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From youngster to international Grand Prix horse: Leone Jei

Thursday, 03 February 2022
From youngster to international Grand Prix horse

Last year, Martin Fuchs’ Leone Jei started the season as a relatively unknown 9-year-old gelding. By the end of 2021, he was one of the most famous jumping horses in the world. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

 

Text © World of Showjumping

 


 

Last year, Martin Fuchs’ Leone Jei started the season as a relatively unknown 9-year-old gelding. By the end of 2021, he was one of the most famous jumping horses in the world. Team gold and individual silver at the European Championships in Riesenbeck as well as a win in the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva were among Leone Jei’s most impressive achievements during the season – and as World of Showjumping discovers, all a result of being in the absolutely right hands from the very beginning. Going straight from his breeder Gijs van Mersbergen’s fields to be carefully produced by his former owner and rider Koen Leemans, Leone Jei was discovered as a 6-year-old at a local show in the Netherlands by Paul Hendrix and the Dutch horse trader wasted no time with his purchase. Well aware that he had acquired something really special, Paul Hendrix asked his brother Emile to reach out to Martin Fuchs’ sponsor Adolfo Juri who was on the hunt for the next super star for the Swiss rider. And, as we all know by now, that turned out to be a match made in heaven. 

“I think we have a really good one!” 

Koen Leemans and Hay El Desta Ali, as Leone Jei was called before he came to Martin Fuchs. Photo © private collection.

Leone Jei grew up in the village Undenhout in North Brabant, at his late breeder Gijs van Mersbergen’s stable. Out of the mare Dara, Leone Jei came from Van Mersbergen’s favourite damline, Koen Leemans recalls. “Gijs really believed in this damline. Dara was out of the Peter Pan-mare Pardous, that Gijs thought was something really special,” Leemans tells. “There are several good offspring out of Pardous – Ardenta VDL by Cardento, Impossible Dream by Cardento and Wennous by Orame all jumped internationally at 1.45-1.50m level, and then there was of course Dara, by Corland. Through Dara, this successful damline has been continued.”

“I first saw Hay El Desta Ali, as he was called back then, out in Gijs’ field,” Leemans tells. “I already rode a couple of horses for Gijs and was over at his place to have a look at some of his youngsters. Hay El Desta Ali was 3 years old at the time, and Gijs said to me that he was a nice horse, with a lot of power and energy. I agreed to start with him when he turned 3 ½, so about half a year later he came to my place. I did a bit of light work with him and free jumped him a couple of times in my indoor. From the ground he looked really good, but sometimes he was almost too hot and powerful, and was running a bit too much to the jump. However, the quality was there. When Hay El Desta Ali turned four, I brought him under the saddle and two months later I was so in love with him. I believed he could be a really good one, so I bought him from Gijs.”

“Although I really loved him and considered him my friend, Hay El Desta Ali was not so easy in the beginning; he was almost overactive, and always extremely fresh, which was a bit difficult at times. He took more work than a normal horse, but I consider myself a little bit of a horseman and I know that this is the type you need for the big stuff. The really easy horses are most of the time not going to be good enough. Hay El Desta Ali always wanted to go, go, go and you can still see to this day, even with a rider like Martin, that he needs a bit of work in the ring,” Leemans tells. 

Watch Leone Jei with Koen Leemans as a 4-year-old. Video © private collection.

“Hay El Desta Ali always had a top technique, a lot of power and scope – and he always gave you a good feeling on the fence. He was also athletic and flexible in his body, so even when he ran himself a bit too deep, he would still get back in time to make a big, scopey jump,” Leeman recalls. 

“At Hay El Desta Ali’s first local show he jumped a competition for 4-year-old horses. It was a judged class, and out of almost forty horses, he won with the highest score,” Leemans tells. “After, I gave him a rest for a couple of months and then I started him again in December. The year he turned five I did some nice shows with him, and then at the end of that summer I took him with to a three-day national show at Sentower Park. At this time, he was quite sharp in the ring and still had too much power, so I wanted to try to work him a bit differently – with dressage work on the show ground in the morning and then jumping in the afternoon. This really helped, and he was clear all three days – and the last day he jumped amazing. He was finally a little bit more relaxed, so I could use my leg and actually get to ride him. When I came home from Sentower, I told my wife: “I think we have a really good one!” 

“From this moment, and through the year he was six, he kept on improving – jumping the 1.30m and 1.35m classes. I had such a good feeling and thought that if he would come to the right rider, he could do really well,” Leemans tells. “Eventually I sold him to Paul Hendrix for good money. After a couple of weeks Paul called me and said he found the right rider for him – which was Martin Fuchs. I remember saying; ‘Wow, that’s a really good rider then!’” It’s always nice when the horses end up in such capable hands. Sometimes you sell quality horses, but you end up never hearing about them again.”

Watch Leone Jei with Koen Leemans as a 6-year-old. Video © private collection.

“About a year later, I was watching the start list from Aachen, and I saw Martin Fuchs entered with Leone Jei – a horse by Baltic VDL x Corland. I immediately got my computer out to check and realized it was indeed my former horse Hay El Desta Ali. I of course went there to watch; he was clear all three days and ended 7th in the final – Martin had a big smile on his face. Paul was also so happy, smiling from ear to ear. I think Martin said to Paul that in two years he could do the Grand Prix there, and he was right!”

“Following him is great, and I have had a bit of contact with Martin too which has been nice,” Leemans tells about Leone Jei’s success. “By the time of the jump-off in the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva, the whole family was around the computer watching him – even though at the same time it was Formula 1 on TV with our national hero Max Verstappen.”

“It’s been unbelievable to see what he has done as a 9-year-old: Team gold and individual silver at the Europeans, winning the Grand Prix in Geneva, I can only hope he keeps healthy and that his success continues for many more years. Luckily, Martin is a real horseman, so Leone is in very capable hands,” Leemans closes off. 

“Only a couple of times in your life do you walk into a horse like this”

"It was his lightness and scope that caught my eye, and also his canter, which is exceptional – everything just came together for him," Paul Hendrix tells about the first time he saw Leone Jei, then at a local show. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

For Paul Hendrix, it was a stroke of luck that made him cross paths with Leone Jei. “We always have our auction, the Dutch Horse Sport Sales, in September, and that year – in 2018 – one of our clients could not find a horse, so I agreed to take her to a show in Geldrop that following Thursday where I had a 6-year-old jumping. Normally, this is not something I would do straight after our auction, but anyhow I took her there to watch the horse and thanks God I did because that’s where I saw Leone Jei,” Hendrix laughs. “I was blown away by the way he jumped. It was his lightness and scope that caught my eye, and also his canter, which is exceptional – everything just came together for him. There were plenty of scouts that day, but Koen was holding himself back a bit and I waited around until the jump-off was finished. In the jump-off, Leone jumped even better so I asked Koen to give me a price on the horse – and he did. It was a serious price for a 6-year-old, so I asked for some more videos. Koen sent me five-six videos on grass, sand, indoor, outdoor, and I have to say, I was really impressed. I said to Koen I wanted to make some jumps with the horse, so he came with Leone to our stable. I think we did something like twenty jumps with him, but already after two we saw that this was a special horse that you don’t find that often. We agreed straight away, vetted him the same day – and that was it.”

“I knew from the beginning that Leone was going to be a special horse,” Hendrix tells. “During our auction, Martin had been there with his sponsor Adolfo Juri, who wanted to buy a good horse to enjoy the sport. So, only a few weeks after the auction, my brother Emile contacted Mr. Juri and told him that Leone would be a horse for Martin. They came to try him, and as easy as we bought him from Koen, they bought him from us. It was an easy trial; the scope, the way he canters, the personality, you don’t find that so often in a horse. I would like to buy a horse like Leone Jei every year, but to be realistic, only a couple of times in your life do you walk into a horse like this.” 

“With Martin, Leone came into the right hands and they became a perfect match. It’s just a great story for all of us, and we are so happy for the success they have together,” Hendrix says. 

“Leone is truly an outstanding and special horse”

Martin Fuchs and Leone Jei at last year's Longines FEI European Championships where the pair won team gold and individual silver. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

“Through the years, my owner Adolfo Juri has been buying a lot of horses from the Hendrix-family, already at the time when he was sponsoring my uncle Markus,” Martin Fuchs tells about how he ended up being introduced to Leone Jei. “Emile Hendrix always promised Adolfo that when he would have the next super-star in the stable, we would get a call – and we did. A week later, we went to try Leone Jei – or Hay El Desta Ali as he was called then.”

“We had received several videos of him, and he always jumped clear – but a bit in a funny style, with long front legs, and not always opening up behind. Personally, I did not love the videos – I did not see what I felt later. When I tried him, he had much more blood and was much lighter than I expected. During the trial, he jumped really well; we jumped him in the indoor the first day, and the second day we made a few jumps in the outdoor ring. It felt like he had all the scope, and really good rideability. But even though he jumped careful and well I was not quite sure how he would manage when the fences would get bigger, because he had his own style. However, we right away decided that we would buy him.”

“In March 2019, I took him to a small show in Gorla Minore and already there he felt even better than I had expected. He had a lot of blood, a lot of energy, a really good attitude, always motivated – he loves to do his job and is so sweet with people,” Fuchs tells. 

"We took him to Aachen for the 7-year-olds’ youngster tour, and he jumped clear all three days – and that’s when we knew what we had,” Martin Fuchs tells about Leone Jei. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

“Later that year, we took him to Aachen for the 7-year-olds’ youngster tour, and he jumped clear all three days – and that’s when we knew what we had,” Fuchs tells. “I came out of the ring in Aachen and I knew that we would be back there one day for the big stuff. Ever since then I took it slow with him, I made sure he got enough experience, I showed him in some good 7- and 8-year-old classes, jumped him in a few 1.50m competitions at the end of the year when he was 8, but never really pushed for the results at all. When he turned 9 last year, the plan was already to jump him at the European Championships later that summer, so after giving him a bit of a break throughout the winter season here in Europe I decided to take him to Wellington. We went to Wellington, and there I pushed him a bit more for the bigger classes to get him ready for the championships. It worked out really well, and he was placed in three out of four Grand Prix classes. Then he came back to Europe and jumped double clear in the Nations Cup in St. Gallen, was third in the Grand Prix in La Baule and second in the Grand Prix in Chantilly before going to the Europeans where he took the team gold and individual silver.”

"After the Rolex Grand Slam win in Geneva, I can say that he truly is an outstanding and special horse – he really became a super-star last year,” Martin Fuchs says about Leone Jei. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

“We knew we had a good and special horse, but until they prove it week after week, like he did last year, you never know if you have a super-star or “just” a useful Grand Prix horse,” Fuchs said. “However, after the Rolex Grand Slam win in Geneva, I can say that he truly is an outstanding and special horse – he really became a super-star last year.”

“Many want to compare him with Clooney, which I don’t, because there is not going to be another Clooney – he was the most successful horse in Swiss showjumping history, so I don’t think a year later that I have the next one,” Fuchs says. “However, I definitely think that Leone already has showed that he is one of the best horses there is right now.”

 

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