Text © World of Showjumping

In our series ’That Special Bond’, World of Showjumping speaks with some of the top names in the sport about the horses that have shaped their careers, left a lasting impression and sometimes even broken hearts. This time around we sat down with Tiffany Letallec, who for the past four years has worked with Belgium’s Nicola Philippaerts. “There are three horses that have been, and still are, very special for me: Katanga v/h Dingeshof, H&M Chilli Willi and Bacardi VDL,” Tiffany tells. 

Katanga v/h Dingeshof (Cardento x Tornado) and H&M Chilli Willi (Casall x Lord) are horses that stole Tiffany’s heart during her years working alongside Nicola Philippaerts, while Bacardi VDL (Corland x Kannan) was the first horse jumping on the highest level of the sport that she took care of. Bacardi and Tiffany’s paths crossed when she first moved out of France and embarked on her grooming career, to work for Swiss rider Janika Sprunger. 

“Bacardi is special for me because he is the first horse that I groomed at big shows,” Tiffany tells. “He is an amazing horse. It was unbelievable to take care of him. I am so lucky to have done that. I tell everyone all the time; I am really blessed to have taken care of Bacardi. I will for sure never forget about him; he is still in my heart.” 

In 2018, Sprunger and Bacardi jumped double clear in the CSIO5* Nations Cups in Rotterdam and Rome and were also part of the Swiss team at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon. In 2019, the two won the CSI5* World Cup in Dubai and placed third in the CSI5* World Cup in Sharjah. The now 17-year-old stallion was sold to Stal Tops in 2019. 

“It was quite hard for me to start working in Janika’s stable,” Tiffany recalls. “I had left France for Belgium for the first time and I did not speak a lot of English, so I did not understand everyone that worked there. Luckily, Janika and her home groom spoke French to me. Janika helped me so much, she gave me the first experience on the higher level and with the longer travels – she taught me a lot.”

“Bacardi is nice to take care of, but he is a stallion and a bomb when he is fresh,” Tiffany smiles. “I love him, he is amazing in every sense; nice to ride and good to handle. My best memory with him was Dubai where we won the World Cup.”

After working for Janika for a year, Tiffany moved on to work for Nicola Philippaerts and on day one at her new job, met Katanga v/h Dingeshof. “I remember the first time I came into the stables at Philippaerts,” Tiffany tells. “There were three horses at home – Katanga, Chilli Willi and Ikker – for me to take care of while the others were out competing. I remember riding all of them. Katanga is difficult to ride and the first time on her was something I won’t forget! Somehow, on that first day, she became my special horse already.”

“However, at the time it was Chilli Willi who was Nicola’s first horse and Katanga had not done any bigger classes yet,” Tiffany continues. “My first show with Nicola was in Eindhoven, where another of his horses was supposed to jump the Grand Prix. However, the horse was not feeling well, so Katanga did her first Grand Prix that weekend, and we saw that it would be possible to do the bigger classes with her. As we did not have a big string of horses, we started to focus more on her from that moment on. Then we went to Lausanne, where we had Hurricane and Katanga with us, and again the plan was that Katanga would not do the Grand Prix. However, Hurricane did not feel great, so Nicola changed the plan – again – and Katanga jumped the Grand Prix there and placed second. She jumped amazing and at that show, we saw that she really was a Grand Prix horse and after she started to jump more of the bigger classes.”

In 2021, Nicola and Katanga were part of the bronze medal winning Belgian team at the European Championship in Riesenbeck, Germany, where they also finished 5th individually, and in 2022 the two continued to impress with an individual 8th place at the FEI Jumping World Championship in Herning, Denmark, and a 3rd place in the prestigious Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen. This June, they took their biggest win yet when topping the prestigious Rolex Grand Prix of La Baule – a dream come true for Tiffany. 

“My best memory with Katanga is for sure La Baule,” Tiffany says. “It was in my country, and I had never been at this show before. We were there to do well for the Belgian team in the Nations Cup, but of course we wanted to try for the Rolex Grand Prix as well. However, we were there with no pressure. We knew that Katanga was in great shape, but the uncertainty with her is always in the jump-off because she can be difficult to turn. We have been so close to winning many times, and Nicola had asked me ‘do you think we are going to win at one point!?’ – and I always kept saying ‘yes, for sure, we work for that, for her to win’. And for that to happen in La Baule was so special! There have been so many jump-offs, and again we were there – motivated. We are a team and I told Nicola to try. Our hard work was all paid with this win; it was a dream come true.”

H&M Chilli Willi came to the Philippaerts-family in 2015, and went on to have great success with Nicola. The pair got their breakthrough in 2017, when they finished third in the CSI5* Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Miami. In 2018, H&M Chilli Willi and Nicola won the Longines Global Champions Tour of Chantilly and followed up with a third place at the same venue in 2019 as well as both a second and a third place in the CSI5* Grand Prix classes in Doha earlier that year. For Team Belgium, they jumped double clears in the Nations Cups in Samorin, Sopot and Rotterdam – and they also represented their country at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon in 2018. 

In the spring of 2021, Nicola and H&M Chilli Willi had travelled to the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, USA, where they were getting ready for an important season – aiming for the Olympic Games in Tokyo later that year. However, while competing, the stallion stumbled after the last jump and broke his left foreleg. Unfortunately, examinations revealed a very complicated fracture, which forced Nicola, his father Ludo and co-owner Frans Lens to take the tough decision to euthanize the stallion. 

“Chilli was the king in the stable. I miss him a lot, he was my best friend,” Tiffany says. “To take care of him was always fun, he was always playful. I miss doing the big shows with him, even though I did not get to do many of them. His accident is a traumatic memory. I had so many beautiful moments with him before that, those are the good memories I try to focus on. I miss him as a friend, he helped me a lot as well.”

Katanga is the horse that has been the hardest to get to know for Tiffany. “She needs a lot of time; you need to listen to her and really pay attention,” she explains. “I think the moment when I really started to understand her was after Chilli’s accident. Even if it might be harsh to say so, the first horse is always the first, and even if you try to take the same care of them all, it is never the same. After Chilli passed, we started to understand Katanga better because we paid more attention to her. I love them both the same, but Chilli used to get all the attention.” 

“Katanga is funny, she is really special,” Tiffany continues. “She is a mare, and she has a lot of character but she is cool to take care of – she is amazing. She needs attention and that is why we call her The Princess. Katanga also likes to test new people who she does not know. She is really intelligent; she knows and feels a lot. She is close to me and that is why we are a good team; she is always there for me and she has helped me a lot. When Chilli Willi had his accident in Wellington, I think Katanga understood everything. After the accident, I had to stay all night with Chilli and a friend of mine took care of Katanga. When I came back the morning after, it was as if she understood – I know her well and she knows me, and she was so quiet. And she was the same with Nicola. The day after there was the five-star Grand Prix, the last one of the Winter Equestrian Festival, and I was not sure if Nicola would ride. However, he said that we would do it for Chilli, with Katanga. She was with us in this as well. Her sensitivity and emotional intelligence make her so special to me and this is why I would do anything for her, because she gives everything back to us. My dream is to win the Grand Prix of Aachen and do the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with her. I never did the Olympics, and it would be my horse Katanga, in my country...” 

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