Profiles

Mégane Sauvé is On Her Way

Armed with a pair of speedy Thoroughbred mares, this Quebec native is vaulting up the eventing ranks under the best possible guidance.

A young woman jumping a cross-country fence on a bay mare.

Meg and and Nuance (Potato). (Xpress Photo)

By: Tracy Hanes | January 15, 2025

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you're listening to an article from horse sport.com. mégane sauvé is on her way by: tracy hanes. although mégane sauvé has taken a ‘nuanced’ approach to her eventing aspirations, it’s been an impressive ascent for her and her keen thoroughbred mare. the 23-year-old rider from saint-paul, quebec, and her 10-year-old bay, nuance, capped off a remarkable year that included winning the young riders cci3* at the maryland international cci4*-s. that accomplishment, and others, resulted in the pair being named to equestrian canada’s development squad for the second time. meg’s first exposure to horses came when her dad calf roped when she was a toddler. he gave up roping a few years later, and meg got into dance and pursued that for 10 years. when she started high school, she met a friend who was taking riding lessons. “i missed horses, so i found a riding school and started taking lessons. and here i am!” she says. she started riding at age 13 at rekc & associés in mascouche. on a school pony, meg competed at the quebec dressage championships in 2016; in 2017, she had her first cross-country experience during a fun show. advertisement scroll to continue with content “it was maybe grasshopper height, but when i came off the course, i thought ‘this is what i want to do. it’s so fun!’”. in 2018, she and her parents started looking for a horse for her. meg had seen a four-year-old thoroughbred at a schooling show at écurie la crinière de napierville, a quebec breeding and riding farm owned by yves and isabelle landry, and operated by their daughter isabelle. mégane learned the mare, nuance, was for sale, and that her dam, vaillante, had competed to intermediate with isabelle. “i went and sat on her, and that’s the only horse i tried. it was a very short time spent horse shopping!”. three years ago, meg learned canadian team member jessica phoenix was seeking a working student. “i’d taken a clinic with jessie, had loved her teaching and how positive she was. i’d finished high school, wanted to work with horses, but i didn’t know where to start, so i applied.”. she landed the job, and under jessica’s tutelage, “nuance kept surprising us with how much work she wanted to put in, and how much heart she had.”. together, meg and nuance moved up the levels together, from pre-entry to competing at the 2022 fei young rider championship in tryon, where their team finished in second place. in early 2023, meg was at home for the winter when jessica called her and told her she should come try secretly, an off-the-track thoroughbred that one of jessica’s clients was selling. “i knew of the horse, and knew she was a feisty little thing. i asked dad to come with me, so he could be my eyes on the ground. she was floating, she was light, she was a good jumper, she was exciting. i knew this wasn’t a project horse.” the mare became hers. in march, 2023, meg was riding secretly (kalli) in the warm-up ring at majestic oaks in florida when something spooked the mare. she reared up and fell over, breaking meg’s pelvis, requiring the rider to take a lengthy pause from riding to heal. by june, meg was back in the saddle and she and nuance finished seventh in kentucky at the hagyard midsouth three-day 2023 in the 2*-l. this past july, meg and nuance made their debut at the cci3* level in the young riders division at the maryland international cci4*-s. with just four fei competitions under their belts, the pair galloped to victory. “it was awesome,” meg recalls. “i was telling jessie the week before that i wanted to go and have a good weekend. i said i didn’t know how many people were in my class, but if we were in the top 10 after the first day, we were going for it. after cross-country, i said ‘i guess we’re going for it.’” after placing fourth in dressage, they finished cross-country closest to the optimum time in their division and moved into first place. the pair scored just four penalties in show jumping, holding on to their lead to win. while that was a highlight for meg, another was competing at bromont horse trials cci4-s in august, as her parents, grandparents and other extended family came to see her ride. her parents, pascal and julie isabelle miville, are her number-one fans, and while they weren’t horse people, they are becoming ones. her father will braid nuance if needed, loves to read about conformation and is planning to get more involved in the industry. her mother loves to groom nuance “for hours.”. in the fall, meg and nuance tackled their first long format three-star at the maryland 5 star at fair hill, finishing 21st. “nuance felt great the whole way. the commentators said i didn’t take my foot off the accelerator, but i didn’t have it on at all,” meg says. the year ended with meg competing aboard nuance at the royal agricultural winter fair’s indoor eventing competition, and was capped off with the announcement that meg and nuance were named to the development squad for 2025. “i bought nuance with the plan to do training level, and now she might go four-star. my first year with jessie, we thought nuance could go preliminary, and she did the two-star at young riders. then we thought maybe she’d go intermediate, and she did a three-star. she keeps having the scope, movement and strength to do the higher levels. she wants it so much. “i ride her almost seven days a week, and i give her the same ride at three-star that i did at training level. she just goes. i love her and am so grateful to have found her to be my first horse.”. while both her mares love to work, meg says nuance and kalli, 7, are quite different. “nuance works better under pressure and at shows, she’s a different horse, as she knows we’re competing. at home, she gets distracted and will spook at flowers she’s seen 100 times. kalli needs to work to feel good in her head and stay calm, and you have to give her things to do. we finished the season with an upgrade to preliminary and she’s going well. i’m excited, as now she listens.”. meg and her mares will travel to florida soon to train and compete with the phoenix equestrian team, with rocking horse winter trials iii tentatively slated as their warm-up for 2025. “i would love to go both bromont events this year, the first with nuance and the second with kalli. i feel 2024 was so big and so great, i just want steady, steady horses and to be competitive. jessica makes it look so easy to go and show seven horses at the same show. she’s really helped me with riding and competing, and teaching me that even if something doesn’t happen like you expected, if riding is your job, you get on and do your job. even on bad days, she finds something positive.”. although meg has plans to get her riding instructor’s license and would like to take on more project horses, she has no plans to move on from phoenix equestrian. “i don’t see myself going anywhere else. jessica has so much to teach me.”. &&>

Although Mégane Sauvé has taken a ‘nuanced’ approach to her eventing aspirations, it’s been an impressive ascent for her and her keen Thoroughbred mare. The 23-year-old rider from Saint-Paul, Quebec, and her 10-year-old bay, Nuance, capped off a remarkable year that included winning the Young Riders CCI3* at the Maryland International CCI4*-S. That accomplishment, and others, resulted in the pair being named to Equestrian Canada’s Development Squad for the second time.

Meg’s first exposure to horses came when her dad calf roped when she was a toddler. He gave up roping a few years later, and Meg got into dance and pursued that for 10 years. When she started high school, she met a friend who was taking riding lessons.

“I missed horses, so I found a riding school and started taking lessons. And here I am!” she says. She started riding at age 13 at REKC & Associés in Mascouche. On a school pony, Meg competed at the Quebec Dressage Championships in 2016; in 2017, she had her first cross-country experience during a fun show.

Scroll to continue with content

“It was maybe grasshopper height, but when I came off the course, I thought ‘this is what I want to do. It’s so fun!’”

In 2018, she and her parents started looking for a horse for her. Meg had seen a four-year-old Thoroughbred at a schooling show at Écurie La Crinière de Napierville, a Quebec breeding and riding farm owned by Yves and Isabelle Landry, and operated by their daughter Isabelle. Mégane learned the mare, Nuance, was for sale, and that her dam, Vaillante, had competed to intermediate with Isabelle.

“I went and sat on her, and that’s the only horse I tried. It was a very short time spent horse shopping!”

Three years ago, Meg learned Canadian team member Jessica Phoenix was seeking a working student. “I’d taken a clinic with Jessie, had loved her teaching and how positive she was. I’d finished high school, wanted to work with horses, but I didn’t know where to start, so I applied.”

She landed the job, and under Jessica’s tutelage, “Nuance kept surprising us with how much work she wanted to put in, and how much heart she had.”

Together, Meg and Nuance moved up the levels together, from pre-entry to competing at the 2022 FEI Young Rider Championship in Tryon, where their team finished in second place.

In early 2023, Meg was at home for the winter when Jessica called her and told her she should come try Secretly, an off-the-track Thoroughbred that one of Jessica’s clients was selling. “I knew of the horse, and knew she was a feisty little thing. I asked Dad to come with me, so he could be my eyes on the ground. She was floating, she was light, she was a good jumper, she was exciting. I knew this wasn’t a project horse.” The mare became hers.

In March, 2023, Meg was riding Secretly (Kalli) in the warm-up ring at Majestic Oaks in Florida when something spooked the mare. She reared up and fell over, breaking Meg’s pelvis, requiring the rider to take a lengthy pause from riding to heal.

By June, Meg was back in the saddle and she and Nuance finished seventh in Kentucky at the Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day 2023 in the 2*-L. This past July, Meg and Nuance made their debut at the CCI3* level in the Young Riders division at the Maryland International CCI4*-S. With just four FEI competitions under their belts, the pair galloped to victory.

“It was awesome,” Meg recalls. “I was telling Jessie the week before that I wanted to go and have a good weekend. I said I didn’t know how many people were in my class, but if we were in the top 10 after the first day, we were going for it. After cross-country, I said ‘I guess we’re going for it.’” After placing fourth in dressage, they finished cross-country closest to the optimum time in their division and moved into first place. The pair scored just four penalties in show jumping, holding on to their lead to win.

While that was a highlight for Meg, another was competing at Bromont Horse Trials CCI4-S in August, as her parents, grandparents and other extended family came to see her ride. Her parents, Pascal and Julie Isabelle Miville, are her number-one fans, and while they weren’t horse people, they are becoming ones. Her father will braid Nuance if needed, loves to read about conformation and is planning to get more involved in the industry. Her mother loves to groom Nuance “for hours.”

In the fall, Meg and Nuance tackled their first long format three-star at the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, finishing 21st.

“Nuance felt great the whole way. The commentators said I didn’t take my foot off the accelerator, but I didn’t have it on at all,” Meg says.

The year ended with Meg competing aboard Nuance at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair’s Indoor Eventing competition, and was capped off with the announcement that Meg and Nuance were named to the Development Squad for 2025.

“I bought Nuance with the plan to do training level, and now she might go four-star. My first year with Jessie, we thought Nuance could go preliminary, and she did the two-star at Young Riders. Then we thought maybe she’d go intermediate, and she did a three-star. She keeps having the scope, movement and strength to do the higher levels. She wants it so much.

“Even if something doesn’t happen like you expected, if riding is your job, you get on and do your job.”

“I ride her almost seven days a week, and I give her the same ride at three-star that I did at training level. She just goes. I love her and am so grateful to have found her to be my first horse.”

While both her mares love to work, Meg says Nuance and Kalli, 7, are quite different.

“Nuance works better under pressure and at shows, she’s a different horse, as she knows we’re competing. At home, she gets distracted and will spook at flowers she’s seen 100 times. Kalli needs to work to feel good in her head and stay calm, and you have to give her things to do. We finished the season with an upgrade to preliminary and she’s going well. I’m excited, as now she listens.”

Meg and her mares will travel to Florida soon to train and compete with the Phoenix Equestrian Team, with Rocking Horse Winter Trials III tentatively slated as their warm-up for 2025.

“I would love to go both Bromont events this year, the first with Nuance and the second with Kalli. I feel 2024 was so big and so great, I just want steady, steady horses and to be competitive. Jessica makes it look so easy to go and show seven horses at the same show. She’s really helped me with riding and competing, and teaching me that even if something doesn’t happen like you expected, if riding is your job, you get on and do your job. Even on bad days, she finds something positive.”

Although Meg has plans to get her riding instructor’s license and would like to take on more project horses, she has no plans to move on from Phoenix Equestrian. “I don’t see myself going anywhere else. Jessica has so much to teach me.”