by Katherine O. Rizzo (first published in the October 2024 Equiery)

On July 18, Frenchman Pierre Le Goupil was making his way across the grounds of the Palace of Versailles where the equestrian events of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics would take place. Le Goupil had spent most of the day placing jumps in what would be the water complexes of the cross-country course of the Eventing competition. Nearing 10 p.m. in Versailles, the sun had long set on yet another intense day of preparation as Le Goupil, who will be taking over designing the MARS Maryland 5 Star cross-country course in 2025, happily shared his story of how he went from a horse crazy kid to five-star event rider and now, international course designer at the uppermost levels of the sport.

A Family Affair
Le Goupil, now 61, was born into a family with deep equestrian roots. His father, Andre Le Goupil, represented France at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico as part of the eventing team. His mother was his groom. In addition to riding internationally, the Le Goupil family also bred top sport horses. “I learned to ride on some of these horses before I got my first pony,” Le Goupil explained. “It was more riding around the farm at first, not actually competing. Just playing around at home.”

Le Goupil spent his junior rider years competing in show jumping and eventing as well as farming with his parents and brothers. He spent a lot of time training young horses for his family and, around age 13, Le Goupil was talent spotted by a member of the British Eventing Team and spent some time in England learning the finer art of eventing.

At one point, Le Goupil ended up riding for eventing legend and fellow Frenchman Jack Le Goff who had earned Eventing Team Bronze at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. “Jack asked what I really wanted to do with my life, and I told him I wanted to see the world,” Le Goupil said. That led Le Goupil to pursue riding wherever he could, including in Germany working for the Army and then in the U.S. where he trained in Middleburg, Virginia. “I ended up back in France with new skills and even more passion than before,” he added.

As a rider, Le Goupil competed through the top levels of the sport. He nearly represented the French Eventing Team for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 but his top horse pulled up lame a few weeks before the competition. Behind the scenes, Le Goupil and his family founded the Le Grand Complet in 1995 at their family farm in Normandy. The event became one of the most important horse trials in France and Europe. “We started with national classes at first and in 1999 held our first international competition,” Le Goupil explained. The event moved to Haras National du Pin in 2010. “It had gotten too big for our family farm.”

The Course Designer
Through Le Grand Complet, Le Goupil got a crash course in the business side of eventing as well as course design. “I was a self-taught course designer for many years before going through all the FEI training for licensed officials,” he explained. Over the years he designed courses in Brazil, Bulgaria, Belarus, China, Hungary, India, Japan, and Russia, and at the Pan American Games in Chile, before being named course designer for the Paris Olympics in his home country this past summer.

“I wish my dad, who passed last year, was here to see this,” Le Goupil said. “I would give him updates [on the Olympic course] before he passed, and his eyes would just sparkle.” Le Goupil also was the course designer for the 2023 FEI European Championships in Haras du Pin, France, and credits his family for much of his success. “My wonderful wife and two wonderful girls are behind me 200%!”

Le Goupil credits his years of competing at the upper levels with his success as a course designer. “It absolutely helps to be an experienced rider at that high level to be a designer at that level too,” he said. “A designer needs to be able to visualize how the horses will see the fences and ask the questions that are realistic but challenging.”

Even though Le Goupil designs at the upper levels, he feels the concepts of course design apply across all levels. “You need to be creative but within the standards at any level,” he said, adding, “Our courses must be safe but safe does not mean easy. Too easy and horses will flatten and jump unsafe, or riders will not respect the fences.” Le Goupil went on to say, “cross-country is all about the terrain. Cross-country is not a bunch of boxes in a row. It is the use of the terrain that makes the horses clever and the riders should be light in their seat but effective.”

Maryland 5 Star
With the Olympics behind him, but many other international events still on the 2024 calendar, Le Goupil has already begun work on the 2025 Maryland 5 Star course, which he is taking over from retired course designer Ian Stark. “I’ve already spoken with Ian [Stark] and builder Tyson [Rementer] virtually and will be on site for the first time this October during the five-star,” Le Goupil said. “Different designers mean different ideas, but we need to also continue with the legacy of the previous designer.”

“Upon announcing my retirement, there was obviously going to be a new designer, and I’m thrilled for the event that Pierre will be the new man,” Stark said in a Maryland 5 Star press release earlier this year, adding, “He has the talent, the imagination, and the flair to succeed, and I look forward to following his plans for the future of the course.”

Stark will act as Le Goupil’s official advisor as per FEI requirements. “We all need to have someone to speak with and advise and bounce ideas off of,” Le Goupil said. “And Ian knows the facility really well. I want my courses to have the same spirit.”

More work on the course will begin after this year’s event over the winter with Le Goupil expecting to make at least four site visits leading up to the 2025 event. “It really is all an amazing dream,” Le Goupil said. “Little by little I’ve made connections [in this sport] that have allowed me to see the world as I always wanted to do.”