Gaëtan Decroix, a big-hearted rider

Ekestrian reiterates its support to the Horse & Hope charity project, a project born from the initiative of Gaëtan Decroix in 2020, a Belgian professional rider and breeder based in Normandy. The aim of this project is to support the fight against cancer by raising funds for research. Among the exceptional selection of studs and straws, you will find 25 lots without reserve prices generously donated by the stallion owners.
All profits from lots marked Horse & Hope will be donated to two foundations, one in Belgium and the other in France.

Gaëtan Decroix and his charity project can be discovered through a very personal interview with a rider with a big heart. He tells us about the disease, the creation of Horse & Hope, the support of his family and friends, his message to people affected by cancer and much more:

You set up the Horse & Hope charity in 2019 to support the fight against cancer. How did you come up with the idea of an appeal for donations in the form of an online charity auction? 

I had two cancers, one in 2015 and one in 2019. I was then offered to enter an experimental programme, with a very heavy treatment that required me to be in isolation in a sterile room for several weeks, with no guarantee of better results than known treatments. My heart wanted to help science, but I had other plans. I didn't have the courage, I refused. 2019 was a year with a very strong emotional context, rich in friendship and sport. I wanted to say thank you to life, to thank, in my own way, those who care and those who work tirelessly to find new treatments. I then thought that offering, on behalf of my colleagues, a covering of their stallion(s) in an auction whose profits would be donated to cancer research should not be insurmountable. And I was right.

How did you convince the donors? What message did you want to convey to them?   

Cancer is a disease that affects everyone. There is no one who is not affected, in their own body or in the body of their loved ones. Cancer came upon me without warning. Other people's views of me changed. I have never hidden. There is a lot of money in our business, which can sometimes seem a bit superficial, but where there is also, and above all, a lot of humanity. In 2019, I started by contacting friends. Everything went quickly, I barely had time to finish my sentence, to argue about the promotion of the stallions via the online sale when I was asked the question: "What to give?". Nothing. A dose that passes among many others. The bidders, for their part, did not hesitate to put a little more money into the sale, they wanted to contribute. 

My message got through: cancer can be cured, it should no longer be synonymous with death. We have to talk about it, we have to fight it, we have to help research, the patients and their families.

This is already the third edition of the Horse & Hope charity auction. What is your assessment of the first two editions and what are Horse & Hope's objectives for the coming years? 

I can easily say that the results surprise me from year to year, I never imagined that I would be able to provide such financial support to research. I hope that I can now continue to contribute through H&H to saving lives, friends, family members.... simply anyone who deserves to live their life. 

What do you think of the advances in cancer research?  

Cancer research is advancing every day. Many cancers can be cured today. Treatments are better than yesterday and will be more effective tomorrow. They are also better tolerated. I receive a lot of testimonies, with people speaking out about cancer, and many say that with the treatments they had fifteen years ago, they would never have been able to continue to lead their lives as I have led mine. But research and support for patients and their families are expensive. Horse & Hope is a drop in the ocean, but thanks to all the little drops, we'll get there together. If Horse & Hope, through the money it brings in, manages to save even one person in the next 30 years, I will have won this crazy challenge of bringing people together.

What message would you like to send to people who are affected by cancer and to those around them?  

Apart from the fact that treatments are becoming more and more effective and that science is advancing very quickly, I would like to tell them that they must speak out, not remain alone. Talking is powerful and is part of the healing process. The body is also healed with the mind and sharing with others is essential. This is what made a big impact on those around me when I was clear about my situation. My first cancer, in 2015, was testicular cancer. What could be more personal? Now this cancer is the most common in young men. I thought that if I spoke out, others would do so and could be detected, treated and helped more quickly. While breast cancer is (almost) discussed without taboo, testicular cancer is not, because it affects the image of virility... My second cancer manifested itself as resistant cells in the abdominal lymph nodes. I had to undergo quite aggressive chemotherapy. But I recovered. Doctors are often pessimistic, because they prefer to prepare for the worst than to give false hope, but you have to fight, you have to hang on. It's never over.

Since your marriage in 2020 to your partner Alice Tréhoust, you have become a father for the second time, and you have had a string of professional successes with your horse Quel Homme de Hus, whose rider Jérôme Guéry is one of your best friends: bronze at the Olympic Games, runner-up at the 2022 World Championships, gold in Barcelona, and more recently Horse of the Year 2022. Between these tough tests of life and where you are today, you certainly have the recipe for happiness and success. Could you tell us a bit more about it?  

I think that the trials that life has put in my way have changed my outlook considerably. My wife also has a lot to do with it (laughs). 

No, seriously, these trials make us realise that life is valuable, that we only have one life and that the clock is ticking. 

This different vision also directs us towards different choices that take us out of our daily comfort to look for more, take more risks, try new things... Imagining life as if tomorrow would be different from yesterday is a great recipe for living a colourful life. And you, if the clock were to stop tomorrow? What would you do more or less? Live, risk, innovate, but above all, don't let a monotonous daily routine set in.