Botticelli's Short-Lived Retirement: Now a Young Rider Schoolmaster

Dressage

Belgium

Charlotte Defalque has not given Botticelli a long retirement from competition sport. Only four months after celebrating his final show at the 2025 CDI-W Mechelen, the horse has returned to competition sport as a young riders' schoolmaster.

Botticelli is a 2006 born Dutch warmblood gelding by Vivaldi out of Valinja (by Koss x Pion x Amor). He is bred by A. Van Straalen.

Charlotte Defalque

The chestnut gelding was acquired as a junior rider's horse for Charlotte Defalque in 2011 and the horse made all her dreams come true.

As a youth riders pair they represented Belgium at the 2013 European Junior Riders Championships in Compiegne, (29th in the individual test), the 2015 European Young Riders Championships in Arezzo (38th in the individual test), the 2016 European Young Riders Championships in Oliva Nova (6th in the Kur), and at the 2018 European Under 25 Championships in Exloo (27th in the short Grand Prix).

As a senior pair they rode three times on the Belgian team: at the 2022 World Championships in Herning (60th in the Grand Prix), at the 2023 Europeans in Riesenbeck (33rd in the Grand Prix), they were named reserve for the Paris Olympics, and at the 2025 European Championships in Crozet (36th in the Grand Prix).

Short Retirement - New Life as Schoolmaster

Evrard on Jordy HBC at the 2025 CDI Tolbert

With a total of 136 international tests on his tally and 13 years of competing at CDI's across the levels, Botticelli was retired from sport in Mechelen.

However, on 12 April 2026 Botticelli returned to the arena at the national show in Genk in the Prix St Georgs under Victoria Evrard. They scored 65.369%..

The horse ended up competing at three national shows in four tests in two weeks time. A week after Genk they went to the CDN Heist-op-den-Berg they rode the Young Riders test with two more 65% scored. Another week later at the CDN Sint-Truiden on 25 April there was a 66.177% in the Young Riders individual test.

Evrard has previously shown Jordy HBC (by Lord Leatherdale x Ferro), Nicos T (by Valverde x Sorento) and Kheops d'Hathor (by Toto Jr x Amsterdam) at young riders level. She trains with Larissa Pauluis. With Jordy HC she had her international debut in 2025 and rode at the CDI's in Tolbert and Jardy.