MARIE Bourdin, one of the best-known breeders of show jumping horses on the world circuit today, was a familiar face in Galway for many years, where she came to live with Chantal Deon, the wonderful Connemara pony and Irish Draught icon, who helped pave the way to her future success.

Those early days in Galway living in a world of Irish horses served Marie well, leading her on a career path which would eventually see her breeding five-star horses and winning prestigious classes in Europe from her home in Normandy, where her stud is called Elevage Chance.

Marie recalls her early years in France and Ireland. “I came to Ireland in 1982, having met Chantal Deon in France. My parents lived in the USA, but my foster parents lived in France, just two kilometres away from Chantal’s family home in Wargemont. My foster family had horses and a pony called Frimousse, which I used to ride to Wargemont and Chantal’s mother would give me sweets and sugar for my pony.”

It was a stroke of luck for Marie the first day she ever met Chantal: “She arrived with a full lorry of Connemara ponies to sell with Willy Leahy. I was only eight years old and fascinated by Chantal’s amazing energy and by the fantastic Connemaras.” she said.

Marie’s later life in high school saw her “feeling a bit lost”. “I went to Chantal’s house in Tynagh for a break, originally for a year, but I ended up spending 18 years there on and off. Ireland was heaven for me, nice fun people, great countryside and, of course, the love of horses.”

Daily life in Ireland was bliss for Marie. “I would ride and school the young horses from when they were the age of three upwards. Chantal said I had a very good relationship with horses, so she gave me all her young ones to ride and get ready for selling. I followed Chantal around, she was always very busy and amazing guests came from all over the world to see her husband Michelle Deon, an international novelist and highly acclaimed member of the French academy.”

Marie loved to gallop twice a week, first with the Galway Blazers and then with the East Galway, where Oliver Walsh was field master at the time. “There were much less houses then, less roads and less wire, the countryside was fantastic and our days were fast with all sorts of jumps.”

The late Chantal Deon and her beloved Butch, out hunting at Aille Cross \ Noel Mullins

Mighty mentor

Chantal was a great mentor on sport horse breeding for Marie. “Chantal took much care of her horses and foals,” Marie fondly recalls. “Lady Hemphill was also a passionate breeder and also one of my mentors, inspiring me with her great knowledge of bloodlines.

“My greatest memory was out with the East Galway galloping across preserved countryside, jumping all those crazy fences and also showing horses with Chantal at great local shows like Tynagh, Loughrea, Ballinasloe, Galway and, of course, the RDS. In those days, I had my Selle Francais mare Queenie to compete and younger horses of Chantal’s in the young horse classes. I did represent East Galway at the RDS hunt chase once, we had so many happy times.”

It was Marie’s 1.35m Grade B mare Queenie, who kicked off her breeding programme and then things went stratospheric when she bought the sister of Edwina Alexander Tops’s Itot du Chateau, an iconic SF horse who sealed the fame factor for Marie. She bought Image du Chateau for her husband, but she herself became famous as a brood mare and has been a valuable asset to her Normandy breeding stud.

Marie actually bought Image du Chateau for her husband Antoine to compete at 1.10m “so we could show jump together, since I had a son of Queenie to compete. Image only jumped to 1.10m, but her bloodine was exceptional. Image was by the Uriel sire Rivage de Poncel out of Sophie du Chateau by the superior stallion Galoubet A.

“When Edwina started to win everything with Itot du Chateau, we decided to stop competing at mini shows and put her in foal. First of all, we wanted to use Le Tot de Semilly, but our vet suggested Diamant de Semilly.”

And guess who the resulting foal turned out to be? None other than Conor Swail’s Vital Chance de la Roque.

Vital Chance was born on Marie’s mother’s birthday, May 16th. “My mother died when I was 12 and I saw Vital’s birth as a sign,” she said. “My father-in-law named him Vital and my husband’s name is Dechance, so that’s how he became Vital Chance. He was very small and had his own looks. He was cherished by us, mocked by others, but Chantal taught me to defend your horses at all times.”

Vital was then bought by the Hecart family when he was eight years old and sold on eventually to Conor Swail.

“He was not an easy horse and we are very happy he has such a rider in the best way,” Marie said. “Conor rides him brilliantly. The Irish again!”

Marie now has a mare, Feeling Chance by Cornet Obolensky, competing at 1.50m level. Her dam Adrenaline Chance is a full-sister of Vital Chance. She had fantastic results last year, very fast with a huge heart, and Marie has seven breeding mares from the line of Image du Chateau plus a brood mare from her old mare Queenie. “We first used the best stallions in the world to improve our bloodlines, now we still go to the best stallions, but are more educated now on how our mares produce and try to make the best crosses.

“At the moment, we have four horses with four different riders. We also try to find the best rider for each horse, so that we can have the best combinations. We do not breed many foals each year to make sure we can afford the best way to produce them. Our three young jumpers are very promising at the moment and are learning also their future life.”

Marie doesn’t enjoy stallion inspections. “We have twice showed colts at the Selle Francais Saint Lo championships, when Vital Chance was a two-year-old and we were mocked! He was small but mighty. We also showed a Balou du Rouet out of Vital Chance’s full-sister Adrenaline du Chance, who had normal notes. We castrated him and now we don’t want to keep stallions.”

Had the stallion inspectors predicted the future for Vital Chance, who went on to win the Sacramento World Cup qualifier and many more events, they would certainly have given him a better result. This is a lesson for stallion inspections that they may not always make the right predictions.

Marie may still have a stallion potential from her yard at present. “We do have an Eldorado van Zeshoek colt, who is very young but seems interesting and we might show him as a colt,” she revealed.

As far as her greatest success in breeding, Vital Chance leads the way with so many wins. Marie is also proud of having won the six-year-old Fontainebleu finals with Feel Good Chance ridden by Normandy-based British rider Skye Higgin. “It was a beautiful day and Skye produced him really well, everyone was going crazy to buy him.”

Skye Higgin, who started her career with Dave Quigley, added: “I started riding Feel Good Chance in April of his six-year-old year, he progressed very quickly in a short time. He qualified for Fontainebleu and it all fell into place, with his fantastic mentality we ended up winning.

“I also produced Feeling Chance for Marie and Antoine at the championships that year and it was a very enjoyable week having two horses at the finals,” Skye added. “Feel Good Chance was third in the seven-year-old finals at Oliva and third in the first seven-year-old qualifier for Fontainebleu at St Lo in April, before being sold to Kevin Staut.”

Feel Good Chance, bred by Marie Bourdin and Antoine Dechance, winning the Fontainebleau six-year-old finals with Skye Higgin

Shared devotion

Marie was fortunate that her husband Antoine Dechance, whom she met 22 years ago, shares devotion to the Elevage Chance breeding programme. “He loves bloodlines and is very interested in the way riders have their own way to bring horses to their best and we exchange ideas, which make things more fun. We don’t always agree though, ha ha!”

Breeding high level show jumpers is an art, as Marie explains it, “we have only two choices - the stallion and the riders.

“It is extremely important to make the right decision with the stallions to always improve your horses. The choice of riders is really crucial to produce them, school them as young ones not to go too fast or jump too big,” she advises.

“The riders must have time also, not work too hard, just before shows and nothing all week. Horses must have a daily regular work. The problem today in France is that riders take in too many horses and just don’t have time, and work too much one day, then forget about them the next week.”

Marie stated adamantly: “If a rider has too many horses, sometimes they can miss a fantastic horse by judging him too fast. Horses take time and they will always surprise you in a good way, if you are patient. We must have a very good relationship with our riders to work as a team and not just go to a show. Have a plan for each horse, build him in the best way and take him to shows that suit him with the best entries. The one thing that Chantal taught me, was to focus in on every horse.”

Patience

It’s no laughing matter trying to breed a 1.60m horse, as everyone knows in the industry in Ireland. “Be patient,” Marie advises. “It’s all about choices and time. It’s a very slow business. The health and the mental health for horses is also very important. They always give more than we ask, we need to keep that in mind to go up and down in the show entries, put them back into levels that make them feel better for their morale.

“The best thing for owners at FEI level is to have a rider that has a few good horses, so that he does not only count on your horse for his personal career and ensures your horse has a good programme. I follow Vital Chance and noticed that Conor Swail has an intelligent way with his string of horses to pick the best shows for them.”

Marie admits that, if she had to live her life over again, she would have started breeding show jumpers much earlier. “It is a very slow process. If you pay attention to the best horses age, they are 15 years old and it can take forever. I probably sold some horses too soon in their lives and should have continued their career a bit longer.”

Marie Bourdin and her husband Antoine Dechance pictured at Dinard saying hello to Vital Chance de la Roque

French appeal

There are great advantages to living in France for Marie. “We have so many nice national shows in Normandy for the very young horses and there are very many good FEI shows for the older ones if your rider is jumping 5*. The selection of 2* and 3* shows is great and the shows are very well-organised, always in beautiful places, which adds to the fun. The French are excellent at producing beautiful horse shows in stunning venues.”

The Olympics at Versailles last summer were testament to the ability of France to put on a spectacular equestrian event. Marie’s mares and foals come first at that time of the year, so she enjoyed watching the action on television.

“My happiest day as a breeder was when Vital Chance and Conor won their first world cup qualifier at Sacramento, California in 2022. I love the successes that have come from my favourite French sire, Diamant de Semilly. He gives so much fighting spirit and courage to his foals, which I think is the most important ingredient for a performing horse. My mares are from Diamant de Semilly, Mylord Carthago, Kannan, Cornet Obolensky, Vagabond de la Pomme, Quick Star and Tornesch.

“The main pitfall is if your mare did not go in foal with the stallion you spent all winter looking for to get one straw. If your foal has a problem that can be disheartening. We try not to think of pitfalls and aim to keep on improving what we do with the best spirit.”

Leaving the storms of Europe behind, Marie and Antoine are currently in Wellington, Florida, enjoying the daily jumping classes and keeping a close eye on pedigrees and results. “We are in Wellington up until April, with no horses here. It’s a super tour to follow, when we are here, we can be informed and understand what kind of horses suit the USA.”