Talent scout: Gregor Gruber

If you walk in summer across the lush alpine meadows of Meran 2000, high above the villages of Vöran and Hafling, you can see magnificent Haflinger mares grazing there. And it was precisely with such a mare that the “tragedy”, as Gregor Gruber tells us with a smile, began the Grubers’ equestrian history. “My sister Melanie really wanted to ride and therefore had a horse. Our father Gebhard – good-natured as he is – bought her a Haflinger. Because from that point on, practically the whole family was always in the stable, I also wanted to start riding,” says Gregor Gruber. “When I was five years old, I cheekily asked my father what else I should do in the stable.”

So Gregor Gruber was soon sitting proudly on the first pony himself. He played his first tournaments as a six-year-old and his first successes didn't take long to arrive. Gregor first attracted attention on the national equestrian stage three years ago. In 2007, as an 18-year-old, he celebrated the greatest successes of his career to date. First, the Merano native won the Italian junior championship before he was also successful in the Nations Cup. “This was followed by a dry spell for many reasons. There were some differences with my trainer at the time, and then the horses I competed with also got injured. “It just didn’t come together at all,” says Gruber.

Highlight of the season: The European Junior Championships in France See you this year. Although he didn't set himself any great goals at the beginning of the year, Gregor Gruber won the “Pappas Young Rider Grand Prix” in Lamprechshausen, 20 kilometers from Salzburg, on the back of Quiberon W in May. “This victory came as a complete surprise to me,” admits the young rider. Victory in this prestigious competition for young riders also meant qualification for the European Championships for Young Riders in Jardy, France. The Continental Championships will take place from July 13th to 19th. “My nomination is not yet official. But you can assume that I will be there in France,” says the 21-year-old equestrian. This would make Gregor Gruber the first South Tyrolean to compete in show jumping at a European Championships.

From the stable to the lecture hall Gregor Gruber has been living in Padova for two years, where he studies law and trains at the “Centro Ippico Sette Archi” stud farm in Altavilla Vicentina. The Merano resident usually spends the morning with the horses, while in the afternoon he goes to the university lecture hall. There isn't much time for hobbies. “I go running two to three times a week, I really enjoy it. I also liked football, but I bet I wouldn't even be allowed to play for Obermais's U10 team, I'm so clumsy," laughs the likeable Burggräfler, who describes himself as an outspoken music fan. “I can't play an instrument, but I listen to a lot of music. I like that much better than staring pointlessly at the TV anyway. “I also read a lot about music,” says the student, who also likes to meet his friends in his few free hours. “Most of the time I’m so tired in the evening that I just want to go to bed.”

Gregor Gruber cannot currently make a living from equestrian sport. But it's not yet clear whether he even wants to do that in the future. “I really like studying and I also get very good grades. I don’t know if I would give it all up for equestrian sport.”

So whether he will become a riding professional is still up in the air at the moment. But his concentration is now entirely on the European Championships, where he has a very specific goal. “If I reach the final of the best 25, then that will be a huge success.” Will he achieve this goal? In mid-July, South Tyrolean equestrian sports fans know it for sure.

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Talent scout: Gregor Gruber

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