Pauline Basquin, and the importance of horse well-being...

Pauline Basquin is competing in her first FEI Dressage World Cup this weekend. 2022 has already been a busy year for Pauline! She became the first female rider to be part of the famous the Cadre Noir de Saumur, won the French Pro Elite championship and took part in her first world championship event. And it is not over; in Lyon, she will be riding Sertorius de Rima Z*IFCE (twelve years old), with whom she hopes to take to the arena in Versailles in two years’ time, for the Olympic Games in Paris. The principle of horse well-being runs in Pauline's veins; it's just obvious: "Equitation in the French tradition, which is classed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, is a type of riding that respects the horse, which is gentle and not coercive. We need to listen to our horses as much as possible. In Saumur, we are lucky enough to have several miles of outdoor tracks. Sertorius spends half the day in the paddock, and has massages three times a week. As the teachers of future instructors and trainers, we are there to teach them how to learn: the horse's physical and mental well-being is a point that I really emphasise in my teaching, which I try to pass on to my students, so that they, in turn, can then pass that principle on to their students."