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2025 will certainly be a year to remember for Belgium’s Abdel Said (36). With Bonne Amie (A Big Boy x Landfriese), he claimed his second consecutive win in the CSI5* 1.60m Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Doha back in March, topped the CSI5* 1.55m Eiffel Challenge at the Longines Global Champions Tour of Paris in June, and jumped to the top of the podium in the CSI5* 1.65m Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix in Prague in November. In July, Abdel also made his first championship appearance for Belgium – at the Longines FEI Jumping European Championship, together with Bonne Amie. There were many other highlights too; with the Istanbul Warriors, Abdel topped the CSI5* 1.60m Global Champions League of Paris riding Quaker Brimbelles Z (Quicksilver St Simeon x Hickstead), claimed the title in the traditional CSIO5* 1.50m Falsterbo Derby with Arpege du Ru (Apache d’Adriers x Quat’Sous), and took five-star victories in Tryon, Traverse City and Wellington.

Outside of the ring, Abdel has been busy expanding his business set-up. While Abdel is still based out of his facility in Herentals, outside Antwerp, he has spent much of 2025 in the U.S. where Sam Hutton now runs the American branch of the business. When at home, Abdel also has his hands full with the many foals and young horses at AS Sport Horses’ stables in Zandhoven – a 20-minute drive from Herentals.

“Finishing the year by moving up on the Longines Rankings to sit 12th [in November], and then winning the Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix in Prague was just amazing,” Abdel smiles. “It’s all been a whirlwind though, and it’s hard to really comprehend so it's nice to have a period without any big shows until the beginning of next year – take some time to reflect on 2025 and enjoy all that we have achieved. It’s also good to take the pressure off my horses and my staff, otherwise it never ends – there are five-star shows nearly every week of the year.”

“Sport wise, it’s been one of my best years, if not the best,” Abdel says as he looks back at 2025 – that has seen him win big classes in Europe, the Middle East and in North America, on several different horses. “The year started nicely with winning the LGCT Grand Prix in Doha – that was a boost early on in the season to keep pushing.” 

“It was also great to be part of the Belgian team that finished second in the Nations Cup both in La Baule and in Aachen. The Europeans was a good experience for me as well; I made it to the individual final, although I decided not to jump,” he reflects.

“For Bonnie, I really put Prague as a target for this fall,” Abdel explains about the GC Playoffs. “The show in Prague is amazing; the crowds are really supportive of the horses and the riders – which is nice and motivates the riders to give that little extra. It really feels like a special show, also with all the visual effects and the music. Plus, this time of the year, the atmosphere in the city is electrifying – it's winter, lights everywhere, Christmas is around the corner… It’s special, and it’s exciting to be there.”

“Coming to Prague, I felt Bonnie was in good shape,” Abdel continues. “However, she had only done two CSI2* shows in Lier and Riesenbeck between the Europeans at the end of July and Prague in November so I was perhaps a little insecure as to whether or not she would have needed one big show before going into the GC Playoffs. I know she has experience, but for her to go from those smaller shows to the arena in Prague with so much atmosphere and really big tracks is still a huge transition. But she was cool about it. That's a moment where I definitely felt that she has come a long way from when I got her back in 2022. And that part, that trust – because she really had to trust me in Prague, in that kind of atmosphere – is what most of all makes me the happiest.”

“The GC Playoffs did not get off to the best start, when Simon [Delestre] got eliminated due to the chin strap on his helmet coming unfastened in the first round of the GCL Super Cup – that brought the whole morale on our team down,” Abdel tells. “With Istanbul Warriors, we had an inconsistent season so we were really motivated to do well in Prague, but that elimination brought all of us down. Luckily, Simon is a fighter and does not give up easily, so neither could I – we wanted to come back strong for the Super Grand Prix.”

“In the first round of the Grand Prix, Bonnie gave me an amazing feeling – as if she jumped it for fun,” Abdel tells. “However, there were 11 clears in the first round, and I must say Ulliano cranked it up a little bit for the second round – it was a proper five-star Grand Prix track, and you had to ride it fast. That’s when the experience Bonnie and I have together and the trust between us became really helpful. There was a certain place where you could do a long six strides on the rollback, and although most of my colleagues were like ‘no way’, I knew that was where I could use her stride length to my advantage. In the past, in an arena like this, and a competition like the Super Grand Prix, I would often end up playing it safe but now I told myself to attack from fence no. 1 – I wanted to go for the win. When we had a mistake, I was really bummed – I thought it was gone for us. But then, the others kept on knocking rails and with only Simon to go I was still in the lead. When he had an early rail, I was sure he was going to catch the time because he's so fast and Cayman also has a big stride. When I looked at the clock to see the difference, we were two hundredths of a second faster – it was just so much joy going through me in that moment.”

“More than anything, I was really, really happy for Bonnie,” Abdel smiles. “Of course, it's incredible and amazing for me as well, but it's not that anyone is going to see me different. I've been around for a while and it's nice to have this title on my CV, but for Bonnie to go and win that in that kind of arena was just so rewarding! She deserved that win; I just felt that she'd done so many good things, just maybe not something of that calibre. For her to go and win one of the biggest Grand Prix classes in the calendar was a real career highlight.”

“Another special moment this year was winning the Falsterbo Derby with Arpege. Last year, Steve [Guerdat] beat us and this year I was determined to beat him,” Abdel laughs. “It was funny, because once again we ended up in a jump-off against each other – just the two of us, but this time I managed to be faster! And I was so happy for Arpege, she is 15 now and does not owe me anything!”

“For 2026, the World Championships in Aachen is of course a dream – there's no discussion about that,” Abdel says as he looks forward to the new year ahead. “However, I'm just going to let my horses give me a feeling as to what they are ready for. I'm not going to do anything that someone else is going to push me towards. I'll just make my own plan, and if it’s meant to be it's meant to be. And if not, I want to enjoy and develop, get better with my horses and hopefully do more amazing jump-offs or classes where I really feel there's a bond between me and my horse – that's my goal.”

“But first of all, we are going to slow down a bit here – I’m heading to the Emirates with some of my less experienced horses, those that are eight coming nine, to develop them there under the sun. I’m excited as I have some good ones coming up, like Max (Grandorado TN x Andiamo) and Double Fancy VDM Z (Diamant de Semilly x Vigo d’Arsouilles) who I look forward to bringing along,” Abdel tells.

“Meanwhile, my older horses get a well-deserved break. I decided to not jump at CHI Geneva this year, although it is an incredible show,” Abdel says. “I've competed there in the past and I for sure would love to do it again – I think the organizers do a wonderful job with that event. However, it’s a big ask for the horses – almost like a championship in terms of qualifying for the Grand Prix. That's why I decided to give my horses a nice break and then start again outdoors in Doha; they have done enough this year – Calvaro is only nine, Quaker has done enough for the experience he has, and as for Bonnie, I felt like taking her to Geneva would again be another big ask. Sometimes you need to say thank you to your horses, give them a break and then start again.”

27.12.2025 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.