Hungarian Maté Garai and his brand new Grand Prix ride Vitus have put themselves on track for European Championship team selection with a double win at the 2024 CDI-W Mariakalnok on 16 - 18 May 2025. The pair dominated the 3* Special tour.
Feeling Right at Home
The German based Garai has been paired with Jochen Arl's 12-year old Westfalian gelding Vitus (by Vitalis x Brentano II) two and a half months ago. The gelding has been produced to Grand Prix level by Johan Zagers' student Joana Peterka
Coached by Arl who took Maté under his wings as his protegé, the brand new duo got to know each other at a few local shows in Wickrath before making their international debut at the CDI Aachen Festival 4 Dressage in April. Last weekend Maté headed to his mother country, Hungary, for the CDI-W Mariakalnok, where he feels right at home.
Besting a field of 12 riders in the Grand Prix Special tour, the duo won the Grand Prix with 68.522% and topped the Special with 68.787%. It was only the third time he's ever ridden the Grand Prix Special test.
"Vitus gave me two very nice rides," Garai told Eurodressage. "We are still a new combination and are getting to know each other in the ring step by step. My feeling was that he was smooth and relaxed also in the warm-up. We keep working on some details, but overall I'm very happy with the way we are on gaining confidence together."
When asked if he expected to win on home soil, Maté explained he is not thinking too much about winning. "My main focus was to give him a nice feeling in the test and get to know him more," he said. "I just control what I can control and ride the best I can. I was especially happy with the wins, because Hungary is my home and my family was there and my childhood friends so it felt special to make them proud. It was emotional for me."
En Route to Crozet
The 33-year old Garai began his 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. In 2023 he captured a spot on the Hungarian team as a senior for the first time for the European Championships in Riesenbeck. He has clearly set his sights on Crozet as a next major marker in his career.
Lucky Luuk
Maté also brought the 9-year old Luuk H (by Gunner KS x Vivaldi) to Mariakalnok. He and his life partner Charlotte Tollhopf (GER) share the ride on the elegant chestnut.
"Luuk went very well," said Maté. "I was very happy that he won his first Inter I test. Luuk is a very talented horse also for the future. We are also a fresh combination. I'm thankful to Jochen Arl to trust and support me with this special horse and for believing in me and giving me confidence in the ring and in life."
Tollhopf agrees, "Luuk is stunningly beautiful and I think he will be a horse with a big future. He has three amazing gaits, good rideability, and he always tries his best out for you. He also shows good talent for piaffe-passage."
Matching Pairs
Garai and Tollhopf met each other while working out of the same barn riding horses for an Asian owner. They fell in love and have been a match ever since. They now run their own training business at Kamberger Hof in Neuss, Germany.
Charlotte blushed and added, "honestly I would lie when I would say that it is always super easy. We spend every day, 24 hours, together so of course not every moment is perfect. We are both ambitious persons but we follow together the goal to always bring out the best of every horse. I think we are a good team and we support each other as much as we can. We have the same way of thinking that we want to train horse in a classical way and in the end this was always leading us together to our success."
Photos © Lukasz Kowalski
Related Links
Scores: 2025 CDI-W Mariakalnok
Mate Garai Gets Vitus as Hungarian European Championship Team Candidate
How a Dressage Carreer Starts in Hungary: The Máté Garai Case Study