INTERVIEw
Photos: Taylor Pence
“ with patience and a good program, you can make a horse become the one that brings you to the top- a horse that you never would have expected. It has happened to me many times!” eric navet
“ transparent colors with no contrast so horses don’ t get prepared by themselves and tend to jump through, plus flat cups, tight time allowed, etc...
I like the modern sport because it requires more accurate education and schooling of the horses because they need to be smarter, quicker movers, and quicker thinkers. The breeding has also adjusted its production towards lighter horses with more blood, sharper, and smarter.
If you could change any show jumping rule, which rule would you change and why?
This is a huge topic at the moment, and I support the fact that all the riders should have the same chances to move up in the Longines World Ranking List. The access to FEI shows should be based on merit and not because one pays to participate.
Every rider should have a chance to get to the top no matter the size of their wallet. Expenses are already huge to compete. If one gets good results at a given level, they should have access to the next level, and so on until they reach the top if they have the horse( s) for it.
That’ s how I moved from a young horses rider to a World Champion, and it is a shame if that is not possible anymore.
That’ s how I would like the sport to change in the future. We must find a way to mix business and sport without this being detrimental to upcoming riders.
What is your daily routine with the horses? What do you consider essential to developing a good performance horse?
Karl and I ride together every morning for 5 to 6 hours in a row— mostly flatwork. We exercise our horses over gymnastics and small combinations once or twice a week, depending on different horse’ s needs.
What is very important to me is that we always take them for a 15 to 20 minute walk through the trails before work. I want my horses to be happy and enjoy what we do with them. I am convinced that this is a big part of their performance.
How important do you think teamwork is to achieving success in equestrian sport? Can you tell us more about how many people are on your team and how you organize your schedule?
Teamwork is very important to me. We permanently have around 15 horses taken care of by 4 grooms and a
16 | EQUESTRE AMERICAS MAGAZINE