FRANCE (by Xavier Libbrecht) Jumping Bordeaux (February 1-4) this year had a lot to enjoy as the show celebrated its 40th birthday. 1978! Who recalls that this event was created not only by a real ‘character’, but also by a sport horse breeder: Emeric Couperie, the late father of Virginie and Philippe. While the former today runs the GCT leg of Paris Eiffel, the latter continues to breed sport horses at the family property in Bacon.
Who remembers that a few years later, the Marquis du Vivier, a bloodstock breeder from the doman of Malleret, accepted the chairmanship of Jumping Bordeaux and continued the work? We al- ways need benchmarks, and those recalled here may help us understand why the orga- nizational team, directed by Sabine Zaegel, decided two years ago to create a sport horse stallion show in paral- lel to the competition. Or- ganizing such an event south of the Loire river was a strate- gic bet. Even though Bor- deaux is considered a bridgehead towards the Iber- ian Peninsula and, more specifically, the south-west of France – the fiefdom of the Anglo-Arab horse – roughly situated between Pom- padour and Tarbes.
Last year’s 2017 edition was a first attempt, and it didn’t take long for Marion Alde- bert, responsible for the show program, to learn from it. In coordination with Henri Brugier a strong and passionate bureau member of the ANSF (Selle Français studbook) they attracted around 20 professionals, some of the best known.
From Haras des Coudrettes with its high level stallion re- sults – Orient Express HDC (Quick Star - Kamtchatka x Le Tot de Semilly – see photo in column left), Car- injo HDC (Cascavelle - Ex- quisite x Landgraf I), Be Express HDC (Orient Ex- press - Over Speed du Plessis x Kannan) – to Groupe France Elevage (GFE) with mainly young stallions – Pop- star Lozonais (Quick Star -
Buguette Platiere x Muguet du Manoir), Diabeau (Clin- ton - Ulrieke van de Mis- pelaere x Skippy II), Amant du Chateau (Diamant de Semilly - Quokine du Chateau x Robin II Z), Trou- badour d’Aurel (Aig-lon Rouge - Viola van de Rilro x Limbo), Rebozo La Silla (Dollar de la Pierre x Renata La Silla x Ramiro), Excalibur de la Tour Vidal (Ugano Sitte - Thelma La Tour Vidal x Ogano Sitte) – you could also see representatives from Beligneux le Haras, Haras de Brullemail, Haras d’Elle, Haras de Villiers, Haras de Malleret, Haras de Clarbec and more....
In total, around 60 stallions were presented to the audience over three days. Some were shown under saddle, which was well appreciated by the audience, although the majority were presented trotting in hand. According to Brice Elvezi, director of GFE, "It’s impossible for a company within the sector such as ours not to be there. Jumping Bordeaux is a real showroom for our stallions. We worked upstream with the organizers, and this second edition is really a big step for ward. The coupling with a beautiful sporting event is the right solution, and in the large south-west area of France, who better than Jumping Bordeaux? Be- sides, this date, immediately preceding the major professional meeting of St-Lô, fits perfectly. Many breeders, and even customers who would not normally come to Normandy, came to visit us here. And I can tell you, that with eight stallions to show
ever y day and all the questions they generated, I drooled there!” In conclusion, Elvezi said, “It is a real opportunity to promote our stallions and it’s not simply by reason of signed contracts. We made about 10 in Bordeaux, against ten times more in St-Lô, but for a second trial, we are satisfied.”...
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