From Bartabas to Blondeau
Solenn Heinrich: A Blondeau Label holder with an unusual background
Solenn started riding at the age of 4. When she was 10 years old, she had a triple fracture of the pelvis but nothing was going to stop her getting back into the saddle.
Her determination overcame her fear and she obtained her FFE Galop at the age of 12.
With her fragile appearance and clear blue eyes, she was very quickly snatched up by the equitation world. She competed in French and European championships at dressage, which she admits to being particularly keen on.
She continued her sports studies (STAPS) with little motivation as she greatly missed horses. Solenn spent a year as an au pair on the island of Réunion, and she became a riding instructor. She gained her French national diploma with Christian Forlini in the south of France thus reviving her passion. She did so well that she joined Patrick Le Rolland's stables where she was responsible for a string of horses for a year.
"I really wanted to learn, to perfect my riding and to dig more deeply into techniques. The year with Patrick Le Rolland was very tough, but very educational", she explains, knowing how fortunate she was to have worked with this extraordinary horseman.
Then, through circumstances, luck and meeting the right people, she joined the Bartabas troupe, starting off as a groom and working horses. Her potential as a rider was soon noticed and she joined the display team and performed leading roles for nearly 10 years.
She also discovered western riding there, a very different practice to classical riding.
Solenn's thirst for knowledge then took her to Théâtre du Centaure and for a year, she was in charge of the stables and worked 11 horses every day, travelling all over the world from Italy to Singapore.
She increasingly began to feel that she wanted to be her own boss.
"I wanted to start my own business, not as an amateur, but to bring professionalism to my clients. That's why I turned toward the Blondeau Method to complete my profile."
In 2013, Solenn went to the Ecole Blondeau to do a breaking-in course and she obtained her BEB3 (Ecole Blondeau Diploma label 3).
It was an enriching experience, and the learning process and skills remain with her, as does having been at the heart of the technical advances in research carried out in the education of young horses. There was also "the constant soul-searching, working on yourself, not allowing emotion to take over and being humble with horse".
Solenn now works with all the difficult horses entrusted to her using the Blondeau Method. But if ever she has a doubt, she knows she can turn to her peers, Eric Berthou and Jean-Pascal Landais, Ecole Blondeau instructors.
"This method that I learned with Nicolas Blondeau has brought me so much - every one of his words is recorded in my memory. For example, I find 'We can only have goodness inside us when we do this job' rings so true when I work".
Today, Solenn offers her expertise via our website (see Blondeau Labels) working with respect towards horses and with the hand-mouth contact.
For further information and discussion with Solenn, you can find her contact details on our website by clicking on this link.
Emmanuelle Moreau.
