Adélaïde & Athena
ph. Charlotte Toscan du Plantier
Adélaïde is a casting director for the cinema in Paris. She is boarding a jumping mare near Bois de Boulogne which she rides 2 or 3 times a week.
Athena is a sport mare, which does not belong to me, but which I have been riding for three months. Marie is her real owner, and I'am a third party pensioner. I ride two or three times a week. She's a sport mare, for jumping. But I ride dressage with her and I ride her in the Bois de Boulogne, which I love doing. I love taking care of her, I love brushing her, or taking her for a walk so she can graze.
Her nickname is my Titi. At night, I dream about us riding together. I do what Benoît, my coach, tells me. I repeat to myself how we should do it, and we do the dressage courses that Benoît has given us over and over. Anyway, we still have a lot of training to do.
I've always ridden. It's actually my childhood passion that came back to me, when I was about 40. As a child, I rode ponies, as a young girl, I already had horses and mares in half-boarding. Then I stopped for 20 years. I just went on pleasure rides, on holiday. And in fact I completely quit for a while.
Two years ago, a friend suggested I should start taking classes at L'Étrier. So, I began taking classes every Friday at lunchtime. It was my escape in the middle of the day. It was crazy that I left work to go riding and to return after everyone had lunch. And then I wanted more. I wanted to have a more intimate relationship with a horse. Eventually, Marie was the one who asked me if I wanted to share her horse with her.
I usually start my week here on monday morning and finish on friday morning. And in between, I dream about it all week. Athena is fabulous and very kind when it comes to learning. Therefore, I feel very confident during training. When I arrive, she recognises me and hugs me. Nothing can make me happier. For a third of a pension like this, I couldn't have wished for anything better.
Marie has been riding here for a long time, but it took her a year to find Athena. When she finally arrived with the mare, I loved her straight away. I don't want to do competitions or jumping. I just want to look after her and take her for rides. Actually, our agreement is very complementary, because Marie will jump with her and she gets to have some downtime with me. Athena jumps very, very well. I couldn't have wished for a better match for me, for the mare and the owner.
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