Breed Spotlight: Selle Français

This French sport horse breed is known for excelling across multiple disciplines. We talk to Estelle Jean of the Selle Français brokerage company ekestrian.com.

All photos are of horses for sale through ekestrian.com.

What are some of the breed’s characteristics?

Performance, flexibility, energy, style, strength and intelligence. Selle Français horses are very easy and more turnkey than many other breeds. They are good teachers — if the horse received a good education, he is also a good teacher for young riders.

What is the history of the breed?

The Selle Français has submitted to a very rigorous selection process since the breed was created in 1958. Since then Selle Français genetics have influenced the main international stud books and the breed has become sought-after all over the world.

 How does the Selle Français perform in competition?

Did you know that the best horse in the world is a French horse? Myrtille Paulois, Roger-Yves Bost’s champion showjumping mare, was #1 on the 2013 World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses Horse Rankings. As with many high-level Selle Français, her bloodlines honor one of the foundation sires of the breed, Almé (1966-1991). His offspring include two-time World Cup winner I Love You, Olympian Jalisco and Galubet A, from whom more than 60 horses from the international rankings descend. A son of Galubet A, Baloubet du Rouet, is currently the #1 ranked showjumping sire in the world. In addition to Baloubet du Rouet, other top-ranking Selle Français sires include Diamant de Semilly and Quick Star.

There are so many famous Selle Français all over the world: Kellemoi De Pepita, Lord De Theize, Mylord Carthago, Kraque Boom, Luccianno, Itot Du Château and Jalisca Solier, to name a few. One quarter of the top 20 international horses are French, and Selle Français riders have already won several prestigious competitions this year: For instance, Pénélope Leprevost won the CSI***** in Paris in March (Saut Hermès), Kevin Staut won the CSI***** in Leipzig in January, Patrice Delaveau was second in Paris (Saut Hermès) in March.

What is Ekestrian.com?

The objective of Ekestrian.com is not only to enable international riders of any level to realize their dream by importing a horse with French origins, but also to bring with these horses the savoir-faire of a French coach to prepare them for the competition circuit. After buyers have chosen their perfect horse in France, they can book a one day to one month long of training period with the rider who has performed with the horse in competition.

Claire-Aline Quantin had the idea of creating Ekestrian.com to showcase the breed’s excellent qualities and also to solve a big issue in the French sport horse market: a lack of transparency and security for the buyers. Before Ekestrian.com there was no place of reference to find the perfect horse in France. Now the Ekestrian.com website and its team can help buyers find the best horse at the best price.

What type of horses do you offer for sale?

Ekestrian.com offers a lot of different sport horses but most of them are show jumping, eventing, hunting and dressage horses, and above all Selle Français. We have more than 500 horses in our database, so the horses that you can see on our website are just a little sample of our selection. All of the horses have been selected because of their qualities and their prices; as Ekestrian.com we are working with a big web of breeders and sellers that are engaged in quality charter insuring the truthfulness of the information about each horse and the transparency of the selling process. For more information you can go on ekestrian.com.

Go Riding!