French Dressage and Para Dressage Squads Updated For 2024

Dressage

France

The French Equestrian Federation has announced the updated elite dressage and para dressage squads leading up to the 2024 Olympic year.

The national sports management team, in consultation with FFE President Serge Lecomte and the elected FFE officials have updated the lists.

Preparation for Paris

Last June Lecomte and this technical staff announced the creation of squads that will consist of combinations running for Olympic or Paralympic selection in 2024. Five months and numerous European competitions and championships later, the updated squads are announced.

Sophie Dubourg, FFE's head technical director, stated, "we really have ambitions for the next Olympic and Paralympic Games. We can count on successful pair who have an efficient ecosystem and on owners committed to France. The assessment that we drew from the poor performances at the last Olympics highlighted two problems: emotional instability in the teams and staff as wellas health problems of the horses. We have therefore further worked on long-term monitoring of horses. The riders and grooms are very attentive to the team of veterinarians who support them in an individualized manner throughout the year. We have also improved the mental preparation of riders and staff. Mental trainers individually support the riders in each discipline, the staff members and the group in its entirety."

She further stated, "we worked to develop the lists according to objective criteria of performance and short-term potential.

Olympic Dressage Squad

The team selection for the 2023 European Dressage Championship was not without major bumps in the road when team trainer Jean Morel favoured the younger horse James Bond de Massa (Arnaud Serre) over the more established GP horse Gotilas du Feuillard (Corentin Pottier) on the team for Riesenbeck.

Leading up to 2024 five combinations have been A-Olympic squad listed. They are:

Alexandre Ayache and Holmevangs Jolene, owned by Abdulkarim Barake and his rider
Morgan Barbançon Mestre and Habana Libre A, owned by his rider
Pauline Basquin and Sertorius de Rima Z, property of IFCE
Corentin Pottier and Gotilas du Feuillard, property of Hervé Pottier
Arnaud Serre and James Bond de Massa, property of Françoise Niclaus and Isabelle Douce

Laurent Gallice and Jean Morel in Riesenbeck

Jean Morel stated, "The new addition to the group is Arnaud Serre. He is a rider who has championship experience and played his role as a teammate perfectly last September at the European Championships. He showed that we could count on him even if his horse is young and that we had initially considered bringing him into the deep end a little later. For the rest, no change at this time."

"Everyone will continue to gain experience on the World Cup circuit to really be warmed up by the spring when the outdoor competitions start again," Morel added. "Ideally, in the spring we would need one or two additional pairs scoring around 72% in Grand Prix to really have a strong group from the start of the season."

Para Dressage

Fanny Delaval, team captain of the French para riders, announced five paralympic squad riders

Lisa Cez and Stallone de Hus, owned by Jérôme Cez, Marylène Cez and the rider. Grade V
Alexia Pittier and Sultan 768, property of Sylvie Pittier, Arthur Boutron and the rider. Grade IV
Anne-Frédérique Royon and Quaterboy LH, owned by Bertrand Courtin and the rider. Grade I
Vladimir Vinchon and Pégase Mayenne, owned by Maud Vinchon and the rider. Grade IV
Chiara Zenati and Swing Royal, owned by IFCE. Grade III