Pride and Love

Marc started to ride as a child, a side-effect of his father’s new-found love for horses. Today, he runs a stable, sharing his time between training younger horses and the show-jumping rings across the globe.

– I have about 35 horses, says Marc. My wife and my son ride, too, so they help me. Plus a few grooms, of course.

MARC IS CONSTANTLY on the lookout for new talent, and he also get approached by sellers, or by people who think they have spotted a horse that would suit him.

– I look for a horse that fits the modern sport, says Marc. A horse that is very careful, and has a lot of speed. I love blood horses. They also need to have good thrust, to be able to attract a big scope, and go forward.

Acquiring new horses is a tricky business. Marc wants to be sure of the quality, and to know the process the horse has been through with the previous rider. When he tries a new horse, he films the ride, and watch it two times.

– I look the first time as soon as I can, says Marc, a few seconds after the last fence. Then then the ride is so fresh in my head, so I look to sort of corroborate it. Then I look again after a few hours, to be sure of my impressions.

Like all riders, he prefers to try a horse a few times before deciding, but he admits that he trusts his gut feeling more than anything.

– Every time I bought a horse that I later have been successful with it, I felt it after five minutes, says Marc. So if I fall love within the first five minutes, I will do anything to be able to buy it.

A NEW HORSE gets plenty of time to settle in. For the first few weeks, Marc gets to know the newcomer, bit by bit.

– I try to find the feeling for that horse, explains Mars. How it moves, how it behaves. I try to think of how I should work with it. I don’t have a set plan, what I do depends on what kind of horse it is, age, experience and so on.

Marc is not nervous when competing. If he was, he says, he would need to stay at home. Experience brings focus to a rider, but sometimes the horses can get a bit tense.

– Yes, the horse can be a bit nervous, says Marc, so therefore it’s so important that you are not. I concentrate on my technique, my body and everything. That takes the pressure off.

Training horses to sell them can be tough. Marc admits that sometimes it’s hard to part from a special horse, and see it again under another rider at the big competitions.

– Of course it’s difficult, says Marc, because when you have a top horse you are for sure in love with it. But you know, in our job, it’s just like it is.

– But mostly, I’m really proud, says Marc. To see a horse like Hello Folie with one of the best riders in the world makes me happy as well. I bought Folie when she was only 2 years, after seeing her in the free jumping. It was amazing, absolutely crazy. And I did the job, took the time, and when she was 7, I had to sell her.

Today, Marc has an offspring of Hello Folie (and Chacoon Blue) called Loveur de Startup, a 4-year-old that looks very promising.

– He is young, and a crazy one, says Marc with a laugh. I have high hopes for him!

MARC STARTED TO USE KRAFFT because he got an offer he could not resist.

– A good friend of mine talked about this brand, says Marc, and I got in touch with July Touchet. She came to my place, and by the end of our discussion she said: “I’m sure that my feed is the best in the world, but I want you to be sure of that as well. So I will offer you some feed to try, if you want.”

– I was okay to do that, continues Marc, so I put some of my horses on KRAFFT. And you know, in a few weeks, perhaps a month, the horses changed a lot. Their bodies were better, their muscles were better. I could not believe it, but that was what happened. Now, I am so happy to work with this brand, because of the quality.

Previously, Marc gave what he says was “normal feed”, and have never tried any of the top brands. Now he uses Groov Protein for all horses, sometimes mixing it with some High Energy Muesli for horses that need a bit more zest.

– I bought a new horse, Giulio Du Ter, quite recently, says Marc. When I took him to a show only a few moths later, people who used to know him well could see he had really changed. They were as amazed as I was!

Like most riders on the top level, Marc hardly has time for any other interests. His brother is an artist, and his mother runs a gallery, so when time permits he likes to explore that side of life.

– I like what my brother does, its good, says Marc. But it’s not for me, I have the horses. And I don’t mind. I have the horses is my body, I need to be close to them.

_{Text: Noomi Heberts
Foto: Jean-Baptiste Poggi, Franck Zaganelli}