By Adriana van Tilburg
Photography: Béatrice Drigeard Desgarnier; FEI/Benjamin Clark
One stallion that left an indelible impression last year is the Selle Français-bred Enjoy de la Mure (Vigo Cece - Carmen x Calvados/ex Sable Rose). Bred by Béatrice Drigeard Desgarnier, he finished in top 20 individually in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and also claimed victory in the Sires of the World under his UAE rider Omar Adul Aziz Al Marzooqi.
Enjoy de la Mure’s started 2025 in similarly spectacular style, kicking off the season by delivering a flawless clear round as the first horse to start in the Longines League of Nations in Abu Dhabi. The stallion’s pedigree is particularly intriguing.
Holsteiner Roots
Enjoy de la Mure’s damline traces back to Schleswig-Holstein, specifically Holsteiner Stamm 632. The mare that first made a name for this line in sport was Olivia/aka Clivia (Logenschliesser - Maschine x Nenndorf). Born in 1952, she was already competing at 1m60m level under the saddle of Sönke Sönksen at a time when this was rare for mares.
It remains unclear how Olivia found her way to France, but like many other outstanding French-bred mares, this German-bred mare ended up with the Empain family. They exclusively bred her to Thoroughbreds, and her bloodline remains in the hands of Diane Empain today.
The Empain legacy
Diane Empain shares the story of how Olivia arrived in France: “We acquired Olivia as part of our strategy to introduce fresh blood into our breeding program. My mother and Georges Calmon were evolving our approach to breeding, aiming to produce horses capable of competing at the highest levels. Olivia had already competed at 1m60 in Germany under Sönke Sönksen, and she became the foundation mare of one of our breeding lines.
“One of her daughters, Diablesse (Chabeli xx), was sold to Paul Schockemöhle, where she established a successful branch of the line. Paul often remarked that this was an exceptional outcome from a relatively small breeding program. Every foal from Olivia was bred by my mother and me. Her son, Nighttimes Playboy/aka Foxhunter (born in 1971), competed at 1m60 with Lillian Jensen.
“At the time, Olivia was competing at the top level at a very young age – something that was common back then. Today, however, it would be unthinkable for a six-year-old to jump at 1m60. The sport has changed significantly, and the market for young horses is now much tougher.
“I continued the line through her daughter Gipsy B (Alfijo xx), crossing her with Double Espoir (Ibrahim - Quatrième Espoir x Plein d’Espoirs). Gipsy B was a tall, high-spirited mare with a lot of blood, but due to a leg issue she was never able to compete. I needed a stallion to bring more calmness and rideability to her offspring, and Double Espoir proved to be an excellent choice, having sired many top sport horses. Their pairing produced Shamrock, a 1m60 jumper ridden by Eric Navet and Jessica Newman.
“This line has also produced If You Want II (Major de la Cour - Quaro x Emir du Mesnil), a highly versatile horse particularly suited for eventing. He was exceptionally steady and reliable, which made him a perfect match for Pascale Boutet, who acquired him for her eventing career. He later competed successfully under Matthew Wright and Pascale Boutet, winning the seven-year-old category at the eventing World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in 2003 at Le Lion d’Angers. I chose Major de la Cour as a sire because he was a promising young stallion who was making a name for himself in the sport...
CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE IN THE ONLINE EDITION OF BREEDING NEWS
