Ignacio Rambla Looks Back on His Career, One Fuelled by a Love for the PRE

Interviews

Interview

In 2021 former Spanish Olympian Ignacio Rambla Algarin sat down with José Antonio Núñez Gavilán for the YouTube programme "Parada a Raya" in which he reflected on his career as the trailblazer for Spanish dressage and PRE's in high performance sport. Lily Forado wrote a wonderful summary of the interview.

Alongside his coach Rafael Soto and both based at he Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art in Jerez de la Frontera, Ignacio Rambla paved the way as an iconic rider for Spain between 1995 and 2005. While Beatriz Ferrer-Salat captured the first medals for Spain on a Hanoverian, it were Soto and Rambla who popularized the PRE horse for top level dressage sport.

The Rise and Disappearance of Rambla

The now 61-year old Ignacio Rambla said goodbye to serious international competition sport back in 2006 after having ridden PRE's Evento, Invasor, Granadero, Distinguido and Oleaje at major FEI championships, including the Olympic Games (1996, 2004), the European Championships (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003 2005), the World Equestrian Games (1998, 2002, 2006), and the World Cup Final (1998).

Six years later Rambla suddenly returned for a brief two-show come back in 2012 in Vejer and Rotterdam with Fogonero IX, but then he disappeared for almost a decade. He came out again for some light national showing in 2020 aboard Lezco and Zoom. In March 2022 he re-appeared in the CDI ring on home turf in Jerez with on Exclipse XCVIII. It was his last show in his career, so far.

A protegé of Álvaro Domecq, Rambla looks back on his career and experiences

The Love for the PRE

On Oleaje at the 2004 Olympics
(Photo © Dirk Caremans)

“Every day that passes I can tell you that I know less about horses, because when I get on a new horse I have a different problem and that is the illusion," said Rambla in the interview. "Every day that goes by it is a satisfaction to ride a new horse, it is an illness, I am infatuated with riding and my breed, the PRE”.

He continued, "every horse goes in a different way, has a walk, has a trot and you have to try to get the best out of it. I don't think I'm a rider, but I am a horse psychologist ”

In Rambla's time the PRE was a curiosity in the dressage ring, in the last decade PRE's have made it into the Kur to Music finals at major FEI continental championships.

"I remain and will remain completely loyal to my breed," said Ignacio. "I trust it; it's the best breed there is, and as I've said on occasion, it's capable of doing almost anything. Times are different now. We have to keep believing in our breed. I think it opened up after the event onwards. No one thought our breed would be capable of reaching an Olympic final. It happened, and it has continued to be that way.”

Remembering Atlanta

On Evento at the 1998 World Equestrian Games
(Photo © Dirk Caremans)

The PRE bred Evento (by Leviton) opened the doors for Rambla's career to take flight as well as the PRE horse to get the spotlight. Looking back on the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Ignacio remembers how difficult it was to get his PRE through the second horse inspection.

"The veterinary inspection was very difficult for me," Ignacio confessed. "I had to go through a re-inspection. Evento had a minor irregularity. We did the Grand Prix, the Grand Prix Special, and that was it. When they told me I was entering the Kur, I couldn't believe it. It was such a proud moment. I knew it was a unique and historic moment. I asked Juan Matute to help me for me at the veterinary inspection, because I couldn't trot him up. I cried when it happened, especially when I heard "Evento accepted"."

Ignacio added, "the Kur was a historic milestone for our breed, which is why I would like to continue supporting all the new people coming up behind us with good horses, who are making strong progress and who are where they deserve to be at the top.”

Double Coefficient

With Fogonero XI at the 2012 CDIO Rotterdam

Ignacio believes that the turning point for the success of the PRE came when the FEI decided to award a double coefficient to the piaffe, the strong point of the PRE breed.

“Everything changed in Europe. You can't imagine what our breed achieved," Ignacio opined. "It was a turning point. There were regulations, and thanks to the Spanish horse, those regulations were changed by the FEI, which added double coefficients for collected gaits. It benefited us greatly with our horse."

Following the Rhythm of the Horse

For Rambla his years as a competitive athlete seem to be behind him

"Today we are living in a different era, and I'm not one to judge it," he said. "I will continue to learn about what the judges want to see, but what I'm not going to do is take my horses (...) away from their way of expressing themselves, or their rhythm."

On Eclipse XCVIII at his last CDI in Jerez in 2022
(Photo © Azahara Falcon Perez)

With "rhythm" Rambla meant the time a horse needs to develop himself properly. "I want to learn what the judges want to see, but I do ask for a little respect for everything that's been done. I can have a rhythm, and I will never take the horse out of that rhythm. When I do a test, I want it to be valued as it is, and as a rider who defends the breed, I want everyone around me to respect that."

See the full interview on YouTube.