Richard Vogel was 18 years old, honing his skills as a young rider in Germany, when Scott Brash made history by becoming the first rider to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping.Eleven years later, after back-to-back wins at the The Dutch Masters in March and in Aachen, Germany in May, Vogel and his powerful Westphalian horse, United Touch S, are one major win away from emulating the Briton and his mount Hello Sanctos.Vogel’s place in history will be secured if victory is achieved at the CSIO Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ in Calgary, Canada in September.“We’re still far away from it, because so many things need to go right and need to line up, but we’re working on it,” the 29-year-old told The Athletic ahead of this week’s Jumping International de La Baule in France, where he will be competing in Sunday’s Grand Prix Ville De La Baule on Levi Noesar.“We’re trying to make a good plan. I don’t need to explain how difficult it is.”To complete the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, which began in 2013, a rider needs three straight wins at any three of the four majors: The Dutch Masters, the CHIO Aachen, the CSIO Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ Tournament and the CHI Geneva.Even though Vogel has won just three career majors — the first coming in Geneva in 2023 — he and United Touch S will be favorites at Spruce Meadows given their current form and will scoop a €1 million ($1.2 million) bonus should they achieve the Grand Slam. But Vogel knows both he and his horse will have to handle the pressure of the moment.“It takes an absolute superstar of a horse and a rider that supports the horse in the best way he can,” he said on a video call while riding one of his horses in the forest near his base in Pfungstadt, a small town south of Frankfurt, after a training session.“It really takes a village behind the horse and the athlete. There are so many more people involved, building a team behind the curtains very often, but all of those people need to work hand in hand and line everything up perfectly to make a success like this happen.”Vogel’s Grand Slam bid started with victory at The Dutch Masters earlier this year. (Rolex / Helen Cruden)With the World Championships taking place in Aachen just two weeks before Spruce Meadows, scheduling is key, especially because United Touch S is 14 years old. While many horses at this age are highly competitive, they are similar to elite athletes in their 30s and 40s: still capable of winning major events, but in need of more recovery compared to when they were younger.“It is a little bit tight but, to be honest, I had an eye on it already before the Rolex Grand Prix in Aachen,” Vogel, currently ranked second in the show jumping world rankings, said. “That’s one of the reasons why, especially beginning of the year, we didn’t do a lot with United. Aachen was only his third show of the year which, for a horse at that level and for his age, is really not a lot.”