“My fifth lumbar vertebra has been moving forward, already for a long time. However, this year the pain was really hard to manage and at the end the doctor also said it was time to fix it. I was a bit worried because the doctors said it can take up to six months to recover,” Simon Delestre tells WoSJ. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.
Text © World of Showjumping
“I have struggled with this issue for a long time, but this year the vertebra was starting to move again, and I had much more pain than before. Now, a screw is keeping the vertebra in place,” France’s Simon Delestre tells World of Showjumping about an operation he had on his fifth lumbar vertebra just seven days before competing at the Longines Global Champions Tour Final in Riyadh (KSA). With no plans of slowing down, Delestre continued straight to the FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier in Verona (ITA) – despite still being in pain.
“My fifth lumbar vertebra has been moving forward, already for a long time. However, this year the pain was really hard to manage and at the end the doctor also said it was time to fix it. I was a bit worried because the doctors said it can take up to six months to recover,” Delestre explains. “It should take about three more months until the bone is completely healed. I'm happy that I can ride, even though I still have pain. It's why I wanted to do something; I could not have continued to ride with so much pain. In the end, the MRI also showed that it was time to do the operation before it was too late.”
With two exciting 9-year-olds in his stable – Golden Boy DK (Diamant de Semilly x Cash, bred by E.A.R.L. Haras D'ick) and Gatsby du Tillard (President x Diamant de Semilly, bred by Bernadette Lejeune) – Delestre is keen to recover.
“I had Cayman with me in Verona as a third horse, just to play a little bit,” Delestre explains about the feisty gelding that in the beginning of the year won the CSI5* Rolex Grand Prix in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.
“I don't have so many horses at the moment, but I have good ones,” he says. “Golden Boy DK has actually been with us since he was five, as Charles Berthol was riding him. A year ago, I took over the reins. He is a horse we have known for a long time – and he has always been amazing.”
“This year, I saw Gatsby in Deauville and then in Valkenswaard,” Delestre continues to tell about his future prospects. “He is a very nice horse. He is still new to my system, and we need to get to know each other better. However, I have a feeling that he has championship potential.”
Meanwhile, the 13-year-old Cayman Jolly Jumper (Hickstead x Quaprice Bois Margot, bred by Nathalie Chevalier) has also returned to competition. “I had Cayman with me in Verona as a third horse, just to play a little bit,” Delestre explains about the feisty gelding that in the beginning of the year won the CSI5* Rolex Grand Prix in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the CSI5* Hermès Grand Prix in Paris, before topping the CSI5* Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Monte Carlo in July. Since then, the gelding has been absent from the international arenas. “I wanted to bring him to a show again, and not do so much, because I plan to jump the LGCT Super Grand Prix in Prague with him. Golden Boy is also going to Prague, to jump for the team.”
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