Eric Navet, ambassador for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy :
As he often says himself, Eric Navet could ride before he could even walk. Hailing from a family of horse breeders, the Norman native got into show jumping from an early age and made it his passion.
Eric made his Olympic debut aged just 25: in Los Angeles in 1984 with J’t’adore.
He is a seasoned competitor at the World Equestrian Games, having been crowned World Champion in both the individual and team events at the very first WEG in Stockholm in 1990. On this occasion he rode the famous Quito de Baussy, a horse bred by his father Alain, who was also a top-level rider in his day.
Again with Quito, Eric was crowned individual European Champion in front of his home crowd at La Baule in 1991. His victorious run then continued, as the following year the pair clinched a bronze medal in the team event at the Barcelona Olympics.
Quito’s career came to a halt shortly after winning the silver in the team event at the World Equestrian Games in The Hague (1994). Four years later, the Games went to Rome, where Eric competed on Atout d’Isigny. He left Italy with another team silver.
In 2002, Andalusia was the chosen destination for the Games: Jerez de la Frontera, to be exact. Jean-Maurice Bonneau’s men claimed the team gold for France, and Eric also finished second in the individual event with Dollar du Mûrier.
In August 2013, the five time French champion decided that a change of direction was in order: he moved to San Diego in California, where he continues to compete in top-level competitions while training a rising star of the American show jumping scene, Karl Cook.
