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Nicolas Andreani entered with a bang

With every possible title in vaulting behind his belt he is one of the top assets in the star studded entry list for vaulting at CHI AL SHAQAB 2015. Nicholas Andreani from France has decided not to finish his impressive career without a visit to Doha. And then, his entry began with a bump on his forehead.

 It happened when trying his horse on loan Fabiola for the first time and executing his feature “dive”, when he comes from a stand sideways into a stand on the shoulder. Fabiola is about one hand smaller than Andreani’s own horse, the very statuesque Just A Kiss, therefore leaving a lot less room than the vaulter usually has for this move. “Different pad and different handles on the surcingle, that makes a difference, but I’ll remember it from now on”, the champion said rubbing the swelling on his forehead. Swapping and exchanging horses is quite common in vaulting. “Imagine this in dressage or jumping, that is simply impossible”, said Andreani, praising the Knauf sisters from Germany that they stepped in with their mare Fabiola to give him a ride in Doha. Just a Kiss had carried Andreani two weeks ago to the world cup win in Graz “and two big competitions like that plus the flight would have been too much for him”, explained “Nico”, denying any unfriendly tactics between competitors of different countries. “There is a lot of fair play in vaulting.”

With the World Cup won in Graz,Austria, Andreani holds every possible title: World and European champion and ten times national champion. “Now it is time for the young generation to take over”, the 30-year old said after dedicating all of last year to the World Equestrian Games in his home country, finishing with silver behind his friend and now business partner Jacques Ferrari. The two have ventured out to market vaulting as a show element. “Vaulting is a passion that does not stop.” With Ferrari, Andreani has founded Noroc, a vaulting business that presents his sport to a wider show audience. The Noroc pair comes up with some very imaginative ideas, receiving lots of clicks on Youtube and other channels.

The champion vaulter has been in the sport for 24 years now. Son of a national gymnast champion, he began when he was only six years old. Back in 1997, at his first European championship in Aachen,Germany, he was the team’s flyer and he stopped team vaulting at 18, as it was the rule back then.In 2006 he came back to Aachen for the World Equestrian Games. “The arena seemed a lot smaller than when I was a child.” Even after his retirement for competition he plans to go on “for maybe ten more years.” Vaulting is a lot of training and exercise and strain on the body, especially knees and wrists. Andreani dedicates at least 15 hours per week to vaulting, “and 25 before a championship”. Two thirds of the time are spent on the floor. Only one third of the training actually happens on horseback.