Charlotte Casiraghi's equestrian career


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Another blast from the past....... For people who remember in 2004 Charlotte rode a horse called Claire Chen, said to be the horse of Madame (Julien) Clerc. The singer Julien Clerc and (now EX-) wife Virginie Couperie (we saw her at last year's Gucci Masters) lived in the Fontainebleau area with their 2 kids. Apparently now she's married the actor Charles Berling, though in between there,somewhere, she had a fling with moneybags François Pinault, Salma Hayek's baby's daddy. Her website: Virginie Couperie : élevage, vente de chevaux et stages d'équitation à château bacon (be sure to check out the video of the newborn horse!):heart:
 
Is it correct to call this a career for Charlotte? Does she actually make an income from it, have a contract? Seems more like a hobby to me..
 
Oh, I'm sure that show-jumping costs her a LOT of money.
At her level the prices are ridicously small (maybe 100 euros) and she doesn't even clasify for them because her results are not very good. Also at her level sponsorship is unexistant (of course, she may get some sponsorship that other riders woul d never get because of her name, but not enogh)

If you take into account not only that she has to feed her horses every month and that she is paying a top trainer, but the very high entrance fee you have to pay to take part in the competitions she is entering and the transport of the horses (some times to remote places like Brazil) .
And she buys horses! I kind of remember that GI JOE doesn't belong to her and she's just her rider, and I don't know about Troy, but she certainly owns Tintero and that's not a cheap horse.

No way she is making money out of showjumping. She must be expending an awful lot of money on it.

Also, having a look at her last pics with Troy... No matter how much Rozier keeps repeting that she is very talented it is obvious that she is not. Rozier has to say it because she is her most popular client and is getting a lot of money (where would he find another amateur client ready to take him to all the Global Championship towns?) and popularity from her but the girl is certainly not a talented horsewoman.
Her results, with the horses she owns are very poor, and in videos and pics you can easily see how much she lacks. Her balance does not seem great which is no wonder since her legs are often too forward. And it really seems that she has a hard hand (no wonder, the way she holds the rains!) because too often her horses look unconfortable at the mouth and appear fighting her hand in pictures.
My guess is that she will keep on riding this often for a couple of years and then she will get bored and quit. But of course I could be wrong.
 
Yes, it's definitely more hobby than career. I doubt anyone could argue that. :) I admit "career" was a bad choice of word for the thread title.

Trep,you're right about Tintero. She bought him. She owns Troy too. But yes, GI Joe's owner is Jan Tops. You're bang on about the expenses. All of what you say is so true. As for sponsors, the only one I know about that she has now is Barclays. I guess they like it when she's photographed wearing their logo, like at the Gucci Masters. ;)You bring up an interesting point about her stables. Where do you suppose her horses are kept? Do you suppose GI Joe is stabled at Stal Tops?
 
Probably depens on where her trainer has stabled his horses. I assume she isn't personally trained by Jan aswell. He's got other stuff to do.
 
No, I never thought Jan was her personal trainer. So you think the horses, at least Tintero and Troy are at Espace Rozier?
 
If that's where her trainer is, it's probably where her's are too. It's just outside of Paris, right?
 
Yes it's in Bois le Roi probably like 50-55 km from Paris.
 
trepstrep said:
Now, she only needs to get rid of the hideous helmet (althought to be fair, this one is much much better than the previous one with the chin piece and the horrid transparent straps:eek:!)
Click to expand...

Trepstrep, do you think the 2 helmets are possibly the same helmet, but that she simply exchanged the straps? Look here: Clear strap, leather strap

I don't like the clear strap either. I don't like the velvet helmets too much, but I do like the bow on the back, and I can understand possibly why Charlotte likes this style. However, I think the helmet Athina wears looks better.
 
The helmets are outdated. I pointed it out before. They're not adviced to wear here anymore.
 
Now that you point it out, yes, you're probably right, Casiraghitrio. It looks like the same helmet with different straps.
I don't like velvet helmets either, but Charlotte seems to think they are more elegant, for some reason. I can understand that even if I don't share her taste, but she could at least use some black thiner straps. She's wearing a nice fit jacket, nice elegant saddlepad and then you look at her head and it's :eek::eek::eek:

About Athina, I have no option but to like both helmet and gloves since I own the exact same model of both things! ;)
 
I love brown for everything. I'd wear the brown one if I was courageous enough like you guys to actually ride a horse, and even do jumping. I like to be around horses and work with them,but I never ride since a rather scary incident when I was ten. When I was that age and doing lessons, I wore the black velvet helmet.

I think the kind of helmet Athina & Doda prefer is the most popular, or so it seems, for the grand prix riders. But it is noteworthy that Edwina Alexander likes the velvet helmets.
 
The 'skunk stripe' helmet is very popular at the moment. But it does not fit everyone's head. I have a very long oval head shape and cant wear it at all...major headaches ensue. That helmet is much more suited to those with a round head shape.
 
Does Charlotte get chosen to compete in these events? Or can anyone enter them?
 
No, it's her personal bill. Assuming travel by horsevan, rather than by plane...$2,500US per horse per week while competing. This, of course, does not include the board at home which continues even while one is away competing, or vet/shoeing/dental/training bills at home. Nor the actual purchase price per horse. Nor the carrying of said horse for many years in retirement.
 
^Yeah, doesn't each rider pay a fee to enter an event? What does it mean, for instance, when the Global Champions Tour holds their "special invitational" competitions? Does that mean the judges or organizers personally invited the participants? Last year, I noticed that Athina & Charlotte were in a lot of the "special invitational" ones, and those were the competitions for the more modest prizes. Like the grand prix was never a "special invitational," as I recall.
 
I was including entries in that figure. As well as shipping, stabling, day care, night check, training, cost of the trainer's hotel room, etc. For invitational classes, one would generally have to meet a certain point of money won in that calendar year. Many shows with that type of class, such as the Budweiser American Invitational (the richest prize money in the USA), last year's winner would recieve a 'bye' which means an invitation on the strength of last year's win, without having to otherwise qualify. Even if a Grand Prix is not an invitational, the order of competition is usually determined by the Welcome Cup earlier in the week. The Sunday Prix would be run in the reverse order of Wednesday's finish. It is an advantage to go last, as you know what you have to beat in terms of rails down and speed. It is very difficult to be the pathfinder/go first and win.
 
trepstrep said:
Oh, I'm sure that show-jumping costs her a LOT of money.
At her level the prices are ridicously small (maybe 100 euros) and she doesn't even clasify for them because her results are not very good. Also at her level sponsorship is unexistant (of course, she may get some sponsorship that other riders woul d never get because of her name, but not enogh)

If you take into account not only that she has to feed her horses every month and that she is paying a top trainer, but the very high entrance fee you have to pay to take part in the competitions she is entering and the transport of the horses (some times to remote places like Brazil) .
And she buys horses! I kind of remember that GI JOE doesn't belong to her and she's just her rider, and I don't know about Troy, but she certainly owns Tintero and that's not a cheap horse.

No way she is making money out of showjumping. She must be expending an awful lot of money on it.

Also, having a look at her last pics with Troy... No matter how much Rozier keeps repeting that she is very talented it is obvious that she is not. Rozier has to say it because she is her most popular client and is getting a lot of money (where would he find another amateur client ready to take him to all the Global Championship towns?) and popularity from her but the girl is certainly not a talented horsewoman.
Her results, with the horses she owns are very poor, and in videos and pics you can easily see how much she lacks. Her balance does not seem great which is no wonder since her legs are often too forward. And it really seems that she has a hard hand (no wonder, the way she holds the rains!) because too often her horses look unconfortable at the mouth and appear fighting her hand in pictures.
My guess is that she will keep on riding this often for a couple of years and then she will get bored and quit. But of course I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you. Obviously jumping it's just a hobby to her, for a while.

Anybody knows if this video i'ts from 2008 or 2009? I don't see reference to dates on it's description, and i don't speak french, so i don't know if they talk about it on the video :bang:

YouTube - Charlotte Casiraghi - First Interview - Stade2
 
:previous: That was her first interview last year, she talks about her passion for horseriding, and that she practices some others sports too.
 
I'm not sure 'hobby' would be the correct word...more like competitive athletic career. She trains with several horses every day. She travels to compete many weeks a year. Would you also call Zara Phillips' equestrian career a 'hobby'? It's really the same thing.
 
No. It's not at all the same thing.
Zara Phillips competes at professional level and she is one of the best in the world.
She is the Eventing World Champion and and Olimpic Level rider (she wasn't in the olimpics because her horse was injured but she was chosen for the british team twice) and more important if she wasn't rich enough by herself she could make a living out of horseriding thanks to prices and sponsorships.

Charlotte is nothing like that. She is just an amateur and not very good. She could never compete in a professional competition because she is very far away from the level required and she doesn't earn a single euro from ther ecuestrian activities. In fact it costs her an awful lot of money.
The level she competes in is reserved for amateurs. Don't fool yourself when you see her at the Global Championship and such. The Global Championship has real competitions, for professional riders and at the same time, some amateur competitions take place. These are designed for amateur riders , usually from the country where the competition takes place, and everyone who's got the money to pay the very high fees they make them pay can enter. This way the competitions get more money and popularty since most of these riders are the sons and daughters of rich and popular people.
Actually what Charlotte does, following the Global Championship around the world and paying that money and travelling so much is totally absurd. I've got a journalist friend who follows the tour and he told me a few months ago that she's a little bit laughed at.

She trains several days a week. Yes, but many people who do a sport as a hobby do the same think. She travels around the world with her horses. Yes, but she doesn't do it because she needs it to compete. They are plenty of competitions she could enter in the Paris area every weekend and hundreds of riders with a better level than her who don't go around the world following the professional riders like groupies. Her travelling around the world doesn't make any sense and it tires uselessly her horses.

So, yes, her equestrian activities are nothing more than a hobby, no matter how much she trains since she doesn't take part in real competitions, with real prices and rankings.
 
:ROFLMAO: You're right, trep. It's a hobby. Albeit, as you say, a very very, very very expensive, very involved, very elaborate hobby, but still...... a hobby.

Wow, you actually called Charlotte a groupie. That might be a bit harsh, but it probably has a grain of truth to it. I never thought of her that way.
 
ha, ha, ha... well, I got "a little bit" carried away :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:...
Calling her a groupie is exagerated, I know. But she is certainly out of place following the Global Tour around the world. But it's her money and she's not hurting anyone, so... she's free to do as she pleases, I guess.

Valentine has a much more logical and intelligent career as a rider, from my pov. She is an amateur aswell, since her real job isn't showjumping. Well, she is way better than Charlotte (she usually runs Grand Prix, even in CSI*** and CSI**** and she gets good results at them), yet she doesn't travel around the world taking part in competitions that are way out of her league.
 
And that's exactly what I meant about the absurd way she is leading her career.
This weekend there's been nearly 20 CSO in France, some of them at the doors of Paris.
Yet, instead of taking part in a national show with riders of her level, she travels to Antwerp to take part in a 1'15 m. competition! That's a low amateur level.
Of course, when you have a look at the startlist you see that nearly every body else taking part in the 1'15 competion is dutch. And that's normal. They are local amateur riders who take part in the event because it's happening close to their homes. A rider in his right mind doesn't travel hundreds of km. to take part in a poor 1.15m competition when he can do it every weekend at home.

And even more absurd, Charlotte places 22 out of 36 riders in such a low level competition. You travel to Atwerp to do that?
Why does she get such poor results with the kind of horses she rides? I know plenty of amateur riders on a budget, who ride cheap 9.000 euros horses and do better than her.
I don't know if Rozier is giving her bad advice, or whether she is very stubborn and thinks that because her mother is so and so she is too good to enter regional and national competions, but she looks kind of silly doing this kind of things.

Edit: because I just realized that she took part in another competion. A 1'25 m. with Troy. Still, amateur level. Nearly everyone else is dutch. And she placed last. 52nd out of 52 riders. Actually she was eliminated. And with such a horse! I don't know if she's ridicouloulsy naif and that Rozier is ripping her off, or if she's so vain and pretentious that she doesn't listen to any advice. But her "career" is starting to look ridicoulous.
 
OMG!
You shouldn't be allowed to ride a CSI when you ride like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nieuwsblad/4548913616/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nieuwsblad/4548913840/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nieuwsblad/4548278667/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nieuwsblad/4548914746/in/photostream/

And, an amateur rider who doesn't attend to her horse even for five minutes after showjumping and leaves it still saddled in the hands of her groom ? Who does she think she is? Liking it less and less.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nieuwsblad/4548280917/

This is poor Troy "before" Charlotte, ridden by someone who doesn't hang on his mounth and stays still while jumping. He looked happy and confident. 1st place in a 1.40 m CSI***
http://www.reitsportnews.at/de/inde...tour-um-den-preis-der-firma-koenigshofer.html
http://www.reitsportnews.at/de/index.php?/NEWS/csi3-grand-prix-international-2009-theresianische-militaerakademie-viva-litalia-emanuele-gaudiano-ist-der-neue-maria-theresia-derby-sieger-2009-hugo-simon-auf-platz-drei.html?catid=0
 
Hmm...I really hate to say this because she's kind of inspired me to want to ride---at least LEARN anyway---but I think you may be right, Trepstrep. If it's true that she placed 52 out of 52 that's rather...unfortunate.:ermm: She has been riding since she was a child; I would think she would be anywhere from an average to proficient show jumper by now. That's quite a waste of time and money as well to ride that far to make such a low ranking. To be fair, I read somewhere---or it may have been that interview posted above (native French speakers correct me if I'm wrong) that she wanted to bring more attention to the sport. So perhaps that's what she's trying to do. I don't know. I want a horse though. They're such beautiful creatures. Sorry, random. :ROFLMAO::flowers:
 
Unfortunately, I believe the horse - Troy - is more than she can handle at level; he's more experienced than her, and is confused by her instruction, which is why you see him refusing in the one picture (another where she's practically standing in her irons). She needs a patient, mid-level horse that will work with her; not a more experienced horse who is expecting her to know what she's doing - too frustrating (for both, really).
 
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