‘A cross between Mike Tyson and Usain Bolt’! Meet the star mare at the Europeans, whom you ‘have to ask politely’

Meet the superstar mare described by her rider as “a mix of Mike Tyson and Usain Bolt”, who is smashing it out of the park at the Longines FEI European Showjumping Championships.

Bonne Amie and Abdel Said have jumped two clears out of two so far in A Coruña to sit in 10th place individually, and helping the Belgian team to third place at this stage.

The big scopey mare has been flying, and Abdel said she has been feeling superb.

“Jumping Bonnie is always amazing,” he says. “She’s got so much power, and she puts her heart into every jump.”

Abdel started riding the mare, who is now 12, at the end of 2021 – and he was not sure at first she was the horse for him.

“My partner, Antonia, scouted her, and she said ‘You really have to try this horse’,” he says. “She’d jumped so many clear rounds – even now, at the highest level, the number of clears she jumps is incredible. So I went to try her, and she was so big and powerful, I thought ‘I don’t know if I can handle this’,  for the modern sport. And she was really expensive, the most expensive horse we’d ever bought. But I had a partner who gave me encouragement, and said ‘You know what? If you really like her, just do it’.”

Abdel said Sam Hutton, who works with him and part-owns Bonnie, took her on for a bit and jumped her as a third horse so she could see some more of the world without pressure, then she came back to him partway through her nine-year-old year.

Asked how he would describe her, Abdel says: “She’d be a mix of Usain Bolt and Mike Tyson! She’s extremely agile, fast, a lot of energy, a lot of power, and a strong character.

“She wants to do everything for you, but you have to ask politely. You can’t say ‘Come here now, do this, do that’. What’s hard sometimes is all this energy has to go somewhere, and the courses are so technical, so it’s a fine balance between having a little control, and letting her think she’s got the control.”

Asked about his plans, Abdel adds: “There are three more rounds to go! I think we’re in a strong position, and confident, but the road is still long, we shouldn’t get carried away.”

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