Arioneo and the French Equestrian Federation have joined forces in an initiative dedicated to the health, well-being and performance of equine athletes. As part of this collaboration, the French Equestrian Federation has made EQUIMETRE VET solutions available to the French eventing team.
As part of this collaboration, we had the chance to interview professional eventing riders Karim Laghouag, Stephane Landois, Gireg Le Coz and Sebastien Cavaillon. Find out how EQUIMETRE helped our silver medal-winning French riders prepare their horses for the big event ahead, throughout their annual preparation and their week in Granville.
The French eventing team answers our questions
Could you please introduce yourself? Who is your Olympic horse? Why are we in Granville? Can you tell us about your use of EQUIMETRE? What’s it like to represent France, and how do you feel about this upcoming event?
My name is Karim Laghouag, I’m 48 years old. I compete in eventing and was Olympic champion in Rio in 2016, bronze medallist in Tokyo in 2021, both team medals. Now I’m off to Paris for the Olympic Games, in a few days.
My Olympic horse is Triton Fontaine. He’s already a bronze medallist in Tokyo 2021. He’s an exceptional horse. It’s rare to have a horse do two Olympics. He’s a very brave horse, very powerful, very fast. He’s a bit of a rugby player, and we try to make him look like a prima ballerina on dressage day.
We’re in Granville, which is where we train, where we create cohesion, where we train the horses. Here, we have everything we need. We go to the sea a lot and we gallop on the sand. We also have sand and grass arenas to work on dressage and jumping.
My favorite EQUIMETRE parameter is heart rate, because I can check it live on my phone using the app.
For me, the French team means a lot because I’ve won two Olympic medals, twice as part of a team. The team is very important because it’s also where you have the best chance of medaling.
It’s a real opportunity to be in Paris, around the magnificent Château de Versailles. I’m really excited about this event and I hope everything goes as smoothly as possible.
My name is Stéphane Landois, I’m an event rider based in La Rochelle.
My lead horse is Chaman Dumontceau, he’s twelve years old.
We’re here to prepare for the Olympic Games. We’ve been with the whole team for a good ten days now to prepare as best we can.
What I’m looking at is heart rate. It’s important to look at all the parameters. It’s true that we try to raise the cardio in certain areas to improve our horses’ performance.
I’m very proud to represent the French team. I already did it last year at the European championships, but here in Paris, in front of all the French public, it’s really going to be something magnificent. I’m very proud and I can’t wait to get there.
My name is Sébastien Cavaillon and I’m an event rider and member of the French national team.
My horse’s name is Elipso de la Vigne, a ten-year-old French saddle.
We’re in Granville, preparing for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
I’m very happy to be using Arioneo’s EQUIMETRE. We’ve been using it since the start of the season for all the horse’s preparation, for all the gallops we’ve done, and thanks to it, we’ve been able to see the horse’s evolution in his gallops. Knowing exactly when his peak form is, seeing his recovery. We’ve been able to follow this very closely and see that our horse is really in shape and ready for every event.
Representing your country in an international competition is always very pleasant. We’ve got the fervor of the public, so particularly here in Paris, we’re at home, we’ve got a championship which at home is the Olympic Games. That’s going to give us even more motivation to try and perform as well as we can.
I’m Gireg Le Coz, team rider for Paris 2024.
My horse is Aisprit de la Loge, he’s fourteen years old. He’s a great horse for the three events of dressage, jumping and cross-country. We bought him when he was four, so we’ve been working towards this goal for just under ten years.
We’re here in Saint-Martin-de-Bréhal to prepare for the Olympics and to allow us to gallop the horses on the beach.
We’re proud to represent France, and we’re feeling good about it. We’ve had a good preparation, so for the moment we’re serene and confident.
Key words : French Eventing Team, Karim Laghouag, Sébastien Cavaillon, Stéphane Landois, Gireg Le Coz, EQUIMETRE VET, ecg, cardiac, cardio horse