Text © World of Showjumping

Capping off week nine at the Winter Equestrian Festival 2025 in Wellington, USA, with her biggest win yet, 24-year-old Emilie Conter took the top honours in the CSI5* 1.60m $500,000 Bainbridge Companies Grand Prix riding the 10-year-old Portobella van de Fruitkorf (Bamako de Muze x Nabab de Reve) – a horse the young Belgian has produced to top level herself.

“It was thanks to my whole team that we achieved this win,” Emilie tells World of Showjumping. “We have been building Bella up to this level very patiently, and I’m very grateful to my dad for keeping this great horse for me. She's an amazing horse; I'm lucky to have her in my life and to have such a special bond with her. To win a five-star Grand Prix has always been on my bucket list, it just happened faster than I could have ever imagined.”

“I still cannot believe it,” Emilie says about her Grand Prix win in Wellington, where she left the 2024 Olympic team champion Harry Charles to second and the current world number one Henrik von Eckermann to third.

“The first round was quite tricky. I saw some of the riders I look up to go and have fences down, and the open water played a big role as well. I was just trying to execute my plan and make the best out of it. When we went clear, I was really happy. For the jump-off, I'm usually not the fastest rider, but luckily, the track suited me quite well. I knew Henrik was in the lead when I went in, but I didn't really think of beating him. I was just thinking about sticking to our plan, trying to land and go for it on the last line. However, when I landed, I was waiting – I didn't want to take the leave-out. Then I heard my trainer Helena Stormanns scream ‘Go, take it’ – so I just went for it. When I looked up and I saw I was in first, I could not believe it.”

Emelie grew up around horses; her father Stephan Conter is the founder and CEO of the Stephex Group. Even though trying multiple other sports, Emilie always got back to riding and is now balancing a professional riding career with learning the ropes of running the Stephex family business from her father. “I love the horses and they are what I enjoy the most. I love having a special connection with them; it's crazy how they can read your mind and understand you so well. However, I also want to do other things besides riding – I think it is healthy. It has been very interesting learning the different aspects of business from my father.”

“We have a trading stable, so selling our horses is what we do,” Emilie explains. “Personally, I like the trading part. What makes it easier, is that my dad is very clear; I have two horses that I get to keep, and the rest are for sale. This way I know which ones I shouldn’t get too emotionally attached to. I really enjoy producing horses and seeing them do great things with other riders. Working alongside my dad and sister is nice, even though it can be challenging at times.”

Currently, Emilie has an exciting string of horses. “Portobella is obviously my best horse at the moment. She's 10 now and she's amazing. Trixie also jumps at the highest level, and then I have four-five horses that I am currently building up with the hope of jumping bigger classes in the future. I believe it is really important to keep the young ones coming. I like working with young horses and developing a good relationship with them. That is what I did with Bella as well; I got her when she was seven and I think that's why we are so close today.”

“When I first sat on her, it wasn't love right away,” Emilie recalls about the beginning with the now 10-year-old mare. “She was strong and a bit slow. When she was seven and eight, I didn't compete her so much. I only took her to a few shows and when I went to Wellington for the winter, she stayed at home in Belgium – resting and working on the flat. I think that helped her a lot, that we didn't do so much in her younger years. She was always very scopey, but on the small fences, she seemed unimpressed. She has changed so much with age; now, she actually has a lot of blood. She always had a lot of power, but she just wasn't able to use it in the right way on the jump. When I started training with Helena [Stormanns], she introduced me to a different system. We kept our training very consistent, and the work with Helena made a big difference with Bella.”

“I started training with Helena when Bella was eight,” Emilie tells about the well-respected trainer who herself has a successful riding career to look back on. “Helena gives you a lot of confidence, which really helped me because it is something I have always struggled with. She's just amazing. Helena always thought Bella was going to do good things. When we did our first two-star Grand Prix, Bella jumped double clear and afterwards Helena told my dad that she believed she would go on to jump 1.60m Grand Prix classes. He wouldn't believe that Bella would be careful enough to jump clear, so they actually made a bet. I think he owes her now…” Emilie laughs.

The Grand Prix win in Wellington was only the beginning for what will be an exciting season for Emilie. During the second leg of the Longines League of Nations™ in Ocala, USA, Emilie flew the Belgian flag alongside Thibeau Spits, Nicola Philippaerts and Niels Bruynseels. “This season will be interesting," she says. "I also got into a GCL team and it will be my first season jumping the Globals. I'm just going to make a good plan for my horses and not do too much.”

“It would be a dream of mine to make the team for this summer’s Europeans, but the Belgians are so strong. There are so many good combinations that it will be very hard to get there,” Emilie concludes. “So it may be a tough goal, but I'm going to chase it.”

15.4.2025 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.