Philippe Le Jeune, Belgian rider and world champion in Lexington in 2010 with Vigo D'Arsouilles, was present in Royan for a competition weekend as a participant and as coach of the Moroccan team, accompanied by three Moroccan riders, Samy Colman, Majid Djaidi and Vincent Zacharias Bourguignon, gave us a few moments just before the GP to answer our questions.
How was your weekend here in Royan?
The weekend was very pleasant, it is the beginning for my Moroccan riders who have just arrived. After a quiet winter, the horses need to be worked on again.
I've been in Morocco for a few weeks to train the riders, the training has gone well and it's already showing in the results, two of the three riders have qualified for the grand prix, so that's a good start.
And you personally with your young horses?
I am very happy, I am here with several young horses including my horses of 6 years, Qui Voila J&F Chamblanc and Goss Darsouil MF.
I have another young mare that I am starting with now in the 1.30m, Emeraude des Hautvent (by Diamant de Semilly) aged 8 who had stopped for a while and Home PL, a young gelding that I gave to my wife. They are qualified for the GP, so we'll see.
Returning to the Tokyo Olympics, how do you analyze the performance of the Moroccan riders?
There are two riders who did very well with a course of 6 points, well 4 penalty points and 2 points for time, and another with 8 points and 2 time points, so that was pretty good.
Abdelkébir Ouaddar was less lucky, he had two less good rounds, which was a shame. But for a first time participation in the Olympics, it was certainly not bad.
We were a little disappointed that USA of Riverland stopped on the river, because he jumped beautifully.
Yes, unfortunately he is known for that. On the other hand, sometimes he jumps over the river without any problems. In the CSI5* in Sopot he finished seventh in the GP with a double clear and also in the Sunshine Tour in the CSIO a year and a half ago.
A combination of pressure, stress and night time played a role here. Many riders feel that rivers should not be jumped at night, it reflects spotlights and lights, some horses are not afraid of it, others are and always will be. Jumping rivers in the dark is not sporting in my opinion.
It was a first for Morocco, but we are not hoping for a last. Do you hope to qualify for Paris 2024?
We will try to qualify for Paris, but we will mainly try to qualify one or two riders for the World Championships, because there are two very good horses with enough experience. The qualification will not be easy because of the slightly stricter rules and the time pressure, but we will go for it full force. I also don't put too much pressure, we try, if it goes well, it goes well, if it doesn't go, it doesn't go. After all, we have very good horses (eight-nine-year-olds) that can become top horses, and that of course with a view to the 2024 Olympics.
Last question, a little bit more technical: with your experience, how do you analyze the transition to the Olympic three-horse format?
Well, I'm against it, I've always been against it, it's anti-sport, the FEI is always talking about the well-being of the horses, I think it puts too much pressure on the horses and the riders, but especially on the horses, and that's what comes first.
And I don't see the point, I don't see what it will bring more, supposedly to bring in more countries, but to bring in more countries that are not at the same level, I don't see what the point is, we can't organize the Olympics at 1.45m and it's not up to the horses to pay the bill.
Interview and photo by Jean-Christophe Bordas