Sophie Thalmann, ambassador for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy :
Sophie was born in May 1976 in Bar-le-Duc, in Meuse. After doing a Baccalaureate in Literature and Art, she then went on to study a DEUG (2-year degree course) in cultural and audiovisual media. At the age of 21 she was awarded the prestigious title of Miss France 1998.
Drawn to horses from a very young age, she tirelessly nagged her parents to let her start riding, but she only joined a riding school and was able to fulfil her dream hobby at the age of 14. Ten years later, she got her first horse, Auteuil, who is now enjoying retirement surrounded by the family’s other horses and ponies at their home in L’Oise
Wife of top jockey Christophe Soumillon and mother to two children, Sophie has presented Sophie et Compagnie, programmes aimed at young riders, for the last 8 years on the EQUIDIA channel.
She is also a writer, and has penned an ever-growing collection of books about horses called Mes amis les chevaux for Hachette Jeunesse (“la bibliothèque rose” collection).
Sophie’s whole life revolves around horses, and she takes part in a variety of horse-related events, often acting as a patron, such as the recent Salon du Cheval in Villepinte where she climbed the podium atop a superb chocolate-coated steed!