It's no easy task to be a national chef d'équipe, definitely not with the 2020 Olympic Games coming up. Until January 15, 2020 there's still some important transfers coming up. Recently France's chef d'équipe, Thierry Pomel lost two important horses from his team as TImon d'Aure and Urhelia Lutterbach were sold... how to cope with this loss?
"I won't start to panic, just yet," starts Pomel. "I will keep my eye open for combinations that developed best the last year. They will get more chances to prove themselves at CSIO competitions, I'm thinking about Nicolas Delmotte with Urvoso du Roch and Mathieu Billot with Quel Filou 13.
"As a teamchef I did my homework. I made a first list with talented and potential candidates. It is up to me and the federation to make a final longlist. After that we will meet with the riders and owners to start discussing preparations and trainings. We don't have much time left. By June next year our final selection will have to be announced."
Owners are very important
"There's no planning without bearing in mind the intentions of the owners. They invest a lot in the horses. It is not up to us to decide weather to keep or sell horses, while we are working towards the Games."
"Every owner has to think economic. An Olympic horse is rare, so if you can sell it, who am I to stop the owner from doing so? "
