After retiring several of your horses last year, what kind of horses do you have in your string now ?
I have Qoud'Coeur de la Loge as my top horse, Pégase du Mûrier is very good too. Nippon d'Elle is also regularly at the big shows and I have my two young mares Sydney Une Prince and Sangria du Coty. Regarding Sangria, she has less experience than the others but has good potential and as for Sydney, she really progressed well. She has not done a lot of competitions, but she is really confident now. I still have Nikyta d'Elle and Sunshine du Phare,who is nine years old and is still a little green. I have some promising young horses, I have a very good five year old called Apollon des Baleines but given his age he will have to wait eight years to reach the top. That gives me a pretty good string of horses. Qoud'Coeur will go to Hickstead, then maybe the European Championships if we get the opportunity. Aachen is a track that can suit him, he jumped well there in May. For Pégase, the little problems he has had (the horse reared during several rounds recently) it may be a little too much. But I should have at least two horses for the Olympic Games.
Myrtille Paulois, retired since last October, is due a foal by Vivaldo! This is a very good thing and she's doing well.
Can you tell us a bit about Team Bost ?
My son works with me and he produces my young horses and rides the other horses when I'm not there. He also has Quartz de la Land, who I take to 5* shows from time to time. My daughter is also there with her husband. They are more focused on buying and selling and they go to see horses everywhere, take videos and show me the good ones. We buy them together and we try to expand a little bit. We also work with my brother and my parents for the competitive side of things .I never really wanted to change the system. In this situation, when I'm not having luck while competing, doing other things like teaching, compensate for that. So I am splitting myself between competing, coaching, trading and organizing competitions. We have to continue, I am not retired yet!
Which rider has impressed you the most so far?
When I was young I liked Franke Sloothaak and Fruhmann, I also watched Nick Skelton and the Whitakers a lot. Jean d'Orgeix also helped me a lot especially for flat work and the training of horses when I worked with my father.
How did having parents in the sport help you build your career?
My father stopped competing when he was forty. When he had a good horse he preferred to sell it to buy a piece of land and build stables. He really did everything to have his own facilities. And I got there, I was able to take advantage of his experience, he lent me one or two of his speed horses and we trained horses together.When I had a good Grand Prix horse we kept it so that I could continue to progress. At the time, I also had the chance to be near the national team at Fontainebleau. This allowed me to do internships with the best French riders and suddenly it makes progressing even easier.
Has it made it easier for your children Clémentine and Nicolas to succeed in this business with your help ?
They know it is not that easy to have a dad who wins a lot. They know that we must train young horses to be good. From time to time they have an opportunity to keep a Grand Prix horse like my son who now has Quartz or my daughter who has had Once de Kreisker for some time. But they are aware that it may not last because I can not always keep these horses. They (the horses) can train with me but we can not buy them already made. While 20 years ago there were less people coming up, suddenly the Grand Prix horses went almost automatically to good riders. Today there are so many amateurs, 2* shows, that people keep the best horses. But my children know that this is how they will make money by selling, teaching etc.
It has been almost two years since you became the European Champion, how does this kind of victory change home life ?
I do not know if I get to do as well ... after the win we relaxed a bit, when we made a mistake we said ,"it is not very serious, I have already won" but after you have to return to reaching your next goals rather quickly like producing horses. I was lucky to have Qoud'Coeur take over from Myrtille so quickly. Even when I get an exceptional 5 year its great, but it is important to continue to train. I saw things a little differently after my title but I have to continue to do my job, you have to stay motivated, to not let go. There is Aachen, then Rio, Bromont in 2018 ... even for owners it's important to look ahead; when they are told "you need to buy a horse to do that" it motivates them!
What is it like to work with Philippe Guerdat, who has been the Chef d'équipe of the French Team for several years now.
He has a lot of experience, he knows the horses, he does not want surprises. He wants to see a lot of different riders, he gives a chance to young people and that's good. For the more experienced riders he knows how we work, we have no waffling with him. At the end anyway he wants a medal so he will want the best riders.
Photo's ©Equnews.fr
Which rider has impressed you the most so far?
When I was young I liked Franke Sloothaak and Fruhmann, I also watched Nick Skelton and the Whitakers a lot. Jean d'Orgeix also helped me a lot especially for flat work and the training of horses when I worked with my father.
How did having parents in the sport help you build your career?
My father stopped competing when he was forty. When he had a good horse he preferred to sell it to buy a piece of land and build stables. He really did everything to have his own facilities. And I got there, I was able to take advantage of his experience, he lent me one or two of his speed horses and we trained horses together.When I had a good Grand Prix horse we kept it so that I could continue to progress. At the time, I also had the chance to be near the national team at Fontainebleau. This allowed me to do internships with the best French riders and suddenly it makes progressing even easier.
Has it made it easier for your children Clémentine and Nicolas to succeed in this business with your help ?
They know it is not that easy to have a dad who wins a lot. They know that we must train young horses to be good. From time to time they have an opportunity to keep a Grand Prix horse like my son who now has Quartz or my daughter who has had Once de Kreisker for some time. But they are aware that it may not last because I can not always keep these horses. They (the horses) can train with me but we can not buy them already made. While 20 years ago there were less people coming up, suddenly the Grand Prix horses went almost automatically to good riders. Today there are so many amateurs, 2* shows, that people keep the best horses. But my children know that this is how they will make money by selling, teaching etc.
It has been almost two years since you became the European Champion, how does this kind of victory change home life ?
I do not know if I get to do as well ... after the win we relaxed a bit, when we made a mistake we said ,"it is not very serious, I have already won" but after you have to return to reaching your next goals rather quickly like producing horses. I was lucky to have Qoud'Coeur take over from Myrtille so quickly. Even when I get an exceptional 5 year its great, but it is important to continue to train. I saw things a little differently after my title but I have to continue to do my job, you have to stay motivated, to not let go. There is Aachen, then Rio, Bromont in 2018 ... even for owners it's important to look ahead; when they are told "you need to buy a horse to do that" it motivates them!
What is it like to work with Philippe Guerdat, who has been the Chef d'équipe of the French Team for several years now.
He has a lot of experience, he knows the horses, he does not want surprises. He wants to see a lot of different riders, he gives a chance to young people and that's good. For the more experienced riders he knows how we work, we have no waffling with him. At the end anyway he wants a medal so he will want the best riders.
Photo's ©Equnews.fr