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"Like us, horses need social interaction."
Her love for animals led her to take the reins of the Massa Stud Farm, created by her husband Sylvain fifty years ago. Four hundred hectares of nature where six hundred horses live.
In a meadow, a foal nurses from its mother, while another comes to be petted. Anne-Sophie Massa holds out her hand: "This one is two days old; they're used to human contact from birth." Every year, nearly 100 foals are born in the nursery at Élevage Massa in Saint-Martin-de-Crau. "You see this sensor at the base of the tail? It works thanks to AI, and we can now precisely detect if the mare's behavior changes. We then receive a signal indicating that she's about to foal," explains the rider, who arrived here 16 years ago and manages this large stud farm, whose team is 80% female. Anne-Sophie and her husband Sylvain created their own breed, the French Dressage Horse (CDF), by crossing the very agile Portuguese Lusitano with German and Dutch horses, which have a more athletic profile. A challenge indeed.
Horse riding since childhood
“When I was little in Guadeloupe, I used to pet the animals, and one day I brought some chicks back to my parents’ apartment. We had guinea pigs, dogs, cats, a duck…” she recalls. When she was only 8 years old, she saw a riding center and asked her parents to enroll her. No one in the family rode horses, but they agreed: “I spent hours brushing the ponies, so they finally offered me a ride. I would gallop on the beach; it was an idyllic setting.”
A passion she never abandoned, since upon returning to mainland France, she continued riding before obtaining her instructor's certification to teach and pay for her higher education, a master's degree in sports business management. It was while looking to buy a horse that she came across Élevage Massa. "I fell in love with the horse, Ultra-Blue de Massa, and with Sylvain," she says with a laugh, referring to her pet rat named Nanouchka.
Horses for the Olympic Games
"Right now, we're in the middle of foaling season. For some mares, it's already their 12th foal."e generation. Dressage horses for sport and Olympic categories are born here,” the manager continues.
As they grow up, these horses leave the Crau stud farm to join the Château Font du Broc training stable and partner riders around the world. Bone structure, musculature, temperament… some will prove to be exceptional. The culmination of a long process, from farriery to ensure the correct conformation of the animal, to its essential socialization within a group.
And to conclude: “The competitive side is not what interests me most, and we have teams dedicated to sales. My balance comes from nature and these living beings, who, like us, have fears and joys, and whom I have been around since their birth. Seeing them so innocent with their mothers, then going under the saddle at three years old and developing into adulthood as athletes is a joy and a source of pride for me.”
