“I love this horse," Darragh Kenny says as he prepares for VDL Cartello's retirement. Photos © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.
Text © World of Showjumping
After CHI Geneva in December the 17-year-old stallion VDL Cartello (Cartani 4 x Lord) will be retired from the top sport to focus on breeding duties, Ireland’s Darragh Kenny announced after the two topped last Sunday’s CSI5* 1.60m GNP Grand Prix in Monterrey, Mexico.
“He has been such a great horse for everybody that has ever sat on him and for him to be able to finish his career winning a five-star Grand Prix is something that makes me really proud,” Kenny tells World of Showjumping.
Produced by James Billington (GBR), Cormac Hanley (IRL) and Lorcan Gallagher (IRL) then went on to ride the impressive stallion before Kenny took over the reins in May 2021. “Lucky enough, he was already registered with the Irish Federation so we could be considered for the Tokyo Olympic Games,” Kenny tells. “I started riding him in May 2021, and we did four shows – a two-star in Valkenswaard, a five-star show in Madrid where he was third in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix, and then the Nations Cups in Rome and La Baule – before we were selected for the Irish team for Tokyo.”
"Going to Tokyo was a dream, and to be able to do it with a horse that I trusted so much was really cool," Kenny recalls about one of many highlights with VDL Cartello.
“I did very little with him before Tokyo; we only jumped five shows together prior to the Olympics. It was only after Tokyo that I started to really get to know him, and we did a good few Grand Prix classes. He has basically been clear in the first round of nearly every single five-star Grand Prix we jumped, and to me, it was incredible. Throughout the whole career of mine and his, he has been an amazing horse. Going to Tokyo was a dream, and to be able to do it with a horse that I trusted so much was really cool,” Kenny says.
“Jumping the Aga Khan in Dublin this year was another memorable moment,” Kenny continues. “I love this horse; he has done so much for me and to jump him at home in Dublin was quite emotional. What he did at Spruce Meadows this year was another highlight; for a 17-year-old horse, to try as hard as he did, it was fantastic to finish second in the CPKC ‘International’ Grand Prix presented by Rolex.”
“Everything from there on was just free; I felt like he could do whatever he wants because to me he is the best horse ever. And then for him to come to Monterrey and win his first five-star Grand Prix, this was just really, really special. He has done so much for every rider that has ever ridden him. He has taken each of them to the highest level and he has produced results,” Kenny says.
“He has been such a great horse for everybody that has ever sat on him," Darragh Kenny says about VDL Cartello.
“He is 17 now and has had an incredible last few years,” Kenny explains about the timing of the retirement. “As he is going to go breed, we thought it's better do it now – it’s the right thing to do. After Geneva, he will go back to the VDL Stud.”
“Cartello was a good horse when we bought him, but we weren’t sure how good he could possibly be,” Heathman Farm’s Chris Stinnet adds in. “He did great things for many people, but when he found his home with Darragh, it was then that the horse was able to bloom. They had a short introduction, and then went straight to the Tokyo Olympics. It’s a shame they didn’t meet earlier and it’s a shame that Cartello wasn’t always old because watching him now makes you really wonder why he is retiring. He’s jumping better than he’s ever jumped in his life, showing how much a partnership and wisdom means in the sport of showjumping. He has given everything to the world, he has taken Darragh to two Olympics, and he has made Heathman Farm very proud. He has done everything asked of him and more and deserves a well-earned retirement. He is going to finish the year at Geneva and then he will travel to the VDL Stud in the Netherlands, where he was born, to see if he can duplicate what his great brother Cardento, and other ancestors, have done and make some future superstar show jumpers.”
“I think it's going to be emotional for all of us at the end here. I've ridden so many great horses in my life, but Cartello took me to the Olympics, to my first Grand Prix in Calgary, we placed 4th in the Rolex Grand Prix in Geneva and 9th in the Rolex Grand Prix in Aachen… He is one of those horses that you could always rely on and I am going to miss him,” Kenny closes off.
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