Bertrand Liegard and Ginger Go To Aachen and Dream of Crozet

Dressage

France

Yesterday a phone call made Bertrand Liegard's dream come true: he has been invited to ride his top mare Ginger in the 4* tour at the CDIO Aachen on 2 - 6 July 2025.

Liegard and Ginger will be substituting for Pauline Basquin who withdrewn Sertorius de Rima Z. France received two starting places in Aachen and Liegard will join Alexandre Ayache on the hallowed show grounds of Aachen.

Career Launch

Liegard is not a newcomer to French high performance sport. The 48-year old made his international Grand Prix show debut in 2013 aboard Star Wars, a horse which has taken him to the FEI nations cups in Vidauban and Compiegne and the World Cup qualifiers in London and Mechelen, amongst numerous other CDI's.

Liegard was based in Belgium for 15 years. His strong ties to Belgium were established as of 1996 through his trainer, the Belgian based French team rider and coach Patrick Le Rolland, who passed away in 2014. In 2021 Liegard moved back to France when he joined Claudia Chauchard at her yard, CC Stable, in Yvelines.

Ginger Came Along

Liegard and Ginger at the 2024 CDIO Compiegne

The collaboration with Chauchard has been determining for Liegard, who received the ride on several of Claudia's horses including the 14-year old KWPN mare Ginger (by Tango x Don Primaire x Ferro).

In 2018 Claudia discovered the mare as a 7-year old at breeder J. Basten in The Netherlands. Ginger was seven at the time and spent her days in the field, being only lightly ridden by Basten's daughter.

"She hadn’t had much formal training and lived in a very relaxed, cheerful environment. She was training at 4-year old level," Claudia reminisced. "I went to try her twice and then asked Bertrand to come along to give me his opinion. He got on, the mare showed some lovely natural qualities in her paces, but had clearly made up her mind: she wasn’t going to let him dismount. We had to go all the way back to the stables before he could finally get off, because she simply wouldn’t allow it. That was the beginning of a very special connection between them."

A Very Special Connection

Liegard recommended Claudia not to buy the horse, but she persisted and added the mare to her string. "For sure I bought her," Claudia smiled. She initially trained the mare herself.

"I worked with her, rode her, and gently desensitized her, but deep down, I always felt they were made for each other. So I stuck to my plan," Claudia explained. "One day, I casually asked Bertrand to help me with a flying change. He got on the mare and never got off again. Since that day, they’ve shared a true partnership, full of harmony and mutual respect."

Liegard and Ginger made their international show debut at small tour level at the CDI Cascais in February 2022. He moved her up to Grand Prix level at the 2024 CDI Le Mans and gained mileage that year in Jerez, Stadl Paura, Compiegne, Le Mans, Jardy and Crozet.

The Classical Way

Bertrand and the 14-year old Ginger have taken a slow start in 2025 with only one CDI to their record, in Lier (BEL).

"We’ve always made it a priority to give the mare the time she needs and to respect her individuality as she’s progressed," Claudia further explained. Thanks to Bertrand’s horse-first approach he earned her trust and brought her along in an extraordinary way."

The duo truly captured the eye of the French selectors at the start of June when the pair won silver at the 2025 French Grand Prix Championships in Vierzon. Their upward trending scores made French team trainer Jean Morel pick them for the CDIO Aachen.

"Today, it’s a big step for us to be able to share this kind of light, yet sportive, riding, which Bertrand developed through his work with Le Rolland," said Claudia. "We’re genuinely happy to see that this approach is not only coming back into fashion, but also being recognized and rewarded by the judges. This, to us, is the direction dressage should be heading. It’s the way we’ve been riding for years."

An Human Adventure Filled with Dreams

While the CHIO Aachen will be a dream to ride, the owner-rider duo is secretly longing for the European Championships in Crozet and shares this hope with co-owner Annabel Moreau.

Claudia and Bertrand have been collaborating with Moreau since a few years after she felt inspired by the couple's care, love, philosophy and passion for dressage and horses. She became a co-owner of Ginger.

Chauchard and Apachi van de Biebosschen
at the 2023 World Young Horse Championships

"Ginger's story is one about a horse and sport, but it’s also, and just as much, a lovely human adventure," Bertrand stated. "Our partnership with Annabel truly began thanks to Ginger and without her, none of this would have been possible."

Moreau invested in Claudia's 2023 WCYH finalist Apachi van de Biebosschen, a 9-year old Belgian bred Oldenburg by Apache x Don Frederico who is now competing in his first national Grand Prix tests with Claudia. She also partnered with CC Stable in the 3-year old licensed stallion Vitalamour (by Vitalis x Apache) and fully bought the 3-year old licensed stallion Zentinel (by Zuperman x Royal Classic). Both are standing at stud at Klosterhof Medingen in Germany.

Chauchard concluded, "at a time when equine welfare is at the heart of conversation, Ginger's story reminds us of something essential: respecting the horse is not a barrier to performance, but a sustainable foundation for success."