Lost in France

 

Lost in France – Derriere Equestrian ambassador Amanda Renouard has had a busy equestrian year, despite lockdown

Breeder and dressage enthusiast Amanda Renouard is based in France at the Haras du Ritz stud in Deux-Sevres, close to Parthenay in the beautiful Nouvelle Aquitaine region. Amanda produces elite sport horses for an international client-base. We asked her to share her news and views from 2020.

“Haras du Ritz is a small, private stud; we breed dressage horses, but a few have gone on to be eventers or show jumpers,” Amanda explains. “2020 has been a different year, hasn’t it! For us, the breed season this year was complicated, as due to the COVID-9 lockdown limitations, our vet was not allowed to perform echographs (ultrasound scans), and was only allowed to visit us for emergencies,” Amanda explains. “So our breed season started late.”

A team effort

Amanda, also a PR consultant to elite riders, journalist and former High Performance Director for Dressage/Para Dressage Ireland, had four mares in foal this spring, so her son Hugo was enlisted to help with all of the late night checks. “It was handy Hugo wasn’t at school, as he was present for the foalings with me, and was able to sleep during the day,” Amanda remembers.

“In addition to looking after the mares and their new arrivals, I had two horses to ride and two to back over the spring and summer. I didn’t get on the three year olds until  'confinement', however!” she continues. “The two six year olds had an easy spring, and we actually decided at that time that one of them did not love going round in circles, so we have since sent her off show jumping. The other six year old, Jura du Ritz, who is by Voice, competed in two young horse competitions, and had qualifying scores for national championships in Fontainebleau, but I opted to save her for another year, as she is still 'green',” Amanda explains.

Selling horses in a digital age

“Selling the foals in lockdown was interesting!” she continues. “I did lots of videos and Whatsapp live videos to prospective customers. I do still have two for sale, but am happy if they stay and aren’t sold, as both are really nice.” 

Many people have emerged from the earlier, full lockdown with a new perspective on life, and Amanda is no exception. “Not being allowed to hack out made me realise how important it is for the horses and ourselves!” she tells us. “And not being able to get a saddle fitter out made me realise how quickly the horses change shape. It’s also been good to reflect that I may think I have a horse good enough to go all the way; but they don't have those ambitions, and are quite happy eating grass! Life for us didn’t really change much, except we were home-schooling Hugo, and my husband Stephen stopped travelling for work. It was certainly a challenging time, and it is good to have some normality back again,” Amanda adds. (Although France does currently have a raft of curfews in place, as well as business closures and banned gatherings).

Working smarter

One of Amanda’s life mottos is ‘Work smarter not harder'’, and she explains that it is important to her to do professionally what you love in life. “For me, that would be writing about the things I respect and admire. I also work with the people I want to be around.

I work long, crazy hours, but it is never hard work; if it is hard, or I don’t like doing it, I question what am I doing wrong, or how I can improve,” she wisely explains. “Public relations is about making it happen for other people; working as a PR agent for some of the best equestrian athletes is about making their lives easier.  Breeding horses professionally and producing horses on a small scale gives me an insight into how the elite athlete ticks.  I always try to utilise that information to keep sponsors and media happy,” she adds. 

Finally, we asked Amanda what her favourite Derriere Equestrian item is, and why; but it proved to be a difficult question, due to the wide range of hard-working items. “That is such a hard question!” she ponders. “I love that you put on all the Derriere products, and just forget about them, and get on and do your job.  The underwear is amazing, the Cannes competition breeches are a must, so comfy, and the Treviso are hard wearing and always look smart. I am not sure I can choose a favourite!”

You can shop the Derriere Equestrian range at www.derriereequestrian.com

We wish Amanda and her team well with the lovely group of youngsters and equine future stars that are coming up through the ranks at Haras du Ritz.