“Léa, she has something rare: equestrian tact cannot be learned, it’s intuitive. This absolute bond of trust makes it possible to demand from the horse without ever forcing it”. This Sunday morning, before the equestrian corrida, Pierre Durand, legendary Olympic equestrian champion, gold medal in show jumping in Seoul in 1988 on his horse Jappeloup, observed Léa Vicens with the humility of the greatest: “She is an exceptional rider, she would have been excellent in jumping, she has the courage and the will for that …”
A meeting in Seville in 2012
Pierre Durand discovered bullfighting when he was 10 years old, on vacation in Spain. A revelation in his dreamy kid’s head: “I was fascinated by the ballet between the savage strength of the bullfighter and the grace of the bullfighter. I saw no drama but beauty and courage”.
It is by becoming a high-level rider that he (re) discovers rejon horses. “They work on small gaits and on the circle, the most virtuous figure to channel a horse. Jappeloup, my horse, was small and swift, very close to rejon horses. I learned to make him twirl on the hips. inspired by rejon “, confides Pierre Durand.
His first meeting with Léa Vicens dates back to 2012, in Seville where some scenes of the film are shot. Jappeloup which tells the story of Pierre Durand. In 2013, she will invite him to his alternative, it will be a missed appointment … “But I follow her everywhere in France as soon as I can in Dax, Bayonne, Arles last year…”
At the exit of the arena on Sunday, Pierre Durand wanted to retain only the perfect osmosis between the reojenada and her horses rather than the inconclusive kills. “I am amazed. Léa Vicens is equestrian art embodied …”
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