Gonzalo Castillo Arroyo Signs Two Grand Prix Horses for 2024 Olympic Year

Dressage

Spain

Spanish young professional dressage rider Gonzalo Castillo Arroyo has been given the ride on two Grand Prix horses to embark on an international career and potentially have a run at Spanish Olympic team selection.

Gonzalo Castillo Arroyo is 28 years old and an assistant rider at Henri Ruoste's Gut Bertingloh in Menden, Germany.

From Spain to Holland

Castillo began as a working student for Jordi Domingo in 2016 and rode Gustaaf (by Charmeur x Rousseau) to a 9th placce at the 2016 Spanish Young Horse Championships and campaigned him at the 2017 Catalonian regional championships before the horse sold to a new rider, Maria Guerrero Galve, in December 2017.

In the summer of 2017 Castillo moved to The Netherlands, where he briefly worked under Kirsten and Annemarie Brouwer at Platinum stables. He showed Caramba (by Tuschinski x Gribaldi) for them in a national Inter I class.

Relocated to Germany

He quickly moved to Germany in 2018 to work for Heiner Schiergen. He first competed J-Son StG (by Johnson x Rubin Cortes), Fürst For Me (by Furst Piccolo x Don Bedo) and Ela Mana Mou (by Estobar x Rubino Rosso) at A and L-level in the spring of 2018.

Gonzalo and Gustaaf in 2017
(Photo © Lily Forado)

After Schiergen he began working for Finnish team rider and horse dealer Henri Ruoste and competed Akiko Yamazaki's Donavan (by Vivaldi x San Remo) briefly, as well as Bradgate Park Rothenfeldt (by Rotspon x Ferro). He also rode KWPN stallion Joyride (by Empere x Jazz) for Spanish owner Victor Petit on the 2019-2020 KWPN Stallion Competition circuit. Gonzalo made his Grand Prix debut on Christian Bruehe-Zimmermann's Roble AR in August 2021.

Two Horses for 2024

At the end of 2023 Gonzalo received the ride on his girlfriend, Hungarian Berill Szoke Toth's now 15-year old Oldenburg gelding Qatar (by Quaterback x Stedinger). The new duo made its show debut at Grand Prix level in October 2023 and from there an agreement was made to declare Qatar for Spain, opening the door to a Spanish Olympic team selection campaign.

"I was a little scared, I hadn't competed for a long time," Castillo told Lily Forado about his debut on Qatar in Ankum. "Competition for me was never the most important thing, I have always thought that the most important thing is to train to school and improve the horses, to be patient and wait for the competitions to come. And then it arrived after many years. The test went by very quickly and I think I made mistakes due to nerves, but two weeks later I did another GP again and it was much better, much more confident."

Owner Szoke Toth has competed Qatar internationally since 2016 moving from junior level up to Under 25 Grand Prix. Trained by Ilka Boening, the pair represented Hungary at a major championships in 2021 at the European Under 25 Championships in Hagen, where they were 32nd in the Inter II but retired from the short Grand Prix. In 2023 they competed at the CDI's in Troisdorf, Grote-Brogel, Kronenberg and Hagen.

Ruoste has also agreed to put Finnish Jesse Honka's 9-year old Oldenburg mare Million Dreams (by Millennium x Sandro Hit) to Gonzalo's name for Spain as a second option to ride in 2024. Million Dreams was the first horse he rode as a 4-year old when he arrived at Ruoste's barn in 2019.

"Million Dreams and Qatar are horses I ride daily, Qatar is ready at Grand Prix and Million Dreams nearby," said Castillo. "They are in my name because you never know, but I am realistic and I know that it is very complicated, without expecting anything, just see how far we can go."

Castillo will make his international show debut on Qatar at the 2024 CDI Le Mans in February.