From Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October, the Parc départemental de l’Isle Briand at Le Lion-d’Angers (Maine-et-Loire) hosts the 42nd Mondial du Lion, the world championships for young event horses, open to six- and seven-year-olds. Twenty-three nations are expected. And the detail that says the most about this competition can be read in the French team that travelled to the World Championships in Aachen in August: of its five team horses, three had run this cross-country course at seven.
Mondial du Lion 2026: four days of eventing for six- and seven-year-old horses
The Mondial du Lion is not a competition like any other: it does not judge established partnerships but horses just starting out on the international stage. Two championships run side by side, one for six-year-olds and one for seven-year-olds, in the classic three-phase format, with all three tests ridden on the same horse.
- Thursday 15 and Friday 16 October: the dressage tests.
- Saturday 17 October: the cross-country, the day that draws the biggest crowd.
- Sunday 18 October: the showjumping, which settles the final placings, followed by the prize-giving.
The event claims around 45,000 spectators a year on a budget close to one million euros. It also changes hands this year: a public interest group takes over the administrative and legal management previously handled by the Lion équestre association. “In 2025, for the event’s 40th anniversary, we had an extraordinary response,” its president, Yves-Marie Vandamme, told the local press on 2 October. As for the nations, India makes its very first appearance this year, according to the organiser.
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Mondial du Lion 2026: 3 of France’s 5 World Championship horses ran this cross-country course at seven
From 15 to 18 October, the Mondial du Lion brings 23 nations to Le Lion-d’Angers for the world championships for six- and seven-year-old event horses. Three of the five French team horses in Aachen came through it.
Alertamalib’Or, Diabolo Menthe, Figaro Fonroy: the French team horses who came through Le Lion-d’Angers
In July, the Mondial du Lion ran a simple count on the French squad named for the eventing World Championships in Aachen (11 to 23 August 2026). Of the five team pairs chosen by selector Jean-Luc Force, three horses had contested the seven-year-old championship at the Isle Briand:
- Alertamalib’Or, ridden by Astier Nicolas: seven-year-old world champion in 2017. This Anglo-Arab gelding is now 16.
- Diabolo Menthe, ridden by Nicolas Touzaint: bronze medallist among the seven-year-olds in 2020. A 13-year-old Selle Français gelding.
- Figaro Fonroy, ridden by Benjamin Massié: 14th among the seven-year-olds in 2022.
The other two team horses, Je’Vall (Alexis Goury) and Zaragoza (Gaspard Maksud), had not come through Anjou. Widening the count to reserves and second horses, the proportion stays at four horses out of seven: Filao de Perle, Benjamin Massié’s second ride, finished 35th among the seven-year-olds in 2022.
The point deserves to be read the right way round. Winning at Le Lion-d’Angers does not manufacture a championship horse, and Figaro Fonroy, only 14th at seven, has become a mainstay of the French team. What the list shows is that top French riders almost all bring their best young horses here: it is the first time an event horse faces a championship cross-country course, in front of a crowd, on ground it does not know.
The Mondial du Lion cross-country on Saturday 17 October: the owl, the ford and 26 fences for the seven-year-olds
This year’s cross-country course keeps several obstacles that have become emblematic of the Mondial, including the owl and the ford, according to the preview carried by the Anjou press. The two courses are not the same length:
- Six-year-old horses: around 2.7 miles (4,350 metres) and 21 obstacles.
- Seven-year-old horses: around 3 miles (4,900 metres), 26 obstacles and 35 jumping efforts.
The gap between obstacles and efforts matters: one obstacle can call for several jumps in a row, for example a drop into water followed by an element on the way out. For a seven-year-old, 35 efforts in under three miles is a real question about fitness and confidence. The ford is the best example: a young horse that hesitates at the water’s edge loses time, or worse, picks up a refusal.
- The dressage score, converted into penalty points: it opens the leaderboard and does not change afterwards.
- Refusals on the cross-country: 20 penalties for a first refusal, 40 for a second at the same obstacle, elimination at the third.
- The cross-country time: every second over the optimum time costs 0.4 of a point. A young horse that jumps well but slowly drops down the order.
- Fences down in Sunday’s showjumping: 4 penalties each, on a horse that galloped the day before.
- The veterinary inspection: the horse is trotted up in hand and must be passed fit to continue.
- The studbook: the championship is also a breeding championship, run with the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH). A horse’s result reflects on the breed and the stud that produced it.
Horses to watch at Le Lion-d’Angers: Chilli’s Joker, Tara van het Leliehof, Club Class
On 2 October the organiser published its headline names. Three pairs stand out, all among the seven-year-olds:
- Chilli’s Joker and Gemma Stevens (Great Britain). This horse is a son of Chilli Morning, the stallion William Fox-Pitt rode to victory at Badminton. And it was Chilli Morning IV, the clone of that same stallion, who won the seven-year-old championship here in 2024, also with Gemma Stevens. We told the story of the Chilli Morning clones in eventing. The rider arrives in confident mood: she won Burghley in early September with another son of the stallion, Chilli Knight.
- Tara van het Leliehof and Lara de Liedekerke-Meier (Belgium). The mare was crowned six-year-old world champion in 2025 at Le Lion-d’Angers. She returns for the seven-year-old title, which would be a rare double. Her rider also has Herakles in the six-year-old class.
- Club Class and Yasmin Ingham (Great Britain). The rider was individual eventing world champion in 2022, at Pratoni del Vivaro in Italy.
On the French side, Nicolas Touzaint, rider of Diabolo Menthe, returns with Kovu de Belle Croix among the six-year-olds. Benjamin Massié presents Joli Coeur de la Baie, Alexis Goury Jeroboam Wal, and Thomas Carlile is down to ride Juste Unetoile in the seven-year-old class. The names are no accident: in France, the first letter of a horse’s name gives its birth year, J for 2019 and K for 2020. The Americans Hallie Coon and Phillip Dutton, New Zealand’s Samantha Lissington and Ireland’s Ian Cassells complete a very international field.
Getting to the Mondial du Lion: free shuttles from Angers and the cross-country day ticket
Le Lion-d’Angers lies about 12 miles (20 kilometres) north-west of Angers. For the day, the organiser has arranged free shuttles with the regional Aléop network, leaving from Angers coach station:
- Outbound (Angers to Le Lion): departures announced at 9:00 am and 10:30 am.
- Return (Le Lion to Angers): 3:45 pm, 5:00 pm and 6:15 pm.
- Booking essential, places limited, through Angers coach station or via the form on the official website.
The organisers also offer a free car-sharing platform. The cross-country day ticket was listed at 26 euros at the standard rate on the official ticket office. For Sunday’s showjumping, standing room around the main arena does not give access to the stands: seated places are booked separately and often go quickly. Tickets are neither taken back nor refunded, except if the event is cancelled.
What we do not yet know about the young horses at the Mondial du Lion
Nine days before the opening, several unknowns remain. The exact number of starters in each class will not be known until after the first veterinary inspection. The October going beside the Mayenne and the Oudon, soft or heavy depending on the week’s rain, will weigh on the cross-country times. And nobody can say which of these six- and seven-year-olds will be on a selector’s list in five years: the lesson of Figaro Fonroy, 14th in 2022 and then a team horse in Aachen, is precisely that you cannot read it in Sunday’s results.
Mondial du Lion Crédit Mutuel, official website: “An exceptional international field and champions on hand” and “Car-sharing, free shuttles: plan your visit” (2 October 2026), “Aachen 2026 World Championships: from the Mondial du Lion to the world elite, the springboard for the French team” (29 July 2026), visitors’ FAQ; Haut Anjou and My Angers, preview of the 2026 edition (2 October 2026); Anjou Tourisme, event listing. Equirider is not affiliated with the organiser, the French Equestrian Federation, or any stable mentioned.
Eventing combines dressage, cross-country and showjumping on the same partnership: it is the most complete discipline in riding. For its rules, its levels and how to get started, read our guide to eventing. And if you jump fixed obstacles outdoors, even at modest height, body protection is not optional: our comparison of riding body protectors sets out the standards and the models.
