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‘I had to change how I approached performance’ – an Olympic gold medallist’s vital mindset move

Pippa Roome — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 08:30:23 +0000

French Olympic team gold medallist Kevin Staut says he had to make a change to his mindset to reach the top level of showjumping.

“At the beginning, when I started to reach the top level, it was just about results and it was so difficult also for the people around me, the family,” he said. “When success was there, it was normal, when it was a bad weekend or I didn’t perform at the level I wanted, I closed myself and I didn’t speak. It was really something I don’t want to do again because of the people around me – they still have to enjoy life and not everything is dependent on results.”

Kevin went on: “So I had to change my mind and how to approach the performance. Now, performing is not just being at the prize giving or whatever. The only thing I have really control of is the quality of my riding. The results are out of your control. Now for me performing is about being close to the quality of riding I want to produce. It’s easier for me to manage mentally and for people around me, it’s much more comfortable to have me smiling more than before.”

Speaking from the most recent Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping fixture, the Dutch Masters in ’s-Hertogenbosch last weekend, Kevin Staut also shared a story about mindset and a letter he received from a nine-year-old fan, which asked how many times he had fallen in his career.

“I realised that I am falling a lot – and some falls count for double, like falling on the first day of the World Championships or in the final of a team competition. I wanted to give the message that the most important thing is how many times you can stand again after a fall,” he said.

“The important thing is to work harder to come back and to try to do better every time – that’s what makes you maybe different.”

Kevin Staut speaking at the Rolex Exhibition Area at the Dutch Masters 2025. (Image credit: Rolex/ThomasLovelock)

Kevin Staut on mindset: ‘It’s a long process’

Although Kevin has worked with sports psychologists and mental coaches through the French federation ahead of championships, he says his mindset comes mainly from his own reading, research and talking to others.

He adds: “It is a long process – it’s not like I decided directly, ‘Now to perform, I have to be stronger mentally’. It’s something you can’t just change from one day to another, it takes a lot of practising.”

When things are not going well, as well as focusing on the quality of his riding – the only thing he can control – Kevin also tries to improve the connection he has with his horses “so we can be totally trusting of each other when we are in the ring”.

‘This collaboration gives better visibility’

Rolex testimonee Kevin also spoke about the place of the Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping in the sport and the four majors which are part of the series – Geneva, Spruce Meadows, Aachen and the Dutch Masters.

“We have seen over the last few years so many tours, so many shows arriving in showjumping – it had the impact that it was really difficult to have good visibility and understand what is top sport,” he said.

“I think it was necessary to have excellence about a few shows and to make them the top ones. I think in every sport when there is a bit of confusion, in tennis or in golf, a collaboration between a sport and a brand brings better visibility.

“We love our sport and it’s fantastic that there are many shows for rider to contest, but also we need to put a few of them on the top to maintain excellence. I think the Rolex Grand Slam picked the four best shows in the world and every year when you look at the winners and how the grands prix go, the best are winning.”

How Kevin’s career started

Kevin started riding when he was 12.

“I’m from a part of France in Normandy where there are many horses because it’s a big breeding area, but I was not really focused on riding,” he explained.

“I was trying to play tennis really badly, I did judo really badly as well. I wanted to be close to an animal, so I was going to the fields and working around the horses, but I wasn’t focused on riding. Then when I started to ride, I enjoyed it, but I was not really talented.

“When I was maybe 16, I had a few small successes in showjumping and when I was 18 I decided to try to make a living in the sport. The best option was to work for horse dealers, so I moved from place to place. By luck, when I was around 24 years old, I got difficult stallion. He was not expensive at all and my grandfather bought him. Two years later, I became European champion with this horse.

“This horse brought me into the spotlight and after that I managed to find owners and people who would support me in my career. Before this horse, I had no clue I could do that at the top level.

“It’s also interesting how it’s a click in your mind when you realise that you can maybe do it – it becomes an addiction. Now I can’t live without the sport, I love training the horses, I love building up the technical issues. The sport is really everything for me.”

The horse who took Kevin to that 2009 European Championship victory at Windsor was Kraque Boom – and he is still alive and enjoying his retirement in the field at Kevin’s farm, aged 27.

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