PAULUIS Larissa

General
FAMILY TRAGEDY
Her husband Gregoire Neslin passed away in May 2020 following a cardiac arrest at age 39. As a tribute to him, she has continued to run the First-Step Horses business they founded together in 2007 in Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium. "I take all my energy from my daughters and my horses. It's the best therapy, day after day, step by step. I want to try to be strong for Greg, for my family. I want to make my husband proud of me." (eurodressage.com, 25 Jan 2021)

HORSE
She admits that it was her late husband Gregoire Neslin who persuaded her that her dressage horse Flambeau would be suited to the sport when she had little faith in his potential. "Flambeau is a horse that we recovered and he was not really advanced in work despite being nine years old at the time. He was complicated and had been reoriented as a jumping horse. He arrived at my place a bit by chance after a friend told me he was for sale as a show jumping horse. I took him on trial for 15 days and to be honest it was more my husband who wanted to buy him because I didn't believe in him at all. Finally, after a year and a half, he started to slack off. He has learned everything very quickly and his talent has no limits. I have a lot of hopes for him. He is much better than I imagined." (dressprod.com, 28 Feb 2021)