The wind rises on the Bas Marquets stables quarry in Villons-les-Buissons, near Caen, on January 23.
On the sand, eight riders chain passes with a ball surrounded by straps.
Leaning against the railing, coach Stéphane Antoine demands more diligence from his horse ball teams.
“We have been training for three years with the intensity and demands of a high level,” explains the team boss.
Horse ball, this relatively unknown sport, pits two formations of four riders against each other and consists of scoring goals by throwing the ball into an opposing circle located high up.
“A mix of handball and rugby,” smiles Stéphane Antoine, who opened the club in the summer of 2013. This season, Villons-les-Buissons is discovering the Mixed Pro, the equivalent of the second division.
His first steps into the deep end at the national level.
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“We really launched this project three years ago.
Since then, our six riders have been the same, and with the same horses,” continues Stéphane Antoine, trainer but also player.
Without a recruit in the off-season, Villons-les-Buissons seemed, in the eyes of some of the competition, destined for a difficult season.
Surprise, it's quite the opposite, with a place on the podium at the winter break (out of eight teams).
“The objective remains maintenance”, swear the riders who are however, factually, more fighting for accession than to save their skin.
“It’s a contact sport”
The young team draws its strength from a core of close-knit enthusiasts.
Elise has been playing horse ball since she was seven years old.
“I did an initiation and I didn’t let go of the ball.
It’s a contact sport, but that doesn’t bother me, on the contrary,” says the young woman, already familiar with the impacts of this intense sport, within a very masculine championship.
Elise perfects her complementarity with her horse Calixel who, like the others, had a first career in horse racing.
Frames also designed for three years for this sport and this high level.
Stéphane Antoine previously played in the second division.
With his reunion with the Mixed Pro, he notes “a lot of developments, among the riders and the horses, who are better trained.
There are also more changes of pace in the game, it's more technical.
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Hence his demands during training, at least one per week.
Sessions to which some of its players come from far away: Les Pieux and Barneville-Carteret, in Manche, more than an hour's drive, or from Pays d'Auge, several tens of minutes from Caen.
“We organize ourselves, we carpool,” laugh these horse ball adventurers.
Things were clear from the start and we are hooked!
» “The sports project has become a human project,” smiles Elise.
The key to this successful start to the season with four wins in six matches, which makes Villons-les-Buissons the surprise of the championship.
The group sees the country and also sees the popularity of its sport growing, with between 200 and 300 spectators during competition weekends across the country.
A perhaps promising indicator as Stéphane Antoine seeks partners, since the budget for a season at national level is between €15,000 and €20,000.
Another area of growth for the athlete which, like the passes between riders, goes very quickly.