"When I am asked, when I draw a course, if I think like a track leader or like a rider, I answer +neither+. I think like a horse," Santiago Varela Ullastres told AFP.

For the fourth time, the Spaniard is in charge of the course stamped with the luxurious logo of Hermès, this time in the company of Frenchman Grégory Bodo.

The Saut Hermès brings together, at the Grand Palais Ephémère, for its 13th edition, the best riders in the world, including Sweden's Henrik von Eckermann, world N.1 and Olympic champion in Tokyo, and Frenchman Simon Delestre, winner in 2018 and 2019, in the enclosure installed at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

Grégory Bodo will also be the partner of Santiago Varela Ullastres at the Paris Games, whose equestrian events will take place in the sumptuous setting of the gardens of the Palace of Versailles.

For this Madrileño who is a world reference in the equestrian world, drawing a course must be based on "common sense".

"Horses can't do things that aren't physically natural to them, so we don't ask them to do those things," he said.

"Create a concept"

"This common sense should make it possible to imagine how the horse will jump. And physically, he needs rhythm: without rhythm, no paradise," philosophizes the 54-year-old from Madrid, for whom the show must go through respect for the animal.

Luxembourg's Victor Bettendorf celebrates his victory after winning the Prix du Grand Palais du Saut-Hermès 2023 at the Grand Palais Ephémère in Paris on March 17, 2023 © Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

Hence the need to give it enough space "to gallop, turn, to see the jump from opposite and approach it without being distracted or frightened by anything," according to this specialist who has been working on courses since he was 15 years old.

This desire to do everything possible to prevent the animal, "the real star of the competition", from becoming afraid, took on a strong resonance during the Tokyo Games, when a German pentathlete was accused of mistreating a horse that refused to move forward. The images had shocked, causing the suppression of riding among the five events of the discipline.

"There was a mistake, that's for sure, and it was made in the worst possible place," said Santiago Varela Ullastres, stressing, however, that competition horses are "better cared for than the paintings in the Louvre".

Tokyo remains an extraordinary memory for the Spanish track manager, who will officiate for a second consecutive Olympiad, a rarity.

If, for a competition like the Saut Hermès, many elements are already fixed (track, obstacles, surface ...), everything remains to be imagined for the Versailles meeting.

"It's completely different, for the Games, you have to create a concept, a story, you have to tell something," he says, adding that the track managers are also responsible for the realization of the obstacles placed on the course.

However, he refutes the idea of events built for the general public during such an event, while competitions such as the Saut Hermès would be tailored for specialists.

"We always draw for the general public (...), we have to do things that people understand, we draw for the horse and if he can express himself fully, everyone will appreciate it, even those who know nothing about it," says this enthusiast.

© 2023 AFP