And that's two! A Chevalier of the Ordre du Mérite Agricole for a number of years, Guillaume Henry was made a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the interesting colloquium on the horse in Paris through the ages on 5 December, organised at La Maison de la Chasse by the Mission Française pour la Culture Equestre, chaired by Alain Francqueville.
The recognition, merit and award of this distinction came at the end of a highly laudatory speech by Pascal Liévaux, General Curator of Heritage, who was committed to the cause of the horse and represented Rima Abdul Malak, the then Minister of Culture.
By way of response to this eloquent speech, the person concerned spoke of the indestructible passion that has driven him since childhood, a family environment that was, then as now, more than favourable and the “dunce” that he would have been. True or false? Memories, emotions, environment, childhood lessons, which would explain the rest of a busy career for this fifty-year-old who hasn't said his last word?

X.L. - Your first gallops?
G.H. - In a pony club where I grew up, with my brother, in the Dordogne. I was put on a pony very early. I sometimes joke that I was given a pair of reins instead of a rattle. I rode almost every Wednesday afternoon, at weekends and during the school holidays. I even remember discovering, at the age of 8 or 9, that my classmates didn't have ponies at home (!), and wondering what they could do with their holidays! The pony club was a sort of second home.

X.L. - The decisive readings?
G.H. - My parents were publishers. They published works by Nuno Oliveira, Michel Henriquet and many others. We had thousands of books at home, many about nature, horses and riding. So, I grew up surrounded by horse riding and books. My first equestrian books were the manuals for the Étriers and Éperons de bronze et d'argent (the federal exams at the time, which became the Galops), the FFSE (Fédération Française des Sports Equestres) riding and hippology manuals published by Lavauzelle, and the books by Crépin Leblond.

X.L. - At the age of 20, the Académie Pégase was created. Why was that? How? With whom did this Academy project come about? Any anecdotes?
G.H. - I was always pretty bad at school. I really enjoyed learning, and I still do, but I was bored, I couldn't retain what I was taught and I got bad grades. I'd rather be at the pony club or spending hours in the library, leafing through books, drawing, making up costumes, inventing stories and so on. The pictures and drawings had a great effect on me, inspiring me, and I found several books from that time that I still look at with wonder.

I really liked History. Especially the history of horses and horse riding, for some reason. I passed my monitorate in Conches, at the school set up by Jean-Pierre Buray. Jean Pierre was quite a phenomenon; very endearing, but we didn't have much contact with him. He was the big boss and was building Poney-Village at the time. The instructor, Sylvie Mouilleseau, was the person looking after us. At the time, I read - and even devoured - the great masters of horse riding, and the history of techniques fascinated me. I set up the “Association pour la Découverte de la Culture Equestre” in 1989, at the age of 20, on my own, with my girlfriend at the time (who wasn't a rider) as secretary. Generally speaking, my friends laughed at me. “What's the point of reading an old book to be able to jump a jumping bar?” I admit I didn't know what to say. I created the Pégase literary prize in 1990 and, for its first edition, I hired a room for 200 people, with a buffet and many other things for such an event. There were... 4 of us. The author (Denis Bogros), the publisher (Jean-Louis Gouraud), my mother and me. Cruel disillusionment. I realised that no one was interested in equestrian culture. But as I was passionate about it, I carried on, and I awarded (and financed) this prize for over thirty years, with a few (rare) highs but many lows. I was copied several times, but none of these attempts lasted. Today, the Académie Pégase is at a turning point and I have many plans for it.

X.L. - Let's go back to the author who has been emerging since, with a technical series first published by Crépin-Leblond: the use of the hands, the legs, the plate... With what legitimacy? For what audience? With what intention?
G.H. - My mother ran the Crépin-Leblond publishing house, which published books, as I said, but also a number of magazines such as Plaisirs Équestres. I knew well Frédéric and Laurent Chéhu (son of Bernard Chéhu, who owned Cheval Magazine at the time). After my training, Frédéric, editor-in-chief of Cheval Magazine, asked me to write articles for the magazine. he put my foot in the stirrup. Cheval mag published my writings for nearly 20 years. We sold Crépin Leblond publishing house and a few years later I was approached by Guy Devautour, publisher at Crépin Leblond, about publishing books that would include some of my articles. He didn't know that I was one of the sons of the former owner. So I started a small series of books called L'usage des mains, L'usage des jambes, L'assiette, etc. modelled on an American series, with the idea of producing a sort of “memo bac” that would bring together everything you need to know on the subject. I reread all the masters for the occasion... It worked out pretty well, but it didn't only win me friends. When I took the entrance tests for the instructorat in Saumur, a rider told me that “those who pass a circle once, think they can write a book about it... always as bad as the author”. Scathing. The “old-timers” thought I was too young to write, and said that it was impossible to indulge in this type of exercise before retirement age. There's obviously some truth in that.

X.L. - At just over 30, you joined Belin, a leading publisher in the horse sector. Why? How?
G.H. - Being the child of a publisher, author of (modest) books, president of a cultural association and of a “horse” literary prize, instructor, all this appealed to Marie-Claude Brossolet, then CEO of Éditions Belin. She wanted to hire someone to set up a mail-order bookshop in co-creation with Éditions Jean-Michel Place (with Jean-Michel Place and Vincent Migenez), called Cavalivres, which we did with Jean-François Guillotin, Michel Périsse, Line Lebras, Anne Vignau, etc. and so many other great people who were working at Belin at the time. I also developed a “horse” editorial line. In my 17-year career at Belin, I published more than 250 books in all genres (technical, practical, beautiful books, novels, children's books, vet books, methods, etc.), which made us the leading catalogue in France and one of the three biggest internationally. During these 17 years, Marie-Claude Brossolet, a great lady of publishing with a strong character, taught me everything I know about publishing.

X.L. - What about these apparently prolific and prosperous years? What about the publishing strategies of players and competitors such as Crépin-Leblond, Belin, Vigot, Place, etc. ? Its development?
G.H. - I have excellent memories of those years. I met a lot of very different horsemen, riders and enthusiasts, and the discussions were always very rewarding. And the job of publisher is certainly time-consuming, but fascinating. Marie-Claude, who is always keen to see new things and new projects, gave me free rein. That's how, for example, we published our first beautiful book in 2008, to mark the representation of the 4 European schools of equestrian art (Saumur, Vienna, Jerez, Lisbon), which came together for the first time at Bercy that same year. The book has struggled to gain a foothold in bookshops, as booksellers did not expect Belin, a school publisher, to enter this very special market. But the distribution team did a fantastic job. Sylvie Macé, who took over from Marie-Claude when the latter retired, continued to have complete confidence in me, which was also a great opportunity for me.

Relations with our competitors, whom we like to call colleagues, have always been good. It wasn't unusual for Jean-Louis Gouraud (head of collections at Favre, Actes Sud and Éditions du Rocher) and I to pass on manuscripts that were more the responsibility of the other, and Claude Lux, long-time head of collections at Vigot, who has become a friend, and I are well aware that one competitor can be another's publisher or author the next day.

Cavalivres was finally sold to the Éperon magazine group, of which you were publisher and editor-in-chief, for a second life. On Rue du Sentier (Paris, Second District) you set up a wonderful “horse” bookshop with Marie-Laure Peretti, who is now in charge of La Bibliothèque Mondiale du Cheval; Marie Laure is without doubt the most knowledgeable person these days when it comes to equestrian bibliography!

As for Amazon (which killed off the specialist bookshops and their mail-order catalogues, editor's note), it is now an essential bookseller, whatever the sector. Distance selling has increased considerably, especially since Covid, and we have to deal with this while trying to get readers to return to “physical” bookshops...

X.L. - Today, in the age of digital technology and Chat GPT?
G.H. - The publishing market has changed. Fewer readers, a difficult economy (particularly because of the cost of paper), but still just as many publications (in all fields), more and more on a self-publishing basis, and smaller print runs. Having thought that the “tablet” would replace the written word, we are now realising that this is not the case. In fact, reading books is good for the development of the brain, memory and thought. So books are not doomed, as some might have thought, but their use and economics are changing. Éditions France Agricole, which I'm now in charge of, has a number of projects linked to the horse world, because it's a sector that's doing well.

As for Chat GPT, or AI in general, it's now part of our world, so it's best to accept it and understand how it can help us. 

X.L. - What does the future hold for specialist publishing, and the specialist press in particular, as seen by the man who worked for several years on the development of the Cheval Magazine group (Cheval Pratique)?
G.H. - In general, the press is doing bad. The only ones that are coping are those that are completely revamping their business model. But the future looks complicated.

X.L. - Do you have any ideas about the way forward?
G.H. - A vast subject; too complex and too long to deal with!

X.L. - What about equestrian culture? Progress? Regression?
G.H. - Equestrian culture is regaining a certain interest among riders. The inclusion of traditional French horse riding on UNESCO's list of the intangible heritage of humanity in 2011 showed that the horse is not just a sport, but also a tangible and intangible heritage that needs to be (re)discovered and, in some cases, protected. The Académie Pégase, which I am once again chairing following in the footsteps of Stéphane Béchy (who ran it with a master's hand for several years), has a number of cultural projects. I also run training courses on the history of the horse and riding - with a focus on current issues and the possible future of the industry - which are proving increasingly popular. The IFCE has a well-functioning “culture” committee, and Pascal Marry, an equestrian teacher and a leading figure in our industry, has set up a “culture” committee within the FFE, which is taking numerous initiatives. What's more, the Federation is organising its first Cultural Days on 11 and 12 April at Lamotte Beuvron, on the theme of “The origins of horse riding; The horse, a permanent agent of social change”. Numerous academics specialising in the subject will be on hand to discuss their work over two days, combined with an exhibition of antique equipment, reproductions of works of art and models of ancient chariots. The Federation is pulling out all the stops, so it promises to be a great event, and the fact that it's getting involved in the subject is a strong sign! There will also be a symposium organised by the World Equestrian Library on August First in Versailles on the theme of “Equestrian sports, games and challenges” to coincide with the exhibition “The majestic horse at the heart of a civilisation”. The number of cultural initiatives is growing, and we can only be delighted.

X.L. - Finally, what are the wishes and ambitions of this dynamic fifty-year-old instructor, publisher, author and presenter?
G.H. - They say that fifty is the age of maturity. In any case, I have no shortage of projects in terms of equestrian culture. My training courses are developing, I have a number of projects to write books and articles, I organise and am invited to symposiums, I'm working on the creation of a magazine, the Académie Pégase is getting a second wind... I'm not bored.

Interview by Xavier Libbrecht