Story by Bernard le Courtois.

Alme fell asleep for ever on 21st March 1991 at 21H 00,the first day of Spring .He was 25 years old and enjoying a gentle and well earned retirement following a long career which we shall review with some emotion.
The story of this outstanding horse punctuates that of the modern sport horse at the end of this century.If the thoroughbred Orange Peel left a remarkable imprint on the French riding horses studbook between 1930-40 and thus laid the foundations of the sport horse , his grandson Ibrahim consolidated the line between 1960-70 ,a period of great development for the riding horse. Then came the great grandson Alme who supremely consecrated this branch of the French breeding horses family tree. For nearly 20 years from 1971-90 he dispersed his magic sap throughout the World. During the same period the idea of the French riding horse became hat of the French Sport horse .Alme being one of the first stallions to prove his worth in competition ,was to father a great line of competing stallions, continued today by his sons and grandsons, international champions as yet unmatched.

Alme was born 16 April 1966 at the property of Mr Alphonse Chauvin at Montviron in the department of the Manche. Sired by Ibrahim, the top National Studs stallion ,he was born to the mare Girondine(Ultimate ps) whose pedigree has often been reviewed. He was a strong handsome bay foal with four ermine white stockings and a wide stripe on his head. When the horse dealer Alfred Lefevre spotted the foal with his mother and bought him, Alme already possessed the presence , virility and class that was to make him a horse above the others throughout his life. Even today no other horse has inherited the same aura.

At the age of 3 when his remarkable performance won him the stallion competition at St Lo ,the French administration was unable to make an offer for him since he was already sold to a franco-american rider Fred Graham. Almé had begun to incite passion. With hindsight it is regrettable that Almé never belonged to the State. Obviously he would never have competed or revealed his remarkable ability to jump, but he would have sired many more French mares and would never have been exported.
When one sees the exceptional results of Almé's breeding with French mares, although he only fathered 60 foals in the 4years from 1971-74 ,we can hardly imagine the success of his production had he mounted 50 mares a year from 1971-85 ie: for over 15 years. More than 500 french foals from Almé! What a reputation french breeding would have had .So many international champions lost, so many claims to glory. With such a large Almé production the economics of French breeding and stallions would have been totally different, as the competition between the sons of the performing stallions would have been greater.

But leaving fiction aside , let us pick up the story of what really happened to Almé. He started in competition at the age of 4 at Sainte Mère Eglise, where he impressed the breeders including Mr Alfred Brohier( who wrote me a kind letter when he bought shares in Almé 15 years later). At the time stallions in competition were extremely rare, and Almé was ridden by Fred Graham, in his forties and a riding novice. Those who saw Almé jump will always remember him with great admiration.
In 1971; at the age of 5, whilst competing with his owner on the show jumping circuit class B&C , Almé mounted several mares at the Cour Bonnet Studfarm at Falaise, and sometimes even at the place of competition. But being in the same stud farm as Sans Souci , and the rivalry between the two Stallions being intense, he only fathered 7 foals in 1972 ( including the stallions Galoubet and Grand d'Escla) and 2 in 1973(including the stallion Herban).

Whilst continuing to compete with Michel Parot and Bernard Genest, Almé was entrusted to Mr Charles de St Laumer and mounted during 2 seasons near Chartres. His reputation began to spread amongst breeders and riders who saw him.
Ridden by his brave owner , Almé even attempted the World High jump record in Paris. The resulting notoriety led to an increase in the number of mares he mounted . In 1974 ,15 foals were born ( including the internationals I Love You, Indian Tonic , Iara….) and in 1975 hi last season before he left France , 36 foals were born , the most famous of which were Jalisco B,Joyau d' Or, Jolly Good….)

When he was only 8 years old , at the top of his form, Almé was spotted by a Begian -Dutch millionaire Leon Melchior, who was setting up a model stud farm at Zangersheide and knew that on Almé he had found the top stallion he needed. But Fred Graham adored his horse and did not intend to sell. Only after long bargaining did Almé leave. Mr Graham always said that he had rented out Almé for 2 years at F600000,whilst Mr Melchior said that for the same sum he had bought the stallion , the deal having been signed after a long meal accompanied by good wines . Despite Mr Grahams lawsuit attempting to recuperate the stallion, Almé remained in Belgium.

Today it seems surprising that Almé's departure did not incite more protest but it must be seen in the light of events at the time . Almé was 8 years old , a good sport horse , had only fathered a few foals , the eldest of which were 2 years old. Nobody could imagine the remarkable genetic value of Almé nor the loss his departure represented to national breeding . It was only 3 years later that Galoubet won the 5year Championship and , as with all stallions Almé's worth was not officially recognised until he was 12 years old . He had already been away from France, for 4 years. During this time Almé had mounted a few mares in Belgium but mainly continued his international sporting career. He competed notably in the European Championships at Vienna in 1976 where he was Third in the first qualifying rounds, he gained 4th position at the Dortmund Grand Prix, 3rd in the Vienna Grand Prix , 7th in the Anvers Jumping , 2nd at Hickstead international Trophy etc…….

From 1977 onwards he concentrated on breeding and mounted many Belgian , Dutch and German mares .Sold a few years later and taken to Holland he was in stud farm service till 1983 and mounted hundreds of mares , fathering stallions and international Champions all, over the world. Many of his daughters were retained breeding mares and dozens of them were kept at the Zangersheide Stud farm . Amongst the stallions to mount these mares was the German Ramiro , a breeding combination which gave good results , particularly Ratina Z( Ramiro and Argentina Z by Almé) one of the stars of the last championships at La Baule in 1991.From this production period te names we remember the most are Aerobic(USA),Zalmé( Seoul Olympic games)Aurora ,etc……

In France Alme's foals were growing up and his first stallion son Galoubet A ( Viti by Nystag tf)started out on a remarkable international career. Having won the 5 Year old Championship and been amongst the best 6 year olds of his generation , he was French Champion and top of the list of French Show Jumpers . Galoubet came successfully 5th in the World Cup and the 1983 World Championships. His famous buckings were good media material. His entry into stud farming didn't go unnoticed ; as the first stallion used in artificial insemination he served over a hundred mares . Galoubet augured well for the staggering success if his father at stud, as he was quickly surpassed by his half brother I Love You who, after a promising start (2nd in the5yearolds Championships and 3rd in the 6year olds Criteron) was exported to the USA for a record price of over 4 millions francs . With his Yankee rider I Love You won many international prizes including Harrisburg , Washington, Toronto, and Calgary, not forgetting the titles of World Cup Champion in 1983 and Vice World Cup Champion and Horse of the year in 1982. Winning over 2 million francs , I Love You became the richest stallion in the World.

Other sons of Almé followed in the footsteps of the 2 champions , such as Herban a big winner in the USA (1st in Kachina Grand Prix, 3rd in Grand Prix at Leonia and at Almadess);Jolly Good , also a winner in the USA(indoor puisance World record);Joyau D'Or a big international winner , member of the Italian Olympic team at Los Angeles , 5th in Rome Grand Prix , 6th in the Grand Prix at Aix La Chapelle ;Jalisco B , who after winning 8th place in the 5 and 6 year olds of his generation was a part of the French team , 1st in the Longchamp Grad Prix , 2nd in the Liege Grand Prix , 1st in the Barcelona Queen's Cup ,4th in the London Grand Prix and a member of the Portugese team in the Seoul Olympic Games.

Besides these international champions; Almé had fathered a many good horses in show jumping. It is also a rare fact that 72% of his production born between 1972-75 won in CSO and 30% of his male production became Stallions . A first !
But from 1981-83 , while Almé's small production was winning titles world wide , Ibrahim's son was mounting with our benelux neighbours.

Despite the expectations of some of his best production ( I Love You, Herban, Jolly Good, Joyau D'Or)Almé was placed 2nd in the list of French stallions in 1980 -81, preceded by Uriel who had fathered 2.5 times as many foals.
This is when French breeders and riders became aware of the enormous loss represented by Almé's exportation, but few breeders were prepared to go abroad to have their mares mounted. However some made the effort in 1991 and thanks to them we have several 5 and 6yearolds in competition. In the meantime Almé had been operated on for an inguinal hernia and in 1984 became monorchid. The Dutch then sold him and returned to Belgium. But what, I hear you say, were the French doing ? What were they waiting for to bring their stallion home ? Particularly when they had several opportunities to do so.

An offer had been made by the UNIC on behalf of the National Stud Farms, I remember the offer being F350,000. A ridiculous sum ( double the price of a 3 year old at the St Lo Stallion sale )for the best stallion in the World, even if he was 18 years old and monorchid. At the time I was the Chief Editor of the magazine L' Eperon. I had heard of this offer and of Almé's return to Zangershiede, and decided to go there myself to see this dream stallion at last , having been too young to have seen him in France . So I went to Belgium , Between Liege and Aix La Chapelle, and realised that despite his age and far from calm life ,Almé was still an admirable horse. I also learnt that 2 offers had been made for him , not from France , but by Americans and Venezuelans. On one side there was an offer of big shiny dollars and on the other , thousands of acres of pampas. What could I , a modest stud farmer, a passionate but poor breeder, do faced with such superpowers? I knew no rich patron as fanatic about breeding as myself and no bank would have lent me enough money to repatriate Almé.But the idea became a target and then an obsession . A few months beforehand on my return from the Olympic Games at Los Angeles , I had managed to retrieve a 17 year old Stallion I liked a lot , the thoroughbred Laudunum. He had been forgotten and sent to the south west of France and had only mounted 9 mares in all in 1984. To acquire him I had applied a principal common to the racing world , ie, sale to Shareholders. Laudunum's syndicate had succeeded and the following year he had mounted 63 mares . Pleased with my success I decided to use the same principle to save our genetic heritage and bring back Almé to French Breeders. Negociations were long and difficult . I often grew depressed about the attitude of the people I was dealing with . who did not keep their word and refused to sign any contract.
The 1985 breeding season was wasted for us , Almé stayed in Zangersheide.
Despite frequent trips to Zangersheide I thought that the battle was lost and that Almé was leaving for America. Through the magazine I encouraged French breeders to take their mares to Zangersheide to be mounted . In this way , about 20 mares were covered by Almé in 1985 , albeit late in the season.

The Americans were willing to pay a lot of money for Almé. It should be remembered that his son Galoubet, had been bought by syndicate in the USA one year before for the sum of $2,000,000. At a time when the dollar was worth F 10 , this represented F 20 million. They could afford to be stubborn. However Almé's weaknesses were to my advantage . I won the first round of the fight. Almé could not go to the USA because he showed positive on a biabose test. Unwilling to give up completely the Americans decided to leave Almé in Belgium and import his frozen sperm. Second round won , Almé's sperm could not be frozen!
The Americans gave up the fight leaving the Venezuelans and their acres of Pampas. Here dialogue won the day . To export a stallion like Almé to south America was nothing less than a burial. I was left with 3 points to argue with: French breeding , international commerce and the financial structure that was to repatriate Almé.
The person with whom I was negotiating accepted the principal but still would not sign the contract allowing Almés return. Negotiations had been going on for 9 months . I was furious and about to abandon the idea when , whilst at the Fontainbleau European Championships in 1985 , I issued a deadline . After several heated discussions I left Fontainbleau with my contract signed . Almé was to return to France. His official comeback was to be a month late at the Dinard European Championship. My incredible gamble had been won , I announced in the magazine Almé's amazing and unhoped for comeback.

Almé's comeback must have disturbed quite a few people. I heard so much rubbish , either directly or repeated to me , from people who are meant to be authorities in the horse world and who I believed to be intelligent or at least reasonable.
According to them Almé was little more than a rocking horse , and sterile to boot! Obviously , as a tenderfoot , I was made out to be a fool if not worse.
However Almé's presentation put things in place and silenced more than a few. Almé then 19 years old was on dazzling form .I'll always remember his presentation and the admiring gaze of hundreds of people ^passing the message, " It's Almé".
Accompanied by Haendel's magic Saraband , Almé made his comeback on the grounds at Dinard in front of thousands of spectators entranced by his beauty and charisma of the horse who's reputation was at its peak . I admit that the emotion brought tears to my eyes . A moment of great satisfaction and pleasure :pleasure in the beauty of the scene and the satisfaction in the work accomplished .False modesty aside I was also very proud.

The follow up was just as exciting . Shares in Almé were a great success. There were 70 - 80 shares for sale at F20,000(today this seems cheap but in 6 years horse prices have greatly increased). Within a few days all the shares were sold and the money raised to buy Almé.
In the space of a few weeks I received almost 400 requests to buy shares . Real Almé fans contacted me unfortunately too late . Everyday I had to return cheques arriving too late . Some were even signed blank accompanied by a note to say "I've heard that Almé is for sale to a syndicate , I don't know the conditions but please keep me one or two shares and fill in the enclosed cheque". Incredible, this enthusiasm and confidence were a great comfort to me. It was without doubt this owners association which made me decide to make the move to Normandy and set up as a stallion breeder. As I lived in Paris at the time I had to find somewhere to keep Almé, big enough to accomodate the 100 mares who were sure to come to be mounted by him. Stud farms of that size, experienced in artificial insemination were hard to find in 1985. The only suitable one was Villepeleé. Almé was then mounting in the Pin region an area where his three best products were born: Galoubet , I love You and Jalisco. During 1986 - 87 Almé's fresh sperm was used for artificial insemination , 100 mares per season. Mares came from all over France as well as from Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, Switzerland and Italy. In 1988-89 I limited him to 80 mares and in 1990 to 60 because of his age and state of health. Out of the 420 mares covered during 5 years , with an average fertility rate of 78%,many products were exported and roughly 20% of the mares covered gave birth abroad ( foreign mares or mares in foal exported) added to these are the dozens of Almé foals of all ages exported to Italy , Belgium and Sweden over the past 5 years .

Since his comeback, trade in foals has flourished . Record prices were attained in the Fences sales : F240,000 for a bay foal , direct sister to the World Champion I Love You in 1989; F210,000 for a chestnut foal of the same family as Flambeau C . Many of the foals have been sold for between F 50 - 150,000 by agreement , and 3 year olds for anything between
F300,000 to 1million . Almé's mount was expensive , starting at F14,000 then F16,000 before finishing at F20,000 regardless of the outcome ? But it was money well spent , what other stallion could offer such a high probability of producing a crack?

As for the shareholders , they had the satisfaction of being offered one mount by Almé per year. Several of them sold their shares after the first season making a profit of F 15,000 on an initial outlay of F22,000 a 70% Dividend. Others who waited 2 seasons before selling benefited from a dividend of F 30;000, ie 140%. But the wisest of the real breeders did not speculate on the sale of mounts but used them wit their mares . At the end of the day , despite the problems involved in breeding ( empty mares , abortions , still born foals….) they are the real winners in the association . They have the satisfaction of having played a role in Almé's comeback and in his perpetuation through the foals born from the highly successful combination of this great horse with French mares ; of improving their stud farm; of making good profits when selling foals and for some , of preparing for the future by keeping males or females .
Then there are those who were lucky enough to have produced future cracks comparable to their elders Galoubet, I Love Youor Jalisco .These foals will be revealed in years to come since the eldest of the new Almé production will only be 4 in 1991.
It should also be noted that Almé foals are not precocious, needing to be patiently conserved and not shaken around at the age of 4. Observe their elders Galoubet, I Love You or Jalisco who were hardly out at the age of 4 . Only at 5 years old were they beginning to be noticed .The future will smile at those who are patient with their mounts . However despite the numerous exports and mares kept for breeding at 3 years (some of whom will appear the late 5 year olds next year)there were 12 Almé products in the 1991 Fontainbleau final.

Almé , once named by a journalist the "Golden Egg Cock" was retired in August 1990. It gave me the great satisfaction to see him finish his days with me at the Brullemail stud farm. From my office , where I sit to tell you this story , I used to see his head over his box door every day , so expressive despite his age . I could hear his high pitched neigh, so unusual , like a dolphin, as the mares crossed the courtyard or came in from pasture. His deteriorating health over the last year had pushed me to put him into retirement . Despite an excellent appetite Almé grew thin , like an old man living slowly between the fireside and the window. He was saving himself and would enjoy his daily outing on the lawn while the lad cleaned his box.

Almé led a full life through breeding and sport. His glory crossed frontiers and his name is honoured in equestrian countries world wide. The only horse with a comparable family tree and with whom he has often been compared is Northern Dancer. Almé's descendants is already assured by the extraordinary quality of his sons , already working stallions , and will gain from the arrival on the sports field his 5 new generations . Today Almé is the only stallion in the World to have fathered 2 World Champions and 3 Olympic horses.

During the Eighties an Olympic team could have been made up of his sons alone . Only Furioso could have done that in the sixties .In 1991 Jalisco may hope to do as much being a product of both Furioso and Almé.
1990, the year in which Almé retired was also the year in which Eric Navet won the title of World Champion wit the young stallion Quito de Baussy, a grandson of Almé . His blood lives on.
Almé will always be the stallion of the century . I am always touched when I think or talk of him. For a breeder it is fabulous to encounter such a horse during a career. I thank my lucky stars for such joy and satisfaction.

But memories are not enough. The future has to e prepared , breeding is a long daily task. The new generation has to be prepared , new reproducters found and maybe one day I will meet the stallion of his calibre , his brilliance and strength who will go to make a phenomenon such as Almé.