Dominating proceedings at the top of the leaderboard after two days of competition at the Agria FEI World Showjumping Championships in Herning, Denmark, is French rider Julien Epaillard, riding the 10-year-old mare Caracole De La Roque.
This fiery mare, whom his rider describes as slightly out of control at times, needs a special routine to manage her quirky nature, but there is no doubting one thing – she has bucketloads of ability and a fierce will to win.
After their second round on Thursday (11 August), Julien said: “The mare was a bit fresh today – I don’t have the best control, but she’s amazing and she jumped super.
“She doesn’t have the best precision, but she still has the best quality. It was not easy to decide what to do at the triple combination – I decided finally to make seven strides to it, but only when I was in the ring, not before I went in the ring.”
Julien has led the World Showjumping Championships from day one; he currently holds the gold medal position on a score of zero, just 0.23 penalties ahead of British rider Scott Brash (Hello Jefferson). Julien is also part of the French team who currently sit in the silver medal position behind leaders Sweden.
“We will see what happens as we try to fight, but it’s a good thing for for the rest of the competition to see her so fresh,” said Julien.
World Showjumping Championships: an unusual preparation
Unusually, the French rider warms up the 10-year-old Zandor Z mare in a bitted bridle before swapping to a hackamore just before they go in to compete.
“I do flatwork with a normal bit and when I start to jump I put the hackamore on,” explained Julien. “It’s easier to have the mare under control with a normal bit, but with the hackamore she’s a bit more free and the jump is better – but the control is not.”
French showjumper Michel Hecart, who rode the mare until last year, takes the shoes off all his horses and Caracole continues to compete barefoot. She and Julien have rocketed to the top level in a very short space of time, only teaming up in 2021 and taking in just a handful of five-star shows before heading to the World Showjumping Championships.
“When I started with her I jumped very small – 1.30m in Saint Tropez last year,” said Julien. “During Covid, she was just in the field. So we started slowly and she finished the year in Valence, where she won a two-star grand prix. After that, in Oliva, Spain, she won two three-star grands prix. We then went step by step and in her first Nations Cup in Knokke she jumped double clear [and helped the French team to victory].
“We didn’t know how good she’d be as she did not have so much experience. But I know she’s a fighter and she would jump through fire if I asked her to.”
Julien was quick to bat off any pressure he may have been feeling holding the lead for so long during the World Showjumping Championships.
“I just try to jump clear and I don’t look at the rest!” said Julien, who is long established as a familiar name on the international showjumping circuit, forging a fierce reputation as a brilliant speed rider, but somewhat surprisingly the world number nine had never represented his native France at a senior championship.
At the age of 45, however, Julien was selected for Herning.
Much to the delight of French fans, he and the nippy mare by Zandor Z kicked off their medal bid by jumping the fastest clear of the day on the opening speed leg on Wednesday (10 August).
“It’s a good way to start and I had a good feeling with her, she was very focused,” he said. “I hope I didn’t ask her for too much speed, but she jumped really good until the end. I had a little bit of luck on the triple bar where I took a little risk. I trusted her scope and it worked.”
The individual medals for the World Showjumping Championships won’t be decided until Sunday, and as Julien pointed out: “This is only the beginning, the most difficult part is still to come.”
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