Oh la la! French showjumper Olivier Robert showed the utmost stickability when things didn’t quite go to plan at the Global Champions event in Samorin, Slovakia last week.
As the video clip shows (scroll down to view), the 45-year-old rider and his 12-year-old stallion Vangog Du Mas Garnier (Cornet Obolensky x Quidam De Revel) were powering round the 1.50m track for the Global Champions League (GCL) class when the grey stallion dropped a leg (see below) and paddled his way through a fairly hefty oxer.
The Frenchman, currently ranked 29th in the world, is pitched right out of the saddle, landing rather uncomfortably a good two-thirds of the way up the horse’s neck.
Front row spectators seated in the corner of the arena must have got the fright of their lives as the pair hurtled towards them but in a thrilling display of acrobatics, Olivier manages to shift his weight back in the saddle and take an urgent turn on the left rein while his horse barely bats an eyelid.
The pair managed to regain their composure just in time to clear the following vertical off the bend in fine style and cruised home to finish with just four faults.
Hats off to this amazing duo for one of the best recoveries we’ve ever seen!
They were representing the St Tropez Pirates team in the opening round of the GCL competition at the event and went on to jump clear in round two. Joined by Olivier’s team-mate Daniel Deusser riding Bingo Ste Hermelle, who jumped a double clear, the pair finished fifth in the penultimate leg of the series ahead of the big finale at the same venue this weekend (21-24 October).
Olivier is also in the running for a podium place in the individual Global Champions Tour series, currently sitting in second position behind the new world number one and Olympic team gold medallist Peder Fredricson of Sweden, with Great Britain’s Ben Maher in third.
Whatever the outcome, Olivier Robert has proved himself a brilliant horseman after a comeback like that.
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