Swail retires Vital Chance – the ‘unrideable’ gelding with the big heart

When Irish showjumper Conor Swail announced the retirement of his 16-year-old Selle Francais gelding, Vital Chance de la Roque this month, it closed the competitively successful chapter on a horse whose personality preceded him and whose path to greatness was never guaranteed.

Vinny – just like a dog in the barn with antics to match.

“Conor is a brilliant rider,” said the horse’s breeder Marie Bourdin. “I mean that horse was unrideable, if he would not have fallen into Conor’s hands forget it.”

Vital Chance was sired by Diamand de Semilly – an established choice as a Sport Horse stallion, selected by Marie and her husband Antoine Dechance. The couple, whose breeding operation Elevage Chance, is based in Normandy, France, also carefully selected the mare Image du Chateau. She was a half-sister to Itot du Chateau, by Rivage du Poncel but not in great demand and had not had a great show career. Marie followed Joris de Brabander’s advice that she had read in a magazine: ‘I prefer to breed with a broodmare who has jumped 1m10 but with a top pedigree than to breed mares who have jumped 1m60 but with an unknown pedigree’.

Vinny and Conor Swail appearing at the Winter Equestrian Festival. Photo: Sarah Eakin

First thoughts for Vital Chance – whose suffix ‘de la Roque’ was added on by a subsequent owner and not reflective of his actual breeders – were to keep him at stud. “When he was two, I thought about keeping him as a stallion,” Marie said. “Because his pedigree was so good.”

Instead, he was sent to grow up in a friend’s Thoroughbred racing yard, where as a two-year old, he tried to keep up with the pace. “He couldn’t follow the racehorses, because he was not bred for that,” Marie recalled. “But perhaps he really remembered that day – that he wanted to go fast.” That may have resonated later in his career. “Speed is never his problem,” Conor commented after one of their many Grand Prix victories.

Marie and Antoine catching up with Vinny earlier this year.

Marie and Antoine found a respected coach, who recognized the gelding’s potential over his volatility. “You have a very good horse,” he told the breeders and under his training, Vinny progressed through his early years. But while his talent was evident, he was not an easy horse to ride. “He was hot,” Marie said. “Very strong. He would lock onto a fence and go. You couldn’t hesitate with him.”

After several years with the coach a period of transition ensued, with mixed degrees of success. One professional rider found Vinny to be too much work. A tough national level rider persevered finding consistency at the 1.45m and three-star level as the horse emerged as one of the strongest nine-year olds of his generation. At that point Conor bought into the horse and took over the ride.

The partnership achieved great things including 58 podium finishes, ten of which were FEI Grand Prix wins. Conor posted that ‘Vinny was a key factor in bringing me to number four in the world.’ Vinny proved a crowd favorite displaying character traits including many a playful buck in his rounds. In Vinny’s retirement post Conor wrote: ‘There’s something to be said about sitting on horse who can read your mind before every turn, run back quicker than I ask, and has the same drive to win as I do.’

Conor proved time and again that he could master Vinny’s quirks in the ring. Viral video exists of Conor and Vinny taking an unscheduled turn or two around the indoor arena at CHI de Geneve in 2022, when a buck resulted in the bridle coming off after the final fence. Notably Conor, as usual, stayed on.

“He [Vinny] had a major heart but he was unrideable,” Marie reflected. “But Conor is so good and so athletic he can stay on a monster like this. We were looking at pictures recently and he was balanced on one toe and because of that he didn’t drop a bar. You can jump 13 perfect fences and then lose it in one moment of balance.”

Hanging up his hat – Vinny heads into retirement. Photo: FEI/Quinn Saunders

Away from the ring, Vinny was equally unforgettable. “He was like a dog. We would throw apples and he would fetch them,” said Marie. “And then when he was in livery somewhere somebody told me that when he was sick of being in the paddock he would jump out. And then jump back in. He’s like ‘What?’”

Marie and Antoine continue to breed horses and enjoy watching them compete worldwide. They last saw Vinny in Dinard, France last year and are now happy to hear of his retirement.

“His career had ups and downs like all horses,” said Marie. “But when he ended up with Conor that was the best thing that could have happened.”

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