“I have nothing left to lose, I will go to the end”, the Olympic rider, Alexandre Ayache forced to sell his horses

The stables of the rider of the French equestrian team are still partially affected, because one of its insurers does not respect its commitments. While waiting for the compensation to which he is entitled, Alexandre Ayache is forced to sell his most precious horses to carry out work in order to prevent the damage from getting worse.

Nissanga is a bay colored mare. Its mane, the outline of its ears and the bottom of its legs are combined in black. It is a mount intended to reach the heights of its discipline: dressage. She trained under the saddle of Alexandre Ayache. Almost every day for 2 years, circles, turns, and diagonals followed one another on the immaculate rides nestled on the mountainside in Lantosque. The couple was training hard for their possible participation in the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 4 years. The mare had already participated in numerous international events, and the results were promising. Alexandre Ayache is the only dressage rider to have participated in 3 Olympics. The La Pirouette stables house around thirty horses. All promised at the very highest level, all with a minimum value of several hundred thousand euros.

But their common story ends there. Nissanga may be heading to the west coast of the United States, but it will be with a teammate from the French team. Alexandre Ayache had to part with it, he six months ago. A sale that looked like a sacrifice on the altar of a legal battle which began after the passage of storm Alex, which heavily damaged the buildings of the equestrian center. Since then, the rider has run out of steam in an exhausting race against insurers who respect neither their commitments nor court decisions.

4 years ago, storm Alex

This October 2, 2020, torrential rain fell on the stables of La Pirouette, as on the rest of the La Vésubie valley. The waters have dug out part of the mountain where the houses and the horses’ stalls rest. The road was washed away.

Around ten boxes fell into the void. Winter is coming, you have to act quickly. “These animals have been domesticated for centuries, they no longer have the genetic heritage to stay outside in difficult climatic conditions, rain and cold, without exposing themselves to health complications”, “These horses are shorn so as not to sweat too much when they work. It’s as if we were running with a down jacket. Then we have to rinse them, and their coat dries quickly, then we can’t decently leave these horses. with no shelter over their heads.”

And then, in 8 months, Alexandre Ayache must leave to participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games, with his lead horse Zowhat.

Fortunately, Yvan Veran, the organizer of the great Levens horse festival, will then offer him a solution to temporarily accommodate his horses. The natural disaster decree appeared in record time, Alexandre Ayache then immediately contacted his insurers. Its domain has a particularity: the stables are insured by Groupama, the other buildings, mainly the homes, by AXA insurance. Two approaches, two interlocutors.

Ten days after the disaster, a Groupama insurance expert came to the site: the damage was indeed the direct consequence of the passage of storm Alex. A month and a half later, the 32 boxes were destroyed. Their reconstruction respected very strict specifications evaluated by concrete engineers. To never experience this again.

Of the 32 boxes, 22 are refurbished thanks to the compensation. For the remaining ten, Alexandre Ayache and his brothers rolled up their sleeves. The insurer also covered the roof of the ride and the walker, for a total of almost one million euros. Worried days and sleepless nights follow one another, but the rider does not fear obstacles. The horses have found their shelter, and the stables are gradually recovering from the trauma.

The houses were also leaning on the embankment which collapsed. They are insured by Axa insurance. The group’s expert will take a month to come to the site. Alexandre Ayache is not offended, several valleys have been very hard hit, the cases are numerous. This is where the problems start : according to him, the damage is “absolutely not” due to the passage of storm Alex. According to the expert, the ground is initially unstable.

My house is not badly built, it hasn’t moved for 80 years!

Alexandre Ayache

at France 3 Côte d’Azur

The expert visits will still continue. Five months after the disaster, the first quote from the insurer Axa comes out, it is estimated at 800 000 euros. For his part, the rider regularly has the support of the prefect appointed for the reconstruction of the valleys, Xavier Pelletier. He also benefited from the help of solidarity weekends. “The first time, there were 120 of them, they helped me restore the outdoor horse parks. They did, in one day, what would have taken me six months to achieve.”

But the Japanese Olympic deadline is fast approaching. Difficult to concentrate, because a retaining wall must be urgently rebuilt so that construction equipment can come and carry out the work to secure the houses.

Three weeks before the Tokyo Games, I have to go on an Olympic preparation course in Normandy, with Zowhat.

Alexandre Ayache

at France 3 Côte d’Azur

“The compensation manager at Axa told me: before you get on the plane, everything will be settled. But when I got on the plane, I was worried, the compensation had not arrived” .

Upon his return, the insurer retracted and once again asserted that “the damage has nothing to do with storm Alex “. Then begins a long and painful battle. Quotes, expert opinions and a geotechnical engineer mandated by Axa insurance will even make a report without having come on site. The insurer is then taken to court and ordered to honor its first agreement and to pay a deposit of 200,000 euros A legal expert has issued a new report: the storm Alex is the only one responsible. The insurance must settle, but since then, there has been silence.

But in the meantime, the embankment continues to subside, the access road must be reinforced. So the rider must carry out work so that the situation does not get worse. The bills are piling up. The amounts are increasing. To be able to finance this work, Alexandre Ayache has no other solution than to sell his horses. A real heartbreaker. A fourth mare will leave this Sunday for other rides.