>
Location of the Saigon Equestrian Center
at the corner of rue de Verdun (in 1951 rue du Pdt Nguyen Van Thinh)
and rue Taberd (now Nguyeễn Du)
in the Maurice Long Park * (now Vườn Tao Đàn)
The Saigon Equestrian Center was founded in 1912, and the number of members can be estimated to be about 250 persons in the 1950’s.
* Maurice Long Park, named after the former Governor General of Indochina (1919-1922).
Maurice Long died on January 15, 1923, in Colombo on the island of Ceylon while traveling home to France.
Colonel Duprat at the Saigon Equestrian Center
Colonel Duprat, instructor at the Saigon Equestrian Center until 1959.
Horse Shows on 29 June and 6 July, 1946
Medal won by Mr. Daniel Motais de Narbonne on Minerve.
"Christmas Cup" event at the "Saigon Equestrian Center" in 1946
Invitation for the evening “Christmas cup” event with dancing,
Cold buffet and Champagne, Saturday December 26, 1946 at 2130 hrs.
Invitation for the Evening Equestrian event in 1947
Invitation for the evening equestrian event on Tuesday, April 23rd, 1947 at 2130 hrs.
Evening dress for the ladies – business or evening dress for the men.
he Night of the Horse at the "Saigon Equestrian Center", April 1st, 1950
Evening entertainment provided by André Paquinet’s orchestra and the singer Lucienne Daquin.
With the participation of the 4th Dragoon Regimental band
Re-formed after the Second World War in February1947 under the name of the 4th battalion of Mechanized Dragoons, it was sent to Tonkin on March 25th of the same year. It was sent to Cochin China in 1948, and on November 1st it again became the 4th mechanized Dragoon regiment.
The regiment became the 4th Dragoon regiment on February 16th ,1950. On June 30th, 1954, it was dissolved after seven years in Indochina.
List of competitors for the "Equestrian Center" prize
End of the Night of the Horse at about 1am, after a cold supper and a variety program of French songs.
Jumping event at the Equestrian Center in 1955
Obstacle jump by the young Pierre Dubourg at the Saigon Equestrian Center.
Article published in the Journal d’Extrême-Orient in 1958
For his farewell to Saigon and South Vietnam
Mr. Marcel Louvet (on "Swing")
had a magnificent win in the third event of the season.
A great success for Pierre Dubourg in the youth division..
Saigon May 1957- "Show-Show" - age 6 years – Saigon Equestrian Center.
This third big meeting of the season, which took place yesterday afternoon at the Saigon Equestrian Center with all the usual success, was marked by two master strokes: that of Marcel Louvet who before leaving this country definitively next Monday , won a very brilliant victory for the last time on his horse "Swing" (left to Monsieur de Gasperis), and that of the young Pierre Dubourg whose success is all the more meritorious that he rode "Silver Wings" for the first time, a young English thoroughbred also making his debut in contest!
The third event for the Vietnam championship was very difficult since it did not forgive any mistakes: contested in the American style, this competition ranked the competitors according to the greatest number of obstacles over the short span of two minutes.
For his final Saïgon competition, Louvet rode "Swing" magnificently and crossed a total of 27 obstacles in a very brilliant style.
Mrs. Vally, on "Hortensia", also realized a course of great value and ranked excellent second with 23 obstacles. In 3rd place, Mr. Sauterau rising "Vanguard" crossed 11 obstacles in 46 seconds, followed by Mr. de Gasperis who, on "" Silver Wings "(of which it was we said the very first official exit), passed 7 obstacles in 44 seconds and finally Smidt with "Belle Hélène" (return of Cambodia after 6 years of absence) secured fifth place of this difficult competition totaling 7 obstacles in 1'59 '.
At the end of this classification test of the Vietnamese Championship is therefore as follows:
1. Mr. Sautereau
2. Mr. Louvet
3. Lt Duc
4. Miss Denise Dubourg
5. Mrs. Vally
Left : Saigon 1955 – Lieutenant Duprat and Denise Dubourg - S.E.C.
Right : Saïgon 1958- Denise Dubourg and his horse "Show-Show".
As for the youth competition held in the arena, it also proceeded according to the American style with handling difficulties and even some quite diabolical traps. And to put it mildly, young competitors had to show solid notions of high mathematics and that their horses were not colorblind to successfully resolve an X and Y course with passages in white, yellow, green and red barrels!
And it was pretty much either by weakness in math or by color blindness, that there were many errors and a lot of fallout in this contest that the seasoned master, young Pierre Dubourg won, riding "Silver Wings" of Gasperis.
Pierre Dubourg, in an excellent course, crossed 21 obstacles in two minutes to unanimous applause. Mademoiselle Vicky Hobbs, on "Babsy", secured a good second place in a supple style with a total of 15 obstacles, Miss Brigitte Bouiron, rising "Aiglon" ranked third, very close, with 13 obstacles; we can note the promising beginnings of Mademoiselle Thoan, a young Vietnamese woman, who on "Squibs" jumped 10 obstacles without fail and took fourth place followed by Mademoiselle Smith on "Rob Roy" with 7 obstacles in 55 seconds.
Saïgon 1958- Pierre Dubourg - Saigon Equestrian Center
Le parcours des deux épreuves, jolis, avec beaucoup de couleurs, bien encadrés et très coulants, étaient l'oeuvre de madame Bled qui assurait également à l'accoutumée la direction de la piste avec son expérience bien connue. Madame Bled mérite nos félicitations.
The jury for the competitions included Colonel Hobbs of American Cavalry, and Messrs. Boutrin and Bled.
The cups were by Colonel Hobbs (for the main contest) and by Madame G. Dubourg (for the youth competition) and, in this regard, the immense merit of the charming Madame Louise Dubourg whose generosity and dedication to the cause of equestrian sports have remained so valuable for long periods of time and have had the joy of handing their own cup to Pierre Dubourg with a kiss and a smile infused with a legitimate maternal pride.
R.J. du ....
To mark the upcoming departure of Mr and Mrs Marcel Louvet, and to celebrate the victories of the day, a champagne toast was made of yesterday at the SEC at the end of the meeting, in a joyful atmosphere, followed by speeches by Monsieur Bied and Monsieur de Gasperis - the latter very Marcel Boussac, according to his own expression, since his "stable" had triumphed twice!
But this general goodwill hid a certain sadness, tinged with heavy regrets, those shared regrets which will not fail to leave Monsieur Louvet and his gracious wife on leaving this country definitively next Monday. For several years, wasn’t Mr. Marcel Louvet a particularly representative element of equestrian activity in South Vietnam? Captain of horseback riding of the S.E.C., brilliant contestant as well as a charming comrade, he will leave behind good memories. We hope that his equestrian successes will continue with the same happiness in the new country where he intends to settle with his wife.
Article published in the Journal d’Extrême-Orient in 1958
Make way for the young ladies !
A brilliant win for Miss Denise Dubourg
... as well as a good showing for Miss Vicky Hobbs and Miss Barbara Lampl
Denise Dubourg - Saigon Equestrian Center.
Very nice horse event last Sunday, on the grounds of the E.C. in the presence of a large audience.
Six horses took the Menke Cup in the following order: "Rob Roy", "Silver Wings", "Babsy", "Glorious", "Belle Hélène" and "Swing".
In the first round "Babsy" ridden by his young owner Vicky Hobbs; "Belle Hélène" , Mr. Smidt’s mare which he rode himself and "Swing" owned by Mr. de Gasperis and ridden by Mrs. Vally rode a flawless course..
"Rob Roy" of the Equestrian Center, which Mr. Lemesle rode, finished with 16 points (1 foul and 3 disobedience) and "Silver Wings" belonging to Monsieur de Gasperis which he rode himself with 19 points faults, 1 disobedience and 1 fall), "Glorious" of the Equestrian Center ridden by the young Pierre Dubourg took with 4 points (4 disobedience) the 4th place of this contest.
At the barrage, Vicky Hobbs rode her little mare "Babsy" perfectly and was penalized only for a disobedience while "Swing" perfectly ridden by Mrs. Vally, made a fault and "Belle Helene" that Mr. Smidt took back in hand after a long interruption, made 3 mistakes...
The ranking after 4 series was as follows::
1. Miss Dubourg 0 pt; 2. Ms. Malye 7 pts; 3. Captain Duc 10 pts; 4. Mr. Sauterau 15 pts.
This event was interesting from beginning to end.
The technical result on its own does not give a clear image of the performance of the horses on well-constructed obstacles and the impeccable form of the riders.
We must note first the splendid result obtained by Miss Dubourg who rode 4 courses without fault in a very effective style.
The second, Mrs. Malye, is not unknown to Saigon although it is her first official test. She once belonged to the E. C. when she was still called Miss Marielle Bruno; she was a pupil of MacGrath that all the Saigonese knew well and who now runs the Equestrian Center of Adam Isle. Perfect in the saddle, Mrs Malye made a big impression on the spectators and her runs were carried out in an extremely flowing style, without any superfluous gesture with a perfect slate. Captain Duc, always excellent, rode a brilliant course but failed to avoid 1 fault and two disobedience faults which brought him 10 penalty points.
Mr. Sautereau's case is a little different. This excellent rider who currently holds the largest number of cups won in Vietnam in horse shows obtained the following results: 7 + 0 + 8 + 0.
Penalized by 7 points with "Vanguard" and 8 points with "Golden Growe", his own horses, he successfully rode 2 courses without fault with the horses of his opponents. M. Sauterau was unquestionably unlucky.
A competition of young riders in the arena closed the meeting.
Only four youngsters finished the event, the first three after a barrage followed by a series of beautiful courses:
1. Miss Barbara Lampl on "Clair de Lune"; 2. Miss Judith Smith on "Rob Roy"; 3. Miss Diana Babineau on "Glorious"; 4. Pierre Dubourg who for the first time rode Mrs. Bled’s new mare.
The jury consisted of Colonel Hobbs, Mr. Daniel Motais de Narbonne and Mr. Bled.
The excellent courses were laid out by Mrs. Bled who, as usual, assumed the role of course director.
The Australian Horse at the Saigon Equestrian Center
At the "Saigon Equestrian Center" the breed of horses was of breed known as "Australian".
The Australian horse, (Australian Stock Horse) is a breed of saddle horse originating in Australia. It is a docile and courageous horse, originating in New South Wales. It is the result of crossbreeding between thoroughbred English and Anglo Arabian stallions and mares of various origins...
It excels in dressage and in the jumping show competition.
haut de page 
