French Team Horse Noble Dream Passed Away

Dressage

France

Noble Dream, France's first and only WCYH medal winner and Grand Prix team horse in 2013 and 2014, has passed away. She was 22 years old.

Noble Dream was an Oldenburg mare by Caprimond out of Noble Affair (by Donnerhall). She was bred by Claus Fenske and owned by Laura, Caty and Jean-Louis Dallara.

Jessica Michel

Noble Dream was one of the first youngsters that French entrepreneur Xavier Marie had in his fields at Haras de Hus when he started his business almost two decades ago.

Jessica Michel began riding for Haras de Hus in 2006 and knew the Dallara family through pony sport as Jessica won the 2000 French Pony Championships on their pony. She stayed in contact with the family, who asked her to find a pitch black horse for them. Michel spotted Noble Dream in Marie's fields. She was rejected by other top riders who did not see the potential in her, but Michel saw the raw talent and recommended her to the Dallara family.

"I choose Noble Dream in the field to develop her as a sport horse," Michel reminisced. "Dallara was looking for a black mare for the next step for their daughter. I told them about Noble Dream, but said she had white on her face and on one hind leg. They came quickly to my place to try her and bought her despite the fact that she had some white."

Michel and Noble Dream became a highly successful partnership. They won at their first show and won the gold medal in the 4-year old division at the 2006 French Young Horse Championships, Jessica's first title in a string of almost twenty to follow.

In 2007 they reclaimed the French Young Horse Champion's title and won bronze at the 2007 World Young Horse Championships in Verden, Germany, a feat so far never repeated by a French rider.

At the 2008 World Young Horse Championships the pair was 15th in the finals. Noble Dream stayed in training with Jessica until 2009.

Marc Boblet

In 2012 the mare made her international Grand Prix show debut at the CDI Hamburg under French Marc Boblet.

The duo represented France at the 2013 European Championships in Herning, where they were 30th in the Grand Prix Special with 66.890%. They went to the 2014 World Cup Finals in Lyon, where they were 9th in the Kur with 74.875%.

At the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Caen, they finished 24th in the Grand Prix Special with 70.924%.

Health Issues

In 2015 Noble Dream was beginning to struggle with the piaffe and did not cope well with travelling and show stress.

In April that year the owners and rider announced that the mare suffered from ovary problems which required an opreation that left her infertile.

Boblet showed the mare the 2015 spring CDI's in Addington, Compiegne, Rotterdam and Deauville, but was not selected on the French team for the 2015 European Championships in Aachen, much to the rider's disagreement.

The duo only did two CDI shows in the autumn of 2016 at Le Mans and Geneva. In her last competition in Geneva she won the Grand Prix Special with 69.392%.

Retirement

In the autumn of 2018 it was announced that Noble Dream was retired from sport after she got diagnosed with arrhythmia.

It was announced that she would spend her retirement in Boblet's fields.

On 22 June 2024 owner Caty Dallara reported the passing of Noble Dream on social media.

"The magnificent black ballerina has left us," Dallara stated. "We decided to let her go peacefully. After lovely years competing for France with her rider Marc Boblet, in whom we had placed our trust, we took the mare away from him in 2022."

Dallara found Noble Dream in poor health and condition and removed her immediately from Boblet's barn. After a thorough vet check she was diagnosed with Cushing's disease. Fortunately she spent her last years at Haras des Petits Prés with her buddies Whitni Star in the love and care of Bénédicte Houy, Olivia Oursel and Isabelle Chraibi.