Hello Folie
As elastic as a rubber band, as capable as if she had spirals under her hooves and as energetic as a Duracell bunny (which is also about her size) - Scott Brash's Hello Folie is a phenomenon! Photo: Sportfotos-lafrentz.de
- Geschlecht: Weiblich
- Jahrgang: 2015
- Rasse: Selle Français
- Vater: Luidam
- Muttervater: Diamond de Semilly
- Züchter: Elevage de Nantuel
- Größte Erfolge: Silver in the individual and team rankings at the European Championships 2025
The 2025 European Championships in La Coruña were exceptional in many respects. Above all because of the above-average number of clear rounds over the five courses. But there were also above-average horses at the start. Of course, the winner, Richard Vogel’s United Touch S. And also the bronze medal winner, Ermitage Kalone from Gilles Thomas (GBR). These two stallions are girls’ dreams made flesh. But the little mare who managed to get between these two powerhouses was perhaps the real sensation of this European Championships: Hello Folie.
Between genius and madness
Between genius and madness – this description fits the Selle Français mare Hello Folie, born Folie de Nantuel in 2015 after her home, the Elevage de Nantuel of the Gouin breeding family in France. Folie’s performance in Spain was both spectacular and frightening. She attacked the obstacles aggressively, as if she wanted to crush them, dived just before them and then exploded, causing them to shrink beneath her. Sometimes she jumped over herself so much that you were afraid she would roll over. It probably takes a rider with the calm and aplomb of Scott Brash to ride that out. Now, “violent movements” are not necessarily a sign of quality. But the video evidence shows that the mare was already jumping like this without a rider at the age of two. And she showed that the European Championships were not a flash in the pan with subsequent victories in Vienna, Barcelona and Riyadh.
Successful breeding
Hello Folie’s mare line has been cultivated at the Elevage de Nantuel for generations and Folie himself already has a successful S-level offspring as well as two licensed sons. The dam, Thara de Nantuel by Diamant de Semilly, has a 1.60 meter successful full sister in Océane de Nantuel. She herself also competed in sport and was successful with the grandson of the breed founder Jacques Gouin, Arthur Deuquet, up to 1.50 meter jumping competitions. Deuquet told Stud for life: “When I jumped that with Thara, I had neither the skills nor the experience for it and for her that height was the limit. She still managed it because of her exceptional attitude.” Thara de Nantuel also carried Deuquet to the national junior championships. According to her breeders, her fighter mentality is the decisive quality that she passes on to her offspring.
This is not only noticeable in Hello Folie, but also in his full brother Candy de Nantuel. In 2015, the colorful chestnut was the highlight of the famous Fences Auction in France when he was sold to the stallion owners’ collective Groupe France Élevage (GFE) for 125,000 euros. He already stood out as a youngster, qualifying for the final of the World Championships for Young Show Jumpers as a seven-year-old with Thomas Rousseau. As a nine-year-old, he came under the saddle of Pénélope Leprévost, with whom he was internationally successful at five-star level. However, he is even more successful in breeding. The 13-year-old stallion, whose oldest offspring are eight years old, is already regarded as one of the best sires in the country. His first children are jumping internationally up to the highest level. 13 sons have already been licensed.
About horse luck, finding the right rider
The many merits of Candy de Nantuel were still dreams of the future when Marc Dilasser saw him for the first time at the age of three. It was an encounter that would ultimately determine Folie’s fate. Dilasser was the judge at Candy’s stallion performance test and gave the colorful chestnut the highest score. Shane Breen, a good friend of Dilasser’s, asked him if he knew of a good horse for him. Dilasser drew his attention to Candy de Nantuel. He was too expensive for Breen. Dilasser asked the Deuquet family to let him know if they had a brother or sister of Candy for sale. One day the call came. There is a sister, Foil, two years old. There is a video of this sister’s first free jumping (see above).
When Dilasser saw this video, he knew what he had to do. “They sent me the video of Folie at Monsieur Gouin’s, where she was jumping madly,” says Dilasser. “Of course, I immediately fell in love with her.” He organized the purchase of the mare, contacted Kreisker Stud and another partner and the three of them acquired the super talent. Even if, at the time, she did not necessarily correspond to the usual image of a future four-legged top athlete. Dilasser: “When we bought Foil, we measured her. She wasn’t even 1.60 meters tall. We bought a Shetland pony. But there aren’t many Shetland ponies like her in the world!” Today, Dilasser can laugh about it.
Folie’s career did not begin under saddle, however, but in breeding at Kreisker Stud. Result: see above. As a four-year-old, she then moved to Marc Dilasser for equestrian training. Folie showed in the first few minutes after her arrival where she was headed. “She had been in her box for less than ten minutes before she had already jumped the door! That was typical Folie, everything was like that with her,” says Dilasser.
However, this did not prevent her from making a career for herself. Even if it took some time to break Folie’s violent movements. Dilasser nurtured the mare with a lot of patience, feeling and foresight and eventually sold her to his friend Shane Breen at the age of seven. The sale was the plan of Dilasser and his colleagues from the very beginning. There were also many interested parties for Folie, but the unorthodox nature of the mare put some of them off. Not so Shane Breen, who already wanted Candy de Nantuel. He says that when he jumped her for the first time, he realized that “feisty Folie”, as he called her, may not have had the perfect technique, but you never had the feeling that she was even capable of making a mistake, as Breen described his riding experience to Studforlife.com. But his luck didn’t last long. The Irishman suffered an injury, had to take a break and thought about who he could entrust his young talent to. He contacted Scott Brash. This is how Folie arrived at her destination.
From zero to championship
In January 2025, Scott Brash rode Hello Folie for the first time in a five-star Grand Prix in Doha – and won. Afterwards, he told Horse & Hound that he had had the mare for a while, but as she always jumps so high, he wanted to take his time with her so as not to overtax her physically. Now she was ready. More than that, she wanted to. “She loves the job and she just wants to win, which makes life a lot easier,” says Brash, describing the extraordinary character of this fluffy horse.
