68
Essentials
Profile
his size, posture and personality.” Christine admits that her fascination with horses is in her blood. Both her great-grandfather and grandfather were keen horsemen and she followed in their footsteps while still a teenager, to become a serious show jumper. Her life as a true horse woman began back in 1978 when, her then fiancé, Guy Demeersseman bought her two Arabian mares with the idea of breeding. “I think he was worried about me getting hurt while show jumping, so working with the mares were a good compromise,” she says. After 30 years, the initial investment from her husband has paid off handsomely. “I eat, sleep and breathe Arabians,” said Christine with a broad smile. “I know I’m obsessed, but I think it’s a healthy and passionate obsession,” she muses. Her husband likes horses, but not all aspects of the life that go with it. “There is a lot of travelling involved, going to meet people, long hours attending competitions and time in the stables,” she explains. Christine certainly has drive and commitment. From those first two mares she has built the world-renowned horse stud Jadem Arabians. Walking around the property you soon realise that it’s a five star hotel for horses, a place where they are totally pampered. There are open fields for them to run in, covered exercise areas and a building dedicated solely to artificial insemination, which uses state of the art equipment and techniques. The results speak for themselves. At any one time you’ll find about one hundred horses in the stables. Half are Christine’s and the other valuable horses to her for breeding. She
Top and above: Arabians need to be perfectly proportioned, have beautiful faces and a gentle character. An imperfect Arabian can sell for €500, while a perfect specimen can fetch more than €4 million.
has specialised in Polish Arabians – a line
with the Arab world began 22 years ago.
success in the Moroccan king’s stables
of Arabians which originally came from
She was first contacted by King Hussein II
quickly spread to other royal houses in
the Turkish Ottomans in the 18th century
of Morocco. “I’m told his stud manager
the Middle East. These important clients
– and today has one of the largest Polish
followed my fortunes for eight years before
are today central to her business and have
Arabian studs in Europe.
he finally got in touch,” she confides. “We
provided the prestige she deserves. “It
half belong to customers, who entrust their
started buying and selling horses on the
was wonderful,” she remembers. “My first
this hardworking woman has carved out a
king’s behalf immediately,” she recalls with
Middle Eastern client was royalty from
place as a trusted adviser and confidante
obvious pride.
Saudi Arabia. He had never seen a Western
In what is traditionally a man’s world,
in royal stables in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Kuwait and Qatar. This special relationship
In the horse-breeding world, everyone seems to know everyone, and word of her
woman before and spoke hardly a word of English.” Christine sold him a beautiful Portfolio