“Julia Dallamano: The Rising Star Equestrian Champion Winning Grand Prix and Eyeing Nations Cup with Varennes du Breuil”

Julia Dallamano is no stranger to Moselle. In Meurthe-et-Moselle either. Last Sunday, in the saddle on Varennes du Breuil , she won the Grand Prix 2* 145 of the Jump Est from Nancy to Rosières aux Salines, under the eyes of her son Matteo, 2 and a half years old, and all his family. And when the Marseillaise sounded, the 33-year-old Alsatian living in Pournoy-la-Chétive, near Metz, felt her heart go “boom”. “It was my first Grand Prix victory with Varennes, at Rosières in addition”, slips the one who learned her skills with Marcel and Simon Delestre in Solgne.

His horse, a 14-year-old gelding, is not unknown either for having passed through the hands of Pénélope Leprévost and Simon Delestre before love at first sight. “Between him and me, it was a match right away”, says the qualified rider to participate in the next CSI 4 * of Bourg-en-Bresse from May 17 to 21, 2023. And after? “I would like to do a Nations Cup with Varennes. I think we are ready for that. “Especially since the rider already has experience in the French team and has proven that she is capable of honoring major events such as the prestigious Saut Hermès in 2022, where she ranked 6th.^e of the 155 of the CSI 5*, on par with the greatest international riders. “It was amazing! These are the moments that keep us going, that make us accept that our sport is an eternal renewal. »

“Our holidays are competitions”

In a relationship with Simon Lorrain, also a professional rider, Julia Dallamano, “think horse, live horse”. And to explain: “We don’t take a lot of vacations. Our holidays are competitions » (laugh). Always smiling, in a good mood, the adopted Lorraine who returns to settle in Alsace, with her family, at the end of this summer, continues her journey without batting an eyelid. A path already traced since she was 12 years old. Because it was in 2002 that she won her very first international prize by becoming vice-champion of Europe ponies. From the pony club near Mulhouse, where she made her debut “like everyone else” at a very high level, there was first her father, who accompanied her throughout her passion. Then, there were meetings of those that we do not forget. Marcel Delestre, then coach of the French junior and young teams until 2011, detected in her that little something extra that only the future greats possessed. However, listening to Julia, the doubt about her ability to do well, before each test, compresses her like an old traveling companion who only loosens her grip once the first obstacle has been overcome. “I always feel like it’s not going to be okay. It is enough that Simon (Lorraine) be next to me, reassure me, and here we go again! It is precisely this desire to do well that pushes her to always go further. For a long time yet.