Mate Garai Gets Vitus as Hungarian European Championship Team Candidate

Dressage

Hungary

Maté Garai, member of the Hungarian dressage team which competed at the 2023 European Championships, has received the ride on Jochen Arl's Vitus as his team candidate for Crozet.

Vitus is a 12-year old Westfalian gelding by Vitalis out of Bella Donna (by Brentano II x Likoto xx). He is bred by Michael and Wilhelm Josef Rüther-Rhode.

Joana Peterka

The bay gelding was first competed by his previous owner Hendrik Sassmann before German Under 25 rider Joana Peterka took on the rider under the supervision of her coach Johan Zagers.

Peterka premiered the gelding in December 2023 at medium tour level and moved him up to Inter II and Grand prix level in 2024. They competed in nine national level classes that year, winning three times and placing second twice. They never ranked below the top four.

The pair made its international show debut at the 2025 CDI Kronenberg Indoor in the senior Grand Prix tour. In January 2025 they scored 71.824% in their last show at the CDN Munster Agravis Cup.

Maté Garai

Garai and Vitus at Kamberger Hof in Neuss

Sassmann sold Vitus to German horse dealer Jochen Arl who wants to give young Hungarian Grand Prix rider Maté Garai the opportunity to ride the horse in the spotlight.

The 33-year old Garai began his international show career as a youth rider, competing at the three European Pony Championships before heading to the 2007 and 2008 European Junior Riders Championships on the Belgian owned Romero. Between 2012 and 2022 he gained CDI experience and mileage at small tour level with horses Dancing Queen BC, Antinori, Royal Flesh, Roxette and All In.

His professional career began at Arnold Winter's sales stable Wintermühle in Neu-Anspach. In 2023 Garai captured a spot on the Hungarian team with Galleria's Vincent Maranello for the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck, where they were 46th in the Grand Prix with 68.633%

Aiming for Crozet with Vitus

Since the autumn of 2024 Maté and his partner Charlotte Tollhopf run their own training business at Kamberger Hof in Neuss.

With Vitus the young professional has an iron in the fire to qualify for the Hungarian team for the 2025 European Championships in Crozet (France). In agreement with owner Jochen Arl and under the continued supervision of Johan Zagers will Maté head to the CDI Aachen Festival 4 Dressage at the end of the month. They are also considering the CDIO Compiegne and the CDI Aachen Dressage Days as next steps to collect team qualification scores.

"Vitus is a super uncomplicated horse with an amazing piaffe and passage," said Arl. "This is a great opportunity for Mate to aim for the Europeans on an established Grand Prix horse and hopefully make it to Crozet. After the summer Vitus will be sold."

Garai and Vitus made their show debut last weekend at the CDN Wickrath, where they won the Intermediaire II with 71,272%.