Jerome Guery on his Olympic showjumper ‘he would take to war’

Jerome Guery riding Quel Homme De Hus in the Olympic team showjumping final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games — Jerome Guery ( BEL) riding Quel Homme De Hus in the Team Jumping Final for the Olympic Jumping Competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held at Equestrian Park in Setagaya-ku in Tokyo in Japan between the 23rd July and 8th August 2021

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Belgium’s Jerome Guery said his Olympic showjumping team bronze medal-winning ride Quel Homme De Hus is the “one horse he would take to war” following their final performance at the Tokyo Games.

The scopey 15-year-old stallion by Quidam De Revel gave everything he had to produce Belgium’s only clear round in the team final. The pair have been marred by the tight time allowances for Santiago Varela’s courses over the week, picking up three time-penalties in the individual final on Wednesday (4 August) and one time-penalty in the team qualifier yesterday (6 August), but this was not an issue today as the pair stepped up a gear.

“I sent him directly [forward] to cover the time in the beginning of the course, which was my mistake in the individual final when I didn’t think about the time. I didn’t want to make the same mistake here in this final. I know he is a little bit slow sometimes because he jumps so high you lose time in the air – it’s good to see, but to win the class you need to think about the time; it went perfectly today,” he said.

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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.

H&H’s Tokyo horse of the day: Jerome Guery’s Quel Homme De Hus – ‘The one horse I would take to war’

After coming over the last, Jerome looked thrilled with the stallion’s performance.

“I’m really happy, my horse was amazing – like the other days also,” he said. “He had a super round again. I’m happy I rode well, it wasn’t smooth like yesterday but because it’s the final there was a little bit more stress.

Jerome Guery has had the ride since 2019 and the combination were part of the bronze medal-winning team at the European Championships in Rotterdam.

“He’s an amazing horse, he has all the scope. He has power, flexibility, a super canter. I’m really lucky to have a horse like this,” he said.

“If I had to take one horse to go to war I’d take him because he is so brave, he has the mentality – he is scared of nothing and so sure of himself. I love him”.

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