Biography

French rider Gwendolen Fer (31) completed Badminton 2016 in 16^th place with Romantic Love – her entry this year. In 2015 the pair was third at Bramham and Gwen rode as an individual for France at the European Championships at Blair Castle.

Gwendolen is a professional rider, stable manager and trainer based in the south of France between Toulouse and Carcassonne. She has ridden since a child and aged 16 was the French Junior Champion (Day Nice) and three years later the French Young Rider Champion with Leria du Ter with who she made her Badminton debut (2011). The pair completed Burghley the following year.

With Leria du Ter who she acquired as a five-year-old, she enjoyed success at Pau, her local four-star event. In 2009 she was ninth and won the HSBC training grant and in 2010 was sixth jumping clear cross country with a broken breastplate and a clear round show jumping despite torrential rain.

Gwendolen trains with Thierry Touzaint.

Gwendolen’s partner Maxime Chataigner is an Olympic skater in short track and was world number one in 2011.

Romantic Love owned by SARL Equil, is a 12-year-old Selle Francais gelding. He is by the Oldenburg jumping stallion L’Arc de Triomphe (also the sire of Thomas Carlile’s ride Quiro Hoy, second in the Belton three-star last year).  Romantic Love is out of a thoroughbred mare by Sherlove Ville (a grandson of Shergar). He was acquired as a two-year-old and has been produced and ridden by Gwen.