![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"https:\/\/www.sohorse.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/NC-WINNER-TEAM-SPAIN.webp\")
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With a squad made up of Pilar Lucrecia Cordon<\/strong>, young Pello Elorduy Ibarzabal<\/strong>, de Kevin Gonzalez de Zarate Fernandez<\/strong> and Jesus Garmendia Echevarria<\/strong>, Spain secured a victory that already validates part of the work launched by Mathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00ab I\u2019m super happy with last week\u2019s result <\/em>the Belgian says. Before stressing what seems to have become his number one priority: the atmosphere. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit the result of a really good team spirit and all the riders fully committing themselves.\u201d<\/em> \u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n For several weeks now, the man from Li\u00e8ge has been navigating a brutal calendar: Lier, Lisbon, St. Gallen, Deauville, Sopot\u2026 Four Nations Cups in three weeks, invitations to manage, horses to preserve, and above all, a road already leading toward Aachen and the World Championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The kind of puzzle where a chef d\u2019\u00e9quipe spends more time on the phone than sleeping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n When Mathy arrived in Spain, the issue was more mental than technical. After Paris, several riders had drifted away from the federation. Some no longer even wanted to hear about the national team, while others were considering changing nationality altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00ab When I arrived, there was a certain tension. Some riders were in disagreement with the Federation and no longer wanted to compete for the team,<\/em> \u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n is method? No revolution. No grand speeches. Just dialogue. A lot of dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even before officially taking up the role, the Belgian met the riders one by one. Not to settle old scores from previous seasons, but to bring everyone back around the same project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00ab My idea was to say:<\/em> \u201cWe move on. We stop looking backwards and start looking ahead.<\/em>\u201d \u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n The message seems to have landed. Today, almost all the key riders have rejoined the Spanish setup. And Mathy hasn\u2019t given up hope of bringing the last few lost sheep back into the fold. In a sport where egos sometimes travel business class, that\u2019s no small detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Paradoxically, the fact that he\u2019s foreign, though perfectly bilingual, may actually have worked in his favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00ab The fact that I was completely outside the groups or clans helped<\/em> ,\u201d he admits. \u201c And I already knew a lot of the riders from competing alongside them. <\/em>\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n The comparison with Belgium is no coincidence either. Mathy himself points to the Belgian system, where a foreign chef d\u2019\u00e9quipe can sometimes bring more objectivity and less internal politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result? The Spaniards seem to have rediscovered a word not always naturally associated with modern Nations Cups: collective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Team dinners. Conversations around the paddock. Shared work. Nothing revolutionary on paper, but rare enough these days to deserve mentioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And one promise has already been kept: \" I said that after the first Nations Cup win, I\u2019d be the one paying the next day. Well\u2026 that\u2019s already happened.<\/em> \u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n The restaurateurs of Lisbon thank Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The other major project for Mathy is renewal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The former Belgian rider wants to broaden Spain\u2019s base, create opportunities for less established profiles and prepare the future rather than endlessly recycling the same names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The success in Lisbon tells that story too: alongside experienced riders like Pilar Cordon and Jesus Garmendia, Mathy has already started injecting younger or less established combinations into top-level international competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to give opportunities to younger riders,\u201d he explains. \u201cThis year, I really want to open doors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The EEF circuit, with its requirement to include an U25 rider, perfectly supports that strategy. And a few surprises are already beginning to emerge. Mathy notably mentions Imma Roquet Autonell, impressive recently in Hamburg, as well as several riders seen in Rome and Madrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Le potentiel existe. Mais le patron des troupes espagnoles garde les pieds sur terre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because Aachen is not a show like any other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Among team managers, there are dreamers and there are those who look at the fences before the statistics. Mathy clearly belongs to the second category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00ab The first factor is: which horse is capable of jumping Aachen? <\/em>\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a statement that cuts through the polished language often heard from federations. He refuses to send horsesinto the lion\u2019s den.<\/em>\". Even with flattering results on paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00ab Without it becoming a bad experience or something destructive <\/em>,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meaning: four double clears in Nations Cups do not necessarily mean survival against Aachen\u2019s green monsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the Belgian is preparing his selection pragmatically. A long list of twelve combinations in early July. Then the real selection at the end of the month, after St. Gallen, Falsterbo, Hickstead and Dinard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spain does not enjoy the same number of invitations as Belgium or Germany. So every invitation matters. Every round too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, nothing is fully solved yet. Spain remains an outsider at major championships. And nobody turns a fragile collective into a war machine in six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n But Fran\u00e7ois Mathy Jr\u2019s first assessment already tells a story: a reconnected team, riders back in the project, a healthy atmosphere restored and a first collective victory already secured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, before winning medals, you simply need to want to wear the same jacket again. And apparently, that\u2019s exactly where Spain is right now.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Six mois. C\u2019est \u00e0 peine le temps de changer la moquette d\u2019une f\u00e9d\u00e9ration en crise. Pourtant, depuis son arriv\u00e9e \u00e0 la t\u00eate de l\u2019\u00e9quipe espagnole de jumping, Fran\u00e7ois Mathy Jr a d\u00e9j\u00e0 remis un peu d\u2019ordre dans une maison qui tanguait encore depuis les Jeux de Paris. Le week-end dernier, le Belge a m\u00eame d\u00e9croch\u00e9 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[177],"class_list":["post-49600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reportages","tag-francois-mathy-jr"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"https:\/\/www.sohorse.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/NC-KISSCRY-SPANISH-TEAM.webp\")
Repairing the post-Paris fallout<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"https:\/\/www.sohorse.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/FM-Jr-espagne-7-2280x1520.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Belgian uniting the Spaniards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"https:\/\/www.sohorse.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/FM-Jr-espagne-3-2280x1360.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOpening the door to younger riders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"https:\/\/www.sohorse.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/FM-Jr-espagne-6-2280x1520.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sohorse.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/FM-Jr-espagne-2280x1520.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Aachen wall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Six months later, a team breathing again<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"https:\/\/www.sohorse.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/FM-Jr-espagne-5-2280x1520.jpg\")
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