Pierre Durand and Jappeloup

Between chance and determination...

A horse that is a bit rebellious and a rider who has seen it all before are not necessarily made for each other. Last June, Pierre Durand told us about his first encounter and his joyful and painful moments with his famous horse Jappeloup. Strong emotions such as those he described in his book published by Michel Laffont in 2012, of which the title is none other than the name of the horse himself.

Underwhelmed at the start, Pierre Durand even spoke of an “irritating horse” during his first meetings with Jappeloup. “(...) When I was on his back, I felt nothing. He was a gangly horse that moved (...) and also by lack of desire.”

But that all changed very quickly, and the two finally found themselves. Together, they inspired the whole world.

“What I take from all that,” says Pierre Durand, “it’s that Jappeloup became (...) the most accomplished from this meeting between human and horse.”

But all good things must come to an end. On November 5, 1991, Jappeloup died suddenly, just after taking his well-deserved retirement.

Durand: “Jappeloup, dead? Impossible. He went to sleep, he’s going to get up... I had to see this motionless mass for reality to shake me by the collar and slap me.”

Nothing could more delicately translate the emotion felt but Pierre Durand upon the death of his horse than the last page of his book: “My dear friend, you had a destiny... you left me truly alone...”

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