PARIS, France – When French eventing rider Stephane Landois cleared the last obstacle in front of 16,000 spectators in the vibrant Versailles arena to secure the silver medal for his team at the Paris Games, he immediately thought of his friend Thais Meheust.
Meheust died at the age of 22 in a riding accident five years ago and it was her horse, Chaman Dumontceau, that Landois was riding on his Olympic debut, having been made a gift of the mount by her grieving parents.
“Her dream was to reach the Olympics with this horse,” Landois, 30, told Reuters in an interview.
“When I took him over, I immediately set myself that same goal but, in fact, I was thinking about it without believing in it, and then we climbed the steps little by little and the horse showed me that he wanted it, too.”
Landois grew up in Nantes, western France, and rode since he was a small child. He quickly entered special programs for promising talents.
When he was in his early 20s, Thais’s parents, who ran a stables in Normandy, hired Landois as the coach for their daughter. The two were roughly the same age. Working together almost every day, they soon became close friends.
In September 2019, Thais fatally fell in a cross-country competition. Landois was waiting for her further down the course.
“I think of her every day,” said Landois, who manages a stables with around 35 horses. “When I meet the eyes of Chaman in the morning, I think of Thais, and having him by my side, it means I can have Thais with me a little bit.”
The young woman’s parents could not bear to keep the horse at their stables. Landois suggested he would take care of Chaman, while they would stay the formal owners.
“He likes to be looked after”, he said of the grey 12-year old gelding.
Landois’s father Eric said his son, who has a partner but no children, immediately developed a special relationship with the horse.
“Ahead of the Olympic dressage exercise, as part of his preparation, he went into the box and sat on a stool, just to feel the connection. He sat there for 15, 20 minutes, staying connected,” Eric Landois told Reuters.
The Olympics were the first time Thais’s mother had been at a riding event since her daughter’s accident.
“I’m very proud, and I think Thais would have loved this day, and she would be happy to see her mum smiling,” Landois said of winning his silver on Monday. – Rappler.com