Siobhán English
Madelaine Gervais has no intention of hanging up her boots any time soon, writes
was only 11 at the time,” she explains.
A successful junior competitor at home, she also earned the opportunity to travel abroad, and jumping at Dublin, La Baule in France and Hickstead in the UK are among her career highlights.
After studying Literature and History of Art in Paris in her early 20s Madelaine returned to Sweden, but the travel bug soon took hold again and this time she took up a riding instructor job in Italy.
While there she suffered a bad accident when she was kicked in the face, forcing her to re-think her life.
“During that time I was undecided what do to. For a long time I had this crazy notion that I wanted to be a rodeo rider and at one stage I was offered a job in the States but that all fell through,” she says.
“I loved to travel a lot though and instead ended up living in Cork. That was the turning point in my life.
“I gave up riding altogether while living there before finally getting myself a job in Dublin. At that stage I had seven languages and needed to do something.”
While working in PR at the Shelbourne Hotel Madelaine was eventually led back into the world of horses.
“One day a woman from Switzerland contacted me looking for some horses in the UK. I had been out of horses for a while but helped her out.”
It was thanks to the late Captain David Foster and his wife Sneezy that Madelaine was introduced to eventing. She was living in Dublin at the time and was friends with the great poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill.
Madelaine had only been competing a few months when she took on the challenge of the Punchestown three-day event.
From there she became hooked and decided to pursue a business in buying and producing competition horses up to four-star level.
One stroke of luck led her to Cool ‘n’ Breezy, a thoroughbred who later represented Italy and finished fourth at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
“It was hard when you got attached to horses and they then had to be sold. It was heartbreaking at times.”
When Madelaine’s mother passed away she made the decision to move to Waterford.
Situated close to Woodstown Beach, it is a haven for Madelaine and her brood of horses and dogs who can often be seen exercising along the water’s edge.
“I love Ireland and it is my home. And I will continuing riding and competing for as long as I can,” she says, “unless of course you can suggest something better for me to do!”