For those who are passionate about horse breeding, the Léon Melchior Open Sires of the World (CSI5*) is an annual must-attend event on their calendar. During this spectacular show jumping competition, impressive stallions, in the prime of their showjumping careers, compete for victory over a basic course of 1.45 meters in height. The victory eventually went to Obama De La Linière (Marius Claudius x Figo De Muze | BWP), a 9-year-old son out of the legendary motherline of Fragance de Chalus. She also produced memorable stallions such as Bamako De Muze and Mylord Carthago.
For Thibault, who spent weeks preparing Obama for Jumping Mechelen, it was a wonderful reward: “Luck was on my side today. It was like we flowed through the course. Obama is only 9 years old. My father rode him as a 7-year-old, and he prepared him perfectly for me. I basically just had to get on. I am very grateful for that. Actually, we never discussed why he passed Obama on to me. I needed a horse, and Obama was ready. He trusted me enough to see what we could achieve together, and it’s currently going well.”
Thibault has thought less about what he would like to achieve with Obama in the future. After all, they were fully focused on Jumping Mechelen: “The past weeks were truly dedicated to Vlaanderens Kerstjumping for us. Actually, that was the case for all the employees at Stal Philippaerts. We all worked hard with our horses to be ready for Jumping Mechelen. Afterwards, we’ll look to the future. In any case, I am very pleased that the owners Joris De Brabander and JeroenLissens are giving us the opportunity to use Obama in sports. It’s a beautiful partnership.”
