We caught up with Stéphanie Jauffret just a few days before the d’anniversary of the equestrian center she opened eight years ago in Cascavelle. The Wild West evening brought together the riding club’s active members, who now number 300. In creating Cavalia, this trainer and instructor has given the western region a place where all horse-related activities can be envisaged… Dominique Bellier
Stéphanie Jauffret has a firm handshake and a piercing blue gaze beneath her luminous hair, and readily admits that she understands horses better than people. Yet she waited until she was 11 to ride for the first time. Since then, this passion has never left her. With the same determination, in 1995 she arrived in Mauritius, at the Club Hippique de Floréal, as a riding instructor. This country, which built the first racecourse in the southern hemisphere and developed a solid equestrian tradition, did not disappoint her. She also met the other love of her life, who, as luck would have it, shares her passion for horses. When I started out in France,” she confides, “I had no idea that teaching would fascinate me as much as the relationship with horses…”. In fact, she can’t stop talking about the special bond between man and an animal that has often paid for its unconditional loyalty with its life, both in war and on the set of old Westerns. “There’s one very important thing to know: when a horse trusts you, he trusts you with his life!
Stéphanie was a firefighter in France. She also set off on a tour of Mauritius on foot with her three children when they were young, and proudly declares: “Aster moleker pli morisyen ki fransé”. Here, she offers a second life to thoroughbreds who have finished their equestrian career, and has trained hundreds of little riders, less little riders, preparing them for equestrian competitions. She has a flair for discovering talent… After introducing acrobatics to Mauritius, she one day spotted the potential of Lambert Leclézio, trained him for a while and in 2022, he was crowned world champion four times!
The stars of Cavalia are also the thirty horses and twenty ponies that inhabit the stables and animate the rides. The site manager can describe the personality of each of these dreamily-named mounts: Arizona, Dazzling Mufty, Maestro, Silent Screen and so on. From simple riding lessons to dressage, show jumping, acrobatics and, of course, horseback riding along the region’s dirt roads, Cavalia’s activities are more numerous than you might think, because here we recognize the virtues of the horse for personal development, education and health…
