Portfolio Categories Equestrian sports
It’s hard not to feel a little pride at the end of these Olympic Games, which will forever be engraved in our collective memory!
It’s hard not to feel a little personal pride at having taken part.
This extraordinary professional sequence is certainly a collective one. Creating a cross-country track in a world-famous park was undeniably a crazy marketing idea! To do it in the most unfavourable natural terrain, under the trees, on the banks of the canal and… on the canal, was a crazy gamble!
But the tireless Normandie Drainage / GL Event teams rose to the challenge in style !
The transformation of the Main Arena in Le Touquet is another fine achievement!
The CSI is back in Le Touquet after the redevelopment of the principal equestrian surface, which retains all its Canche Bay identity and verdant elegance.
The site’s versatility is affirmed by the reconstruction of a ford and a variety of obstacles for derbies or eventing.
Right in the middle of one of the most beautiful breeding grounds in the world, the Haras National du Pin has laid a new stone in its long history by inaugurating a brand new International Equestrian Sports Centre with 4 large ebb-and-flow riding arenas, 300 boxes and a public reception building.
The project was developed in close collaboration with the Inspecteur des Sites and the ABF, in a particularly protected environment. In addition to respecting the architectural perception of the site, the overall design had to be consistent with the life of the site. Particular attention was paid to water management: all the water used for the sports floors comes from a circular rainwater management system, regularly collected from the roofs of the stables and the drains of the quarries, to be stored successively in an underground reservoir and then in the pond below, a reservoir of biodiversity, renovated for the occasion. No water taken from the drinking water network, no deep natural reserves impacted, no superfluous energy consumed, but safe and reliable competitions!
Mainly used for training endurance horses, the tracks created in 2010 needed to be adapted and refurbished.
The two tracks were recalibrated to a width of 6m, the outside track designed for trotters was transformed into a firm fibre sand track for young horses, and the inside gallop track was made deeper to put more experienced horses through their paces.
Renovation of the main dressage arena, taking into account the specific environment of the national stud farm, which is a listed historic monument.
A few kilometers from Paris, host of the 2024 Olympic Games, the equestrian structures of the City of Compiègne have been selected to welcome foreign teams for a necessary acclimatization. The equestrian stadium, which had a main grass surface, with extensive use, did not allow the desired conditions. The lawn has therefore given way to fibered sand irrigated thanks to reversible drainage.
Thus completed, the facilities allow the regular organization of competitions for every levels.
The public who appreciated the natural elegance of the place now travels in large numbers to enjoy the new planted paths and the orangery installed overhanging the arenas on a superb terrace, designed by Benoît DUMOUCHEL of the Atelier ZENOBIA.
After several rain events showing the limits of the grassed surface for the regularity of the tests, it was decided to transform the arena into fiber sand and to equip it with a sub-irrigation system to facilitate maintenance.
A similar paddock has been created nearby.
The Mondial du Lion 2020 took place on these new surfaces : the riders were thrilled and FEI technical delegates had best comments about them.
The french equestrian society (SHF), historical owner of the place, wanted to give a new dimension to the Sichon equestrian centre.
Originally a grass area, the outdoor arena was no longer completely in agreement with what was expected at regional, national or international show jumping. That is why the outdoor arena received numerous changes. Therefore grass was replaced with fibered draining sand allowing to use the arena on a longer period in the year, without any climatic consequence on the competition process or regularity.
In 2020, the paddock was deeply renewed using the latest methods in order to reduce water consumption : fibered subirrigated sand.
Considering the shape and soil not easy to maintain, the Equipole competition outdoor arenas were no longer providing the due services expected by the numerous riders in finistere.
It was therefore decided to restore one of them by re-doing the geometry, the soil structure and the watering
At the same time, a very large riding ring was created.
The Equipole is now always full of people and there is an important growing number of events !
Renovation of the existing ring
Complete renovation of the existing rings
The creation of a drainage network and multiple improvements to prevent water-logging on the château grounds of the Haras du Pin national stud, which has host the cross-country phase of the 2014 WEG’s eventing competition.
In spite of bad weather, Sandra Auffarth who started in last position, won the gold medal !
Creation of a platform, a sub-irrigation system and an equestrian complex for multi-disciplinary use (dressage, show jumping, carriage driving): adjustment of water level in different sand horizons to deliver adjustable bearing capacity and softness.
Upgrading of a closed-structure ring (70x35m), creation of an open structure dressage ring, without sprinkler system, and renovation of a figure-of-eight galloping track for training eventing horses