- Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Frenchman Stéphane Landois delighted his home crowd when rocketing into provisional second after his Olympic eventing dressage test at the Paris Games. Riding SCEA Ecurie Du Cerisier Bleu and Eric Landois’ Chaman Dumontceau, he impressed the judges with an accurate and fault-free test to score 24.4.
“There is an emotion about this place, and we can all feel it. When I went into the arena, I felt so proud to see all the people enjoying our sport and appreciating it so much,” explained Stéphane of the gelding he took over the ride on after the tragic death of his previous rider, 22-year-old Thaïs Méheust, who was killed in a fall with this horse in 2019.
“You can really feel the emotion. There’s a lot of atmosphere in the arena, but for my horse, it was a great thing, because at the end of the warm-up I didn’t feel I had him quite where I wanted him to be, and then when I went in, it gave him that extra lift, and so he did such a good test.”
Following Laura Collett’s simply sublime Olympic eventing dressage test with London 52, there were a number of other great tests that went into the top 10. One of those was Japan’s Yoshiaki Oiwa, who slotted into second at that point with Pippa Funnell’s 2019 Burghley winner MGH Grafton Street on 25.5, before being overtaken by Stéphane.
“He knew that today was the time to show something, so I’m very happy,” said Yoshi, who rides 16-year-old ‘Squirrel’ out of Pippa’s yard in Surrey. “It’s a very new partnership – my first competition with him this year was in March, so it was a bit challenging for us, but it has all gone well.”
New Zealand’s Clarke Johnstone was another to put in a very polished performance with the elegant Menlo Park, scoring 25.7 to put them into provisional fourth.
“I have been dreaming of doing a test like that at the Olympics because he’s been training so well,” said an emotional Clarke, who tragically lost his partner Codey at the end of 2023. “My horse has been so with me and feeling amazing in his body and calm too, so I’ve been thinking he could do a test like that, and to actually do it – I’m just so, so proud of him and proud of myself.”
Clarke explained that he almost changed his mind about Menlo Park’s Olympic eventing dressage preparation earlier today.
“I watched the first few go and I thought it looked very electric in the main arena and maybe I should pre-ride him. But we decided to stick with what we’ve been doing, which has been steadily getting the scores lower and lower over the last couple of years, and he was just so with me. He did have a little look at the gate stewards before we went into the ring, but he brought it back and he was just a delight to ride in there – really on the aids and just giving me everything.”
- To stay up-to-date with all the breaking news throughout the Olympic Games, Royal International Horse Show and more,
You might also be interested in:
‘I loved every second of it’: Britain’s Laura Collett and London 52 set new Olympic record with performance of their lives
‘Awesome and amazing’: Tom McEwen gets Britain off to a flying start at Paris Olympics
How to watch all the equestrian sports at the Paris Olympics live from around the world
‘My injury is irrelevant’: Aussie star recovers from 19 fractures and a month in a wheelchair to contest Olympics
It’s time! First look at every fence on Paris Olympic cross-country course in Versailles
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Show More
Gemma Redrup
H&H features, racing and point-to-point editor
Gemma is an experienced journalist, having been part of the H&H team since 2014, who is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at in August 2018. Gemma’s reporting talents have taken her to numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.