A few days after advising that his three top horses had been sold, Maxime Livio has announced that he is taking a break from competitive eventing.
Maxime, who was ranked 26th on the FEI World Rankings at the end of October, says he has lost the motivation that has driven him to be France’s leading eventing rider for the past 10 years.
“Things have become more automatic, almost robotic, despite results that continue to come in. For me, there is less excitement, and more and more questions are becoming a priority in my thinking: the future of equestrian sports, the ecological footprint of our adventurous lifestyle, the well-being of our beloved horses... And a very natural desire to want and be able to be closer to my two boys and Mathou (Mathilde)”
Maxime and his partner Mathilde Montginoux will continue to run Ecurie Livio an eventing and showjumping training yard in Dénezé-sous-Doué, near Le Lion d’Angers in France.
“The Livio stable will continue to shine at a high level thanks to the young riders that we train with Mathou (CSO), Nat, Vic and Polo (CCE). I will devote most of my time to supervising the students of the SEA elite team, and to responding to a few foreign requests put aside in recent seasons” says Maxime in his newsletter “I also want to continue to support and train our team of exceptional coaches, with the ambition of making our stable a true reference in equestrian sports.
My passion for my sport and for this wonderful animal remains intact. I hope that my experience can be useful to all ambitious riders and horse lovers to achieve their dreams of a very high level, until 2028 and beyond!
I will conclude by specifying that I am not talking about retirement here, but rather a break. No one, not even me, knows how long it will last yet. My idea is above all to listen to my need to take a step back from the pressure of the high level, which I have always loved but from which I wish to distance myself for the moment, in order to offer myself the luxury of time to think about what could, one day, rekindle in me the desire to return to competition”
