This weekend, Jérôme Guéry announced on his social networks the end of the sporting career of his fantastic Quel Homme de Hus. After five years together, the stallion has a superb track record: Olympic team bronze in Tokyo, European team champion in 2019 and even vice-world champion in 2022 in Herning. A horse that capsized the entire heart of a public committed to his cause. He will now devote himself to his second life, that of a breeder.
You announced this weekend the sporting retirement of Quel Homme de Hus. Was it a decision that was on your mind, to stop it after the Paris Games?
Exactly. The objective was already to hope to bring him back to his level after his injury and to be able to participate in the Paris Games. We had also thought about perhaps doing Geneva. It would therefore be either after Paris or after Geneva. The horse really gave himself in Paris. When we got home we decided to see how he was recovering from the deadline. But also, I didn’t feel he was in good enough shape to hope for a podium in Geneva. We skipped an event in Calgary in September. I told Gaëtan (Decroix, its co-owner, Editor’s note) that I felt the horse was in good shape but that I did not feel that I could win the Grand Prix. He told me to go back.
We decided to stick with what he had achieved and give him the retirement he deserves. And therefore stop him after Paris, on an event which corresponds to his career and what he has done. We didn’t want to do too much of the course. He had an exceptional career, he shone in every outing. It was necessary to end on something beautiful and great as his entire career has been.
“To finish in a second Olympiad at 18 is quite grandiose”
He has been under your saddle since 2019, which is both a little and a lot in the life of a horse. How do you view your career together?
It’s true that it’s short and long. But I started riding him when he was 13 and we did five years together. It’s still fantastic that he played sports until he was 18. Knowing that we had almost a year and a half off with his injury that he suffered during transport. We did three and a half years of sport and what results he had! All the championships he did before Paris, he brought home a medal. We win as a team at the European Championships. Then a bronze medal in teams at the Tokyo Olympics. And an individual medal that he deserved by being vice-world champion. Finishing in a second Olympiad at 18 is quite grandiose. It’s an incredible career, with lots of other victories, Barcelona, Mexico… A pretty impressive track record for a horse.
“Everything that revolved around Quel Homme de Hus was beautiful”
Is it also a beautiful story with everyone around him?
Everything that revolved around Which Man Was Beautiful. Basically it’s a story about a horse and friends. We had the Olympic dream, we came back with this medal and it continued. And there, being able to bounce back after his injury, bring him back to the highest level, it was a bit unexpected. Nobody believed it. But we stayed positive and the horse gave us. What a Man, he’s the kind of horse who surpasses himself and who senses when there are important events. He loves it when there is an audience. This year I think he knew there were the Games. Every course was better until the Games. I felt after the Games that he had made the effort and that he was relaxing a little more in his body. That’s when I told Gaëtan that it was time to give him the rest he deserves.
“Every rider has a horse of a lifetime and I think Quel Homme will be mine”
Every horse teaches its rider something. What did Quel Homme de Hus teach you?
Every moment of my life was accompanied by a horse. Which Man arrived at a time when he was able to allow me to shine at the highest level and on the world stage. To be among the ten best in the world to make the Top Ten, to bring home medals, it’s a dream of every athlete and it’s this horse that gave me all that. That’s all he gave me. And still today. Every rider has a horse of a lifetime and I think Quel Homme will be mine. I think he will continue to be talked about by his descendants. This is a horse that will have left its mark on the sport and will continue to do so, I am sure of it.
Will a farewell ceremony to sport be planned?
We hope to do this at the beginning of September next year at Stephex. Many people hoped to see him in Mechelen. But for us it was important that he said goodbye in a place where he had excelled.
Show jumping
