both a blessing and a curse

“He is a small horse, but he has a big heart and a huge stride – this was always the case,” Schulze continues. "From the beginning, he has always given his best. He wants to do everything right, but there are times when he gets frustrated – it would be easier for him to be a bit more relaxed sometimes. But he is what he is, and he lives from his energy – which is both a blessing and a curse.”

“He can jump everything and to see him do it now on the highest level is amazing. I could feel the extraordinary quality in him, but so many things have to go right, and he is the type of horse that needs good people around him who understand him. You never know with horses, because the way to the top is so long..." Schulze reflects. 

“Tornado is so lucky to have found Armando and Teresa as his riders, and they have found their way with him over the years – I take my hat off for them. When he has his people, he fights for them. With Tornado, you have to think every day; with a horse like him, you have to adjust all the time.” 

It was Armando Trapote’s wife Teresa Blazquez Abascal who produced the talented gelding after her husband bought Tornado as a six-year-old at Paul Schockemöhle’s, together with Imma Roquet Autonell. “Normally I buy all my horses from Paul and on one of our trips there, I saw Tornado,” Armando explains. “We bought him together with Imma in the summer when Tornado was six, and she rode him for two months, but she didn’t like him because he was too hot and very complicated. As she didn’t want to ride him, I bought her half and told Teresa that I thought I had found a very good horse for her.” 

We immediately understood that he had a very special character

“However, when Tornado arrived at our place, we immediately understood that he had a very special character,” Armando recalls with a smile. “When Teresa tried him the first time, he would not jump from the right lead and she thought he was too complicated for her to ride. I believed in Tornado though, told Teresa not to worry, and said I wanted to jump him in the seven-year-old classes at Sunshine Tour. The Sunshine Tour ended up being a success for us; he jumped many clear rounds and afterwards I told Theresa to try him again.”

After some back and forth, Teresa ended up competing Tornado all the way up to three-star ranking classes and the little gelding showed great potential – and the offers started to come in. “He has bad X-rays, so he won’t pass a vet check, but because the X-rays are not an issue for his sports career, we decided that we will not play with his price,” Armando tells. “Teresa had a lot of patience with him and they developed step by step. Because I really believed in him, I pushed Teresa to jump bigger with him and they did some three-star Grand Prix classes together. But, in between we had the Covid-outbreak, and when he was nine there was the EHV-1 outbreak, so he was not really showing consistently. In 2021, Teresa was very busy with her work at the Sunshine Tour, and as she also did not feel that comfortable with Tornado’s rideability, I offered to take over the reins.” 

And the rest is history, we could say… “In the beginning I struggled with our connection because I was used to big horses that were not so hot and sensitive,” Armando tells about the start of his partnership with Tornado, which was far from straight forward.

“I was the opposite of what Tornado needed from a rider; I am tall and had a strong hand – normally we were an impossible match. The first year, he took me to some big shows, but I was not a rider for that level and he was not a horse for that level either. We didn’t have a good connection, but with patience I started to understand him when he turned eleven. I realized that I had to wait, and not put any pressure on him but trust his scope and his big stride to jump the big fences – and that is when everything started to come together. When I understood that I had to be still and trust him, we started to jump clear rounds – and we started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.” 

We were an impossible match

While the close relationship Trapote and Tornado have is very obvious today, it took years to build and there were many ups and downs. “It has been a very bumpy road,” Armando laughs. “At some point in the middle of the process, I remember having a conversation with Tornado. We were in Dinard, and in the first class there, I think I did not ride so bad and we had four down. I was very upset, and I remember talking to Tornado, telling him that I wanted to give him back to Teresa, that I thought we were not a good match, but that I was not sure if she wanted him either. Funny enough, the day after, we had one down in the Grand Prix and I was really happy with that – it felt like maybe he had understood me...” 

Once Armando started to trust Tornado, the two reached a level he had only dreamed of. “I thought I would only jump at two- and three-star shows, but Tornado showed me that with patience and work – and if you trust your horse – you can reach your goals,” he explains. “Not trusting him was the problem in the beginning; he is ambitious, and I was too ambitious, pushing him to the fences.”

All I needed to do was follow him – not the other way

“The breakthrough point for me was Calgary,” Armando tells. “It was a dream to go there and I didn’t expect anything. I went there without a groom and did everything alone, and every day, I would call Teresa and tell her how small Tornado was and how big those fences were. And she kept saying ‘don’t worry – just wait for the fences, don’t attack them’. She had always just stayed quiet on him when she jumped him. Every single day at Spruce Meadows, I found myself thinking that he was too small – until the moment I was on him. As soon as I got on him and jumped one fence, the engine was on and the lion was there. After Calgary, I started to think that maybe I can follow my dreams with him, compete at the Europeans and other championships.” 

“When you have him on your side, he can do anything, but if you go against him, he goes nowhere,” Armando concludes. “He is a like lion; he is a fighter. He has quality when he is relaxed and focused, but if he gets stressed, he loses the quality. It is as if his character is too big for his body; you cannot train him, you cannot tell him what to do, he has to be the boss and decide what he does. It was hard for me to understand, but in the end, he showed me the way and all I needed to do was follow him – not the other way.” 

“From my point of view, Tornado made me a better rider. He showed me how to be calm, how to ride better – he has been my best teacher.” 

And with the ticket to Paris secured, this brilliant duo now has another dream to chase. 

28.11.2023 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.