Gwendolen Fer Tops Pau CCI4*

Gwendolen Fer made history today as the first female French rider to win a CCI 4* championship at Pau CCI4*.

The riders needed nerves of steel and a good dose of talent to ride to the finish of this year’s nail-biting CCI 4*. The eyes of thousands of spectators were riveted on them as they took on the final show jumping event. With 13 fences and 15 efforts, the complex course was a tall order, and many riders crossed the finish line with several faults and heavy penalties on their scorecards.

Nobody could have imagined it would be Fer who would be stealing the show! Ranking ninth after the dressage and second after the cross-country course, she gave a perfect performance today, clearing all the obstacles with panache on her 12-year-old gelding. Punching the air as she cleared the final hurdle, Fer had to wait until Astier Nicolas – winner in 2015 and heading the leaderboard until then – had left the arena after knocking down three bars relegating him to 6th place, before jumping with joy and sharing celebratory hugs with her family, friends and staff.

Overwhelmed with emotion, her first reaction was to express heartfelt thanks to the public, who had cheered her on all weekend, rather than to realise that she had just won her first CCI 4* competition, and moreover, is the first French woman to do so. “I’m on cloud nine, it’s just amazing, of course you always dream about winning, but actually pulling it off is just fantastic,” she said. Fer may be walking on air, but her feet are firmly on the ground as she explains “I think I managed it all rather well, I do a lot of mental preparation with my partner which helps me a lot. I managed to calm down and isolate myself when I needed to and went over the little things I usually say to myself in my head, and that’s a great help.”

English rider Sarah Bullimore finished second on Rêve du Rouet. Hers was an impressive performance, as she competed with three horses, all ranked in the top 10 after the cross-country event, and in the top 15 after the show jumping final. French rider Cédric Lyard came in third with Qatar du Puech Rouget. The French tricolor was flying high today, to the immense satisfaction of Michel Asseray, French national coach and technical director for eventing, who couldn’t hide his joy at seeing two of his riders on the podium. “Being in the French equestrian team is like being part of one big family, and we live through the highs and lows together. I’m so proud of them and I’m very happy to be part of their journey to success.”

Belgian rider Karin Donckers kept it together this morning during the show jumping finale of the CIC**. She was frontrunner on the provisional leaderboard after the dressage, maintained her lead after show jumping, and defended her ranking with flair thanks to a faultless round today, scoring 37.2 points. She was all smiles when she left the arena: “Jalapeno is a wonderful mare! She’s only nine years old but she’s very promising and always performs well for the dressage. She’s already competed in a 3* eventing but I couldn’t ride her as much as I would have wanted to because I had a shoulder operation. Pau CIC 2* event was ideal for me, I couldn’t be happier. She’ll soon be able to stand in for Fletcha, but riding at the 4* level is another thing, I want to take it easy.”