French rider Aymeric de Ponnat and his powerful stallion Armitages Boy have had some beautiful performances in some of the world's best arenas, particularly in Nations Cups. In 2013, the pair finished in a respectable eleventh place at the European Championships in Herning, Denmark. Armitages Boy has recently returned to the world stage and they will be hoping to put up a good score next week in Rotterdam in a bid to earn their place on the French team at the European Championships in Aachen, Germany later this year. Aymeric recently sat down with our colleagues at Equnews.fr to talk about his magnificent stallion and his aims for the upcoming season.
How does Armitages Boy feel since returning to competition ?
We followed a programme that would allow him to come back gradually. The goal was to have him ready for La Baule, so I made a programme that would have him ready for then. There, it was just like how I imagined, super ! He had two really strong rounds. I brought him to Bourg en Bresse before St. Gallen because I was afraid that he would be too fresh there.
Are the European Championships in Aachen, Germany a big goal for you this year ?
Yes of course ! Armitages Boy is a championship horse, a horse that can jump the big tracks in any arena. I really think that now he has the maturity that he has not had before. He started his career very late but he progressed to 5* level very quickly. With a horse like him, every year the aim is for whatever championship is on that year, that's for sure !
Ricoré Courcelle, the stallion owned by Écurie de Montchevreuil, appears to be quite capable to take some of the stress off of Armitages Boy, is that true ?
Yes, he is very promising. Initially, I struggled with him. He also needed surgery for colic which required a lot of recovery time, which is why he too did not compete much last year. I also found that his technique was not fully developed. He jumped up to 1 metre 50 but no Grand Prix's. I think that this year he is much more developed and is really starting to jump well. He's brilliant and he jumps with ease. What he lacks now is experience since this is the first year that he has jumped at the big shows more frequently. He is very different to Armitages but he really can jump. His best quality is definitely his mentality.
You train with your daughter Amy everyday, what is it like to work together ?
When I am at home we constantly train together and she calls me after all of her competitions. What is important for me, since it will be apart of her job, is for her to know how to train horses. I try to keep some horses for her, she has had many young horse entrusted to her by various owners. Last year, one of her horses rose in value, it was sold because it was necessary to keep the business going and sometimes we have no choice. We get along really well, she works a lot, is really attentive and is very motivated.
Can you tell us more about l'Écurie de Montchevreuil, your main owner ?
Cécile and Antoine Bourgeois came to me two years ago. They are very passionate people. I think that they have only had horses for four or five years, so they are still quite new to the sport.For me, their support is very comforting because they are always listening to me. I have total control over the management of the horses, competition schedules, any sales of horses,etc. Their ambition is to stay at the highest level on a regular basis. They are ideal owners.
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Ricoré Courcelle[/caption]
What are the plans for the future ?
The idea, with the European Championships in mind, is to jump Armitages Boy at one or two CSI 5* shows before then. I will prepare him for Paris, Chantilly and Dinard, which will be the last show before the Europeans in Aachen.
Text and photo's ©Equnews
