So, You Want to Be a Horse Girl in Paris?

France has a long history on horseback, and nearly 2 million French citizens ride “regularly or occasionally,” according to the French Equestrian Federation. The Loire Valley city of Saumur—a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Paris—is the home of the Cadre Noir of Saumur, the famed instructors from the Ecole Nationale d’Equitation (the French military riding academy), and the heart of the country’s equestrian obsession.

But Paris is Paris. Hermès began making saddles here in 1910 and still makes them largely the same way: a single craftsman spending around 30 hours on each one. (They are then specially configured for rider and horse, a process the house says makes them “double bespoke.”) Hermès has kept detailed records of every single saddle, creating the kind of boldfaced name–drenched little black book few brands possess. And unlike, say, a Birkin or a Kelly, any Tom, Dick, or Harry can trot up to 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and place a custom order (by appointment only).

Looking for a fancy bridle? For cavaliers in the know, PADD, on Boulevard Haussmann, has been the boutique since 1974.

“Demand has been rising” for saddles, Chloé Nobecourt, director of equestrian métier, told me this past March at the Saut Hermès showjumping competition. Events like this are important, she added, to show off the brand’s “sportive credibility” through the saddles they’ve designed with their partner riders, including Olympic champions Ben Maher and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, as well as what the house likes to call its genuine “love for Hermès’s first client: the horse.”

But what, you may be wondering, is the riding life for Hermès’s second client, the Parisian? For tack and gear needs, amateur enthusiasts have for 50 years headed to PADD, which stocks everything from bits and blankets to sportswear and accessories. For bridles, bags, and some elegant coordinating human leather goods, they also favor Guibert Paris, a saddlery in the 8th Arrondissement. To actually ride, the Bois de Boulogne boasts Polo de Paris, a riding school, and Etrier de Paris, a pony club.

For the ne plus ultra in guided rides, use Horse in the City, a bespoke service where lessons start at 130 euros and can be customized.

Meanwhile, the handsome Great Stables of the Château de Chantilly, which were built between 1719 and 1735 for Louis Henri, Prince of Condé, are the largest in Europe. (Dior presented an equestrian-themed resort collection there in 2018.)

The treasure-filled château itself is worth a visit, but for the truly equine-obsessed, the Living Museum of the Horse puts on dressage demonstrations throughout the year. On the opposite side of Paris is the Château de Courances, where the young Jacqueline Bouvier spent weekends riding during her study abroad in 1949 and where today’s polo players train and compete on the Terrain Fédéral field, completed in 2016.

The mallet-swinging set ventures about an hour outside Paris to the Chantilly Polo Club to see one of the pinnacles of the French Triple Crown.

For those who prefer to stay within the city limits, the guide Baptiste Auclair, of the private service Horse in the City, leads rides through such Paris parks as Saint-Cloud and the Bois de Boulogne; they culminate either in wine and cheese enjoyed en plein air or at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Le Pré Catelan. (Reservations must be made in advance.) A horseback tour of the gardens at Versailles and a visit to the Château de Chantilly are typically on offer too, Auclair says, but those places are closed to non-Olympic riders during the summer games.

And for those who would rather stay on foot this summer, there’s always a visit to 24 Rue du Faubourg. Who knows, the next name in that little black book could be yours.

This story appears in the Summer 2024 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW

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