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“It has been a nice journey for the whole family,” Caroline Devos-Poels tells World of Showjumping about Casual DV Z (Cornet Obolensky x Cicero Z), who over the last two seasons has gone from strength to strength with Pieter Devos in the saddle.

A daughter of Pieter’s former ride Just Me D, Casual DV Z has been a true family project: Born at Pieter and Caroline’s Devos Stables, she was produced by Caroline before Pieter took over the reins. “Pieter’s parents are so passionate about breeding, and it all started with them. From the beginning, I was in love with Casual and the feeling she gave me was unbelievable,” Caroline tells. “I felt so safe with her. However, I know that when horses are as good as she is, they need to get the chance they deserve. I am proud of the part I have played in her story.”

With Caroline’s husband Pieter, the now 10-year-old mare placed second in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ in Bordeaux (FRA), third in Mechelen (BEL), and seventh in Lyon (FRA) during the 2024-2025 Western European League-season – qualifying for her second World Cup Final. Recently, she finished fourth in the CSI5* 1.60m Rolex Grand Prix of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NED). In 2024, the talented mare jumped double clear in the CSIO5* Longines League of Nations™ in Rotterdam (NED) as well as in the CSIO5* Nations Cup in Rome, and placed 8th at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in Riyadh (KSA) – at only 9 years of age. Last weekend, Casual DV Z and Devos placed fourth in the CSI5* 1.60m LGCT Grand Prix of Madrid after jumping double clear. 

“I jumped Casual’s mother up to 1.60m level, and our breeding program started with her,” Pieter tells. “Casual is the first horse that we bred ourselves to reach the highest level. She is one-of-a-kind, and we are very proud that we bred her. I think she is one of the best horses that I have ever ridden.”

Casual has a lot in common with her mother

“Casual’s mother had all the scope, she was careful and had a good mentality,” Pieter tells about Casual’s dam Just Me D, and how he ended up combining her with Cornet Obolensky. “Just Me D had blood, but as I thought that she could have been a bit more sporty and flexible in her body, I chose to match her with Cornet – I believed he would make those contributions. I think Casual is the perfect example that it was the right mix: She is like a rubber ball. When she jumps, it doesn't take her a lot of effort because she has such an elastic body. She's also super careful and unbelievably smart.”

“Casual has a lot in common with her mother: She really knows when it's important, and it is unbelievable how intelligent she is,” Pieter points out. “For me, that is the most important quality that she has. In addition, she has the physical capacity for the top sport. Her mother had all the scope, but she was not as sporty as Casual. Casual is more athletic than her mother; she is like an improved, sporty version of the same model.”

“In the selection process that we have for our young horses, she free-jumped outstanding. We knew she was very special right from the start,” Pieter recalls. “She has her own character though… The first few riders we had on her kept falling off. She is a kind horse, but she was just trying them out. Normally I don’t do the four- and five-year-olds myself, but with her it got to a point that I did not want anything to go wrong with her so I rode her whenever I was at home in between the shows. For the rest, she spent a lot of time in the fields and worked on the lunge.”

We knew she was very special right from the start

Even though she was not ridden a lot growing up, Casual showed impressive maturity and took each step of her education with incredible ease. “In the summer when she was five, we took her somewhere else for training – and she jumped around like she had been in work for years. I really felt like she is a horse that is born to compete.”

Caroline took over the ride on Casual when the mare was six, and produced her further. “She was still really green at the time, but felt very special,” Caroline recalls about her first impression. “However, the advantage of our system is that the younger horses can get slowly into the sport. I just do my rounds and try to give them the experience. This is how I like to approach the young horses: I let them be as they are, I give them time to progress, get stronger and gain experience without asking too much of them.”

“Pieter and I are probably a good combination, as I think most of the riders who compete on the highest level have a problem when it comes to producing younger horses. It is not so easy to combine top sport with developing younger horses, because you can only take two or three horses to the five-star shows and very few of them have young horse classes. With us, it works great since I can take the time with the youngster while Pieter is on the road.”

“Casual is something else,” Caroline smiles. “She has such easy scope, and always jumped clear. Even though Casual didn't have any experience, nothing really impressed her in the ring – she is very brave. She has good balance and a lot of blood, but not too much. In the ring, she's a real fighter and always straightforward. In the stable, Casual has this princess-side to her though; she likes to have things her way.”

To see our own home-bred horse competing with Pieter at the top is really special

“It is nice that we did this whole journey with her,” Caroline continues. “We built everything up ourselves and to see our own home-bred horse competing with Pieter at the top is really special. Sometimes I get asked if I don't want to jump the biggest classes myself. However, we have two kids, and it's also not easy to have top horses for two riders. I know you have to be extremely brave to do the top sport, and I really enjoy doing what I do – jumping at the lower levels and producing the young horses for Pieter,” Caroline – who has eight to ten horses on her list while at the same time managing the stable and taking care of her two children – says. “We have a super team around us. That's an important factor; it is not all about Pieter in the ring, there are so many people who contribute to the journey of our young horses.”

From their first international start in 2022, Pieter and Casual have gotten far from where they started in a very short time. “She went from nursery school straight to university, and did it easily,” Pieter says. “I don’t think she ever did too much though. I believe that she's so smart that we could take these huge steps forward whenever she felt ready for it. I have had a really good horses in my career, but I have a feeling Casual can do something extraordinary. I have three championship medals, all of them with the team. It would be nice to have an individual medal as well, and I believe Casual is the horse to do it with. I have not yet decided yet whether to use this year in preparation for the 2026 World Championship, or if we plan towards the European Championships this summer.”

20.5.2025 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.