Photos: Jon Stroud, FEI. Additional photos supplied by the Emile Faurie Foundation
He was 15, scared of no one and thought that, with enough lip, he could get away with anything,” says Emile Faurie, with much animation, about a young lad helped by one of his projects. Covid-19 has put the brakes on pretty much the entirety of the Emile Faurie Foundation’s operation, but that doesn’t stop the man himself lighting up while regaling us with tales of his charity’s success.
“But when he met the horses, he was wary for the very first time,” continues the dressage maestro, speaking about the youngster from a Hull school the Foundation worked with. “When he was handed a horse, he was respectful. He had an affinity with them, and suddenly wanted to help others in his group. And in doing so, he helped himself.”
Finding horses
Growing up in urban South Africa, Emile’s route to horses wasn’t smoothly paved. He tells H&R: “I grew up in the city without the finances to ride. My parents bought me my first riding lesson, but following that I did odd jobs at the stables in return for rides. It wasn’t the easiest way to do it, but I was so hungry to be in the saddle.”
From an early age, Emile had an awareness that horses could change people’s lives, just as they had his. In 1980, he moved to England, whereupon he became a working pupil at The Talland School of Equitation for three years, before moving to Germany to work for the prestigious Performance Sales International (PSI).