He was only six when Apache, his first horse, came into his life. They were inseparable, with Benjamin riding him to school and when helping his father do all manner of chores. He rode him till he was breathless, for Apache gave him freedom. 

When he was older, Benjamin came under the wing of Nuno Oliveira, trying his hand at pure dressage and show jumping and going on his travels to learn about and discover horses and broaden his knowledge of them. 

Drawing on his education, he introduced his horses to every discipline, putting them front and centre of his own story, putting their wellbeing above all else. 

Though he contemplated devoting his energies to pure dressage, he found that it failed to reflect his philosophy. Thankfully, he had more than one string to his bow, and he threw himself into driving, which he’d previously done just for fun and to give his horses a workout. He quickly climbed the discipline’s ranks and excelled at the highest level, finishing runner-up in the final of the 2008 FEI Driving World Cup. 

It was then that Benjamin decided to take a break and park his carriages. Having continually questioned his relationship with animals, he hit a wall and felt the need for renewal by doing something different. And so, he returned to his first love and set up a company specialising in equestrian events, a huge venture based in the USA and which toured the world. 

Together with his horses, he wrote a story around each of them, centred on their personality. It was a world away from elite sport, where the story horses share is based on rules and regulations. But Benjamin knew that these worlds were interlinked all the same, and he drew new-found strength from his circus adventures to make a return to driving after a sabbatical lasting several years. 

Back in France and itching to drive once more, he reappeared in the competitive arena at the 2014 World Championships. 

“I carried on doing shows on the side until 2017, but then I stopped so I could devote all my time to competing,” said the Frenchman, taking up the story. “The team I have now is made up of former show horses. I took the gamble of bringing them to the World Cup four years ago. They’re Lusitanos, so they’re small – only 1.58m at the withers – but they have so much heart.” 

Benjamin knows what he is up against this weekend, but he also knows that his horses are ready to give him everything and will always surprise him: “When I ask them if they have anything left in the tank, they tell me that they do. They don’t want to stop and I never cease to be amazed by them.” 

Tinkering with his strategy, he has decided to “let the reins go” at Palexpo in a bid to make the drive-off and enjoy himself at the same time: “Ultimately, that’s the goal. You always have to remember to have fun.” 

The six-year-old Benjamin would no doubt be proud of who he has become. The boy who dreamed only of roaming free on his horses has gone further than he could ever have imagined. 

Sophie Lebeuf