Text © World of Showjumping

“It is difficult to find a good horse, and it does not end there; once you have a good horse, you need to have it in a good system as well – that is very important,” Olivier Perreau tells World of Showjumping. “Having a good system is important, and mine is simple; I like to give my horses time – it is my preferred way of working.” 

The 37-year-old French rider made his senior championship debut at the 2023 FEI Jumping European Championships in Milan with his home bred GL Events Dorai d’Aiguilly (Kannan x Toulon), ending the week in Italy with placing 8th individually after impressive performances. 

Although riding as the fifth and reserve member of the French team in Milan, it is the team events that Perreau enjoys the most. “For me, pressure is positive; I like it,” he explains. “I enjoy the excitement of a championship, and I always prefer jumping with a lot of expectations. I think those are the best moments, and my dream is to jump big championships with the French team.” 

“I began riding when I was three, my parents have a riding school,” Perreau tells about the start of his career. “I rode every day; I was very passionate about horses. Growing up, I jumped the European Championships twice as a young rider – in 2007 and 2008 – with Grace du Fraigneau (Laudanum x Gaverdi), a super mare. After that I worked with a lot of young horses and focused on our breeding program, and it was our home bred GL Events Venizia d’Aiguilly (Diamant de Semilly x Quick Star) who first took me to the bigger shows.”

During his career, Perreau never had a trainer, but has simply trusted his own feeling. “This year, I jumped many Nations Cups and had help from Henk Nooren, but normally I work on my own,” he explains. “My relationship with Henk is very good and he has been very helpful with getting all the details right in my riding. For the future, I would like to progress more at five-star level and it is my aim to work so that I have more horses that can jump those classes.” 

Perreau owns the horses he rides himself, and the system at home with many young horses is based on giving each individual the time they need. “Depending on the horse, a four-year-old might work for two months and then be off, or maybe if one is more challenging than the other, it might work six months – I adapt to each individual horse. The most important with the young horses is that they have a good mind and sometimes they might need a little bit more time for their development. Like with GL Events Dorai d’Aiguilly, who is very big and long; when she was young, I kept very calm with her and I gave her a lot of time. I think it is essential to give the young horses the time they need to grow.” 

“It is very important to have a horse with a good mind and a good heart,” Perreau continues. “Those are the first qualities for both professionals and amateurs in my opinion. Sure, professionals also need scope and carefulness, but for me it is very important to produce horses that are first and foremost brave.” 

From time to time, Perreau sells his horses – but mostly only to make the business go around financially. “In theory, every horse I have is for sale, but I do prefer to keep a good mare so that I can have them for breeding after their sport career. At the moment I am definitely keeping GL Events Venizia d’Aiguilly and GL Events Dorai d’Aiguilly, who allow me to compete on the highest level. When I have a good opportunity, I do sell some of the horses, but when I do, I like to be quite selective of where I sell to."

"If I think I have a top horse for the top sport, I prefer to sell to a top rider – and if I think I have a horse for an amateur, I prefer to sell to an amateur. To me, it is very important that the horses go to the right type of homes, and end up with good people who are the right match for them. As an example, I sold Crack d’Aiguilly (Comme il Faut x Nabab de Reve) to Simon Delestre when the horse was six. I always thought it would be a top horse and now he is in good hands, in a good stable. I think this horse will jump the big Grand Prix classes in the future and I am very happy to see him with Simon.”

The 11-year-old mare GL Events Dorai d’Aiguilly – Perreau’s ride for the 2023 Europeans – comes from his own breeding program, something the current world rank 88 has always been very passionate about. At his stable in Roanne, an hour outside Lyon, Perreau runs a business focused on breeding and producing young horses. “I have a lot of young horses, mostly four, five and six year olds, and we have 12 foals born every year. Breeding and young horses is my passion, and for me also an important system to have in order to try and have a future in the top sport. I do buy and sell, but I aim to keep one or two horses for myself to jump the biggest shows.”

While GL Events Venizia d’Aiguilly was the first horse that took Perreau to five-star Grand Prix level, it was GL Events Dorai d’Aiguilly that brought him to his first senior championship and who now carries the Olympic hopes and dreams. “I always knew she had championship quality,” Perreau tells about Dorai. “I have ridden her since she was four, and every jump she did in her life has been with me. She is a fantastic horse, she is very intelligent, has a slot of scope and when you jump a big class with her, it all feels easy for her. In addition, she is careful… In my opinion, she is a crack of a mare.”

“I am so pleased with GL Events Dorai d’Aiguilly who jumped her first championship very good, and so easy. After Milan, she did the Nations Cup Final in Barcelona and jumped fantastic there as well. After Barcelona, I gave her a break of three months and she will come back to competing in January. My plan is to bring her to Oliva to start the season and then to jump her in the first two League of Nations shows in Abu Dhabi and Ocala, and possibly a five-star in Wellington. Then we come back to Europe and do the five-star in Fontainebleau. The 2024 Paris Olympic Games with her is a dream for me, but I want to remain very calm about it. Yes, Paris is close, but it is also very far – I will take it all step by step and see what happens.” 

Dorai’s mother Bijou Orai (Toulon x Calypso III, bred by Gerry Martens) is also the mother of the stallion Eldorado vd Zeshoek (by Clinton) who has produced numerous horses jumping at five-star Grand Prix level, as well as Game Changer Aiguilly (by Big Star) and Ijou d’Aiguilly (by Mylord Carthago). “We bought Bijou in France when she was four, from Hubert Bourdy, and Eldorado had just been weaned,” Perreau explains. “Bijou, for me, is a super star. I never saw a four-year-old jump like she did at the time. She competed in 1.50m, 1.55m classes but she did not have a long sport career herself. However, she has been fantastic in breeding. For me, the family of a mare is essential; I prefer a mare with many siblings jumping clear in 1.45m classes. It is important to breed with horses that are proven competitive. I don’t like the current trend of everyone using the same blood in breeding. Personally, I have kept the family of GL Events Dorai d’Aiguilly and GL Events Venezia d’Aiguilly, because they are amazing mares and I don’t want to lose these genes.” 

“I believe that the most important factor in breeding is a good selection of the mare,” Perreau continues. “However, I do not like the use of ICSI*. We do one to two embryos with Bijou every year, not more. And when it comes to the stallion, I prefer a proven stallion, I don’t try the younger ones that have no results. Sometimes, I use my own stallions because I know these horses and I know their quality. That the stallion has natural quality, is very important.”

According to Perreau, Dorai’s younger brothers Game Changer Aiguilly and Ijou d’Aiguilly show great potential for the future. “I think Game Changer will be a Grand Prix horse and Ijou, in my opinion, is a small genius. I don’t know if they will reach the level of GL Events Dorai d’Aiguilly, but I am sure I have good horses for the future.” 

*ICSI

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection, ICSI consists of Ovum Pick Up (OPU) - the collection of (immature) oocytes from donor mares – and their in vitro maturation and fertilization by direct injection of the sperm (intracytoplasmic sperm injection, ICSI) followed by culture of the fertilized oocytes in an incubator for about a week, until they reach the stage of embryos suitable for transfer in recipient mares. Consequently, even with OPU/ICSI you still need to carry out an embryo transfer. 

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