Anna Halasz, 31, is from Hungary and grooms for Germany’s Richard Vogel. Richard and the 11-year-old Hanoverian chestnut gelding Cydello won the $140,000 FEI 3* WeatherTech Grand Prix on the Derby field to close out Week 2 of WEF. Anna was there, taking care of Cydello.
What led you to your job working with Richard Vogel?
That’s a funny story. It was like a last minute thing. I only started working with Richie last September. A former employer of mine told me that they were searching for somebody and this is how we ended up working together. I started working with him here in the States and it was my first time here, so it was a really interesting experience for sure.
How would you describe Cydello’s personality?
He’s like a puppy. He just wants attention all the time. He’s a lovely guy. But he’s not quiet at all. He is always ready to work, ready to win. He’s an amazing horse. He has an amazing personality. He’s super easy to work with, but he can have his moments like every other special horse who is like competing in the top level.
How did you prepare for the CSI3* Weather Tech Grand Prix?
I usually like to give my main focus to the horse that is doing the Grand Prix and spend as much time with them as I possibly can – like hand walking, and I like to do everything in steps.
So, I checked when our class starts. I checked when he was going and when he had to be ready. And I just give a lot of time for everything. I’m not doing anything crazy, just normal horse care. Planning ahead and just taking the best care of him so he can have his own down time – he can have a rest between the grooming and the class.
And I always give them a little pep talk that they should do good and if they do good, then they can go and have fun. I mean, anyway, they can do that, but it’s a little motivation.
What do you love most about your job?
Everything. Horses. I like every horse that I meet, that I can get to know them and have these special connections. I always like to be around horses more than humans anyway. So it’s just the horses – to take care of them. It’s very rewarding.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to work as a groom at the top level of the sport?
If they want to be on the top level – it’s just that you should never look at it as a job. So if you really want to do it and at the top level, you have to love what you do and you have to do it because you love the horse, not because you love the sport. Then you can be really good at the top level. Because the horses come first and the rest is always going to follow. So if you take good care of your horse the results will come.
Featured photo courtesy of Sarah Eakin of Paper Horse Media
Sarah Eakin has a long history of sports reporting and covering equestrian disciplines – particularly show jumping, polo, racing and dressage – for a range of international publications as writer and editor-in-chief. In 2024, Sarah launched Paper Horse – an online magazine with an eclectic mix of stories from the horse world at www.paperhorsemedia.com. Paper Horse is an official Media Partner of Wellington International. Sarah was born in England and came to the US in 1996 as Sidelines’ Polo Editor; at the time she was chief polo writer at the Horse and Hound and Polo Correspondent to The Daily Telegraph. She married US professional polo player Gary Eakin and stayed Stateside traveling throughout North America while covering equestrian events. She is also an author; Wed, White and Blue, her first novel is on Amazon.
