The Future of the Equine Industry

Horse & Industry sat down with Orchid Bertelsen — strategist, adult amateur, and the voice behind Back in the Saddle — to talk about the segment paying for everything, why trainer culture is losing its grip, and what equestrian brands are up against.

When a rider publicly disputes a safety decision made by officials who were doing exactly what the sport requires of them, and the governing body responsible for that sport responds with silence, the question stops being about one incident and starts being about what eventing has quietly decided accountability means — and whether it applies to everyone, or only to some.

When Galopin Des Champs crossed the line at Cheltenham in March 2023, he became the latest in a line of French-bred horses to win the Gold Cup, but few anticipated he would do it again twelve months later, or that his victories would come to represent something larger than individual excellence. Bred in France, trained in Ireland, and winning in Britain, he is the clearest emblem of a shift that has been building for the better part of a decade. The French Thoroughbred is no longer a dark horse