When Belgian show jumper Emilie Conter and her partner Portobella Van De Fruitkorf landed from the last in-and-out and headed to the final fence in Saturday’s jump-off for the $500,000 Bainbridge Companies CSI5* Grand Prix, Conter started to press the mare forward but then paused. 

“I wanted to see if I should take the leave-out to the final fence,” Conter said. “And suddenly I heard my trainer Helena Stormanns yell, ‘Go get it!’ and then I saw the long [distance]. So I went for it, and ‘Bella’ was right there with me and jumped it. When I looked up at the screen, I saw that I was leading the class. I couldn’t believe it.”

Once Conter dismounted in the schooling ring, she had to play the waiting game. Conter had been the third rider to go in the seven-rider jump-off and had set the pace in 42.43 seconds, but there were still four riders left to compete: Ireland’s Jordan Coyle and Darragh Kenny, Great Britain’s Harry Charles, and American Katie Dinan. “That was a stress moment for me—I had to wait to see what happened next,” she said. 

The final rider on course was Kenny, and when he had a rail at the second-to last fence, Conter’s victory in the feature class of Week 9 of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, was sealed. 

“I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know how to react,” Conter, 24, who has been riding at the five-star level since 2022, said of her first five-star grand prix win. “It took me two days to realize it wasn’t a dream, and that it actually happened. My dad [Stephan Conter] called me on Sunday and said, ‘Do you know that this was real?’ and I laughed and said, ‘I know!’ ”

Being in the jump-off with six of the world’s top riders was an exciting moment for Emilie. 

“When I was clear [in the first round], I was so happy,” she said. “In the jump-off, I felt like I could go fast. Usually I don’t like to risk as much, but this jump-off had more long approaches so I could land and keep moving. Bella likes to keep going and maintain a fast speed, so it worked out in our favor.” 

Belgian rider Stijn Swinnen, who rode and showed Bella in her younger years, and his wife were in the audience for their big win. “It was really cool that they were here for that,” Emilie said. 

The show jumper has spent her entire life in the saddle, growing up in her father Stephan’s Stephex Stables training and sales business, based in Belgium. When Emilie was younger, she used to travel to horse shows every weekend with her mom, Evi Saerens, and her sister Zoe Conter. Emilie’s successful junior career included winning a team silver medal at the 2014 European Championships for Children (Italy); a team gold medal at the 2016 European Championships for Juniors (Ireland); and a team gold and individual bronze medal at the 2021 European Championships for Young Riders (Portugal).  

“We had so many great times,” Emilie said. “When I was 8 years old, I tried playing tennis and dancing. But I didn’t have the talent for those sports, so I always went back to riding.” 

After finishing university two years ago, Emilie started to take more of a role at Stephex Stables: She now rides and shows full-time, with a current string of 10 horses from the two-star to the five-star levels. She loves to develop young horses and bring them up through the ranks of show jumping. 

“I really enjoy building a partnership with my horses,” Emilie said. “Most of the horses I get when they’re 6 or 7, and I can develop them for several years. You feel like you’ve accomplished something when you take them to the highest levels. You need to know the horses like the back of your hand to jump successfully in the bigger classes.”

Emilie also has become more involved in the business side of buying and selling horses, and she is helping to organize the family business’s 10^th annual horse show, the Brussels Stephex Masters in August. Since 2018, the Conter sisters have spent their winters competing at WEF in Wellington, Florida, and they bring a string of five to 10 horses each to show throughout the circuit. 

“It’s good for me to get into the ring every day and every week [at WEF] with different horses,” Emilie said. “It makes me a stronger, better rider. It’s also nice to be able to show outside in warm weather. Belgian winters are cold!” 

For the past three years, Bella has been an integral part of Emilie’s top string of horses. The 10-year old Belgian Warmblood mare (Bamako De Muze—La Bamba, Nabab De Reve), bred in Belgium by Willy Blocken and owned by Stephex Stables and Paul Swinnen, got her start with Stijn, who rode and showed Bella as a young jumper before Emilie took over the reins in 2022. 

“The first time I jumped her, it was not love at first sight,” Emilie said. “She was strong and a bit cold [to my leg]. But my dad really believed in Bella, so Helena and I started to develop her. When Bella was 7 and 8 years old, she was a bit bored and careless at the smaller fences, and she would have one or two rails down. But even from the beginning, I knew Bella had a lot of scope. I wanted to take my time with her to let her grow and learn to focus; I think that’s paid off.” 

Emilie has built up a strong partnership with Bella over the years, which has helped the mare to thrive. 

“At the farm [in Belgium], Bella gets bored, but at a horse show, Bella is on it—she loves being at the shows and she’s all business there,” Emilie said. “The first day of the show, we always do a smaller class, like a 1.40-meter. She just steps over those jumps; they are her warm-up to get her ready for the weekend. Bella loves the big jumps; she knows when she has to perform and she’s fully on her game.”

As Bella and Emilie were building up their experience in the 1.50-meter classes near the end of 2023, they had an unexpected fall in the warm-up ring of the Sunshine Tour in Spain, and Emilie gave Bella a three-month break. 

“It was scary. I was nervous that it would be the end of Bella’s career,” Emilie said. “[When Bella was cleared for riding], I brought her to WEF 2024 with me and spent the winter building her fitness back. I love it in Wellington. I could work her at the farm and take my time with her. Near the end of that circuit, Bella was fourth in her first WEF four-star. Bella was stronger after she came back from that fall; it proves how strong she really is.” 

Next on Emilie and Bella’s radar is competing on the Belgian team at the Longines League of Nations Ocala, being held March 22 at the World Equestrian Center-Ocala (Florida). From there, Emilie plans on taking some downtime in April back in Belgium, and then she will resume showing in Europe for the remainder of the year. 

“A year or two ago, we were thinking of selling Bella,” she added. “Luckily it never happened. I’m never going to have another horse like her again in my life; it’s really hard to find that. My dad gets so much joy from seeing me ride and win at the top level, so he wants to keep Bella for me now. Hopefully he keeps his word!”