So far in Lyon…

Well so far Lyon has been just lovely. The show is so well organized and the location is ideal. We have a superb turn out for the 5*star event which started today, bright and early. We all went to bed rather early last night so everyone felt fresh this morning.

I was happy to see Alexa Pessoa, the wife of Rodrigo Pessoa, back in the saddle. Monaco’s Charlotte Casiraghi is here training with her long time trainer of 12 years, Thierry Rozier of France. The grand daughter of Princess Grace of Monaco usually basis herself in Paris, but came down to Lyon for the weekend kitted out in all her fabulous Gucci gear. We were all admiring the stable rugs and saddle pads, the quality is really to die for.

Brianne Goutal, July’s Rolex One-to-watch, is here with her younger sister Clementine Goutal, who is riding in the 2*star event. It was nice to see the sisters enjoying the French hospitality here in Lyon. Brianne is getting some help from Ireland’s Conor Swail during her time here in Lyon. Brianne will fly back East for the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, ON before coming back for Stockholm.

Patrice Delaveau looked quite the pretty picture with his new mount Carinjo, the previous ride for Germany’s Thomas Vos. Carinjo was second in the Grand Prix of Aachen this summer with the German rider, so naturally HDC jumped at the opportunity to buy the talented stallion for their rider of 2 years. In addition, Denis Lynch has his sexy stallion Contifex, owned by the Syrian rider Ahmad Saber Hamcho, here in Lyon and the pair look quite sharp.

The Equita Lyon Prix is set to start and this will be the first big class for everyone to really stretch their legs before Sundays 3rd World Cup qualifier. Looking forward to seeing how everyone looks.

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Changing hands…..

Well as you know, the world of show jumping does see horses change between riders and amongst owners. Top horses are bought and sold through out their international career, often depending on who can write the biggest cheque.

The world of show jumping is changing and we see top horses changing hands and representing a whole variety of countries and nationalities.Our sport is evolving and we are seeing new nations come up the ranks to challenge the tried and tested.

Now, there are some top horses that spend their entire career with the same rider. Such horses are Hickstead, Shutterfly, Peppermill, Goldfever, Berlin and Darco. Horses such as these, spent their entire career partnered with one rider; like Eric Lamaze, Meredith Michaels Beerbaum and Ludger Beerbaum.

However, there are other horses who find themselves representing different countries through out their career and may have the opportunity to unite with more then one top ranking rider. Such horses include Jubilee d’Ouilly, Baloubet, Silvana, Delphi, Wonderboy, Plot Blue, Copin, Simon, Utasha, Presley Boy, Berlin and Reveur.

Recently, we have seen some international horses change hands and make the move to a new stable.

Between May and September alone, we have seen a lot of changes…..

1. Cortez… From Lisa de Ridder to Nicola Philippaerts
2. Carlos… From Nicola Philippaerts to Emilie Martinsen
3. Ideal de la Loge… From Roger Yves Bost to Olivier Robert
4. Kiamon… From Werner Muff to Edouard de Rotschild
5. Ferrari… From Steve Guerdat to an unknown Brazilian rider
6. Carlina… From Pius Schwizer to Trevor Coyle
7. Don VHP Z... From Louise Pavitt to Saer Coulter
8. Contifex… From Denis Lynch to Ahmad Saber Hamcho
9. Satisfaction… From Marco Kutscher to Emil Hallundbaek
10. La Prestige… From Kevin Staut to Anna Julia Kontio
11. Carinjo HDC … From Thomas Voss to Patrice Delaveau
12. Quickdiamond… From Alexander Onischenko to Angela Augustsson
13. Oh d’Eole… From Marc Bettinger to Michel Robert
14. Hunter’s Scendix… From Eric Lamaze to a unknown rider
15. Maestro de la Loge… From Penelope Leprevost to buyer in Qatar
16. Cheyenne 111 Z… From Marlon Modolo Zanotelli to Kevin Staut
17. Untouchable… From Daniel Deusser to Andreas Schou
18. Titus… From Edwina Tops-Alexander to Guy Williams
19. Spartacus … From Eric van der Vlueten to Marco Kutscher
20. Nangaye de Kergane… From Kevin Staut to Luciana Diniz