88 SIDELINES JUNE 2014
FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
Continued onpage90
ByAriannaDelin
T
he horse world is a very competitive one, and no one
understands that more than Pierre Jolicoeur. As both a
competitor and an entrepreneur, Pierre has seen each
aspect of theequineworldand just howhard it canbe toget ahead
of your contenders.
In this sport – whether as a businessman or
competitor – it’s all about passion, timing and hardwork.
Sidelines
Magazinecaught upwithPierre tofindout howhegot
his start in the horseworld and how he has influenced the equine
markets.
Equine Influences
When he was growing up, Pierre’s father bought a large cattle
farm in Quebec, Canada, in order to keep his sons out of the
city of Montreal during the summer months. Along with the cows
camehorses, fromwhichPierreandhis brothers grew to love the
animalsand thesport. After college, PierreandhisbrotherRobert
attended a year course at the National School of Equitation, the
same type of school as the Fontainebleau in France. After this
intense year of study, they traveled around the world as working
students.
“We went to Ireland, England, France, Belgium and the USA,”
Pierre said. “We were able to work with and train under the
best riders and trainers. Two years later, Robert and I opened
RobesPierreStable inHudson,Quebec. That was thebeginning.”
The Jolicoeur brothers, with the partnership of Michael
Vaillancourt,nowaworld famousFEIcoursedesigner,established
themselves at the international level of the equestrian world,
winning an individual silver medal for Michael at the Olympic
Games as well as a team gold for Canada. After 10 years of
successful competition, Pierre decided that it was time to make
themove to theU.S. Hebecamemore involved in the commercial
aspects of show jumping, training, buyingand selling.
“My timing was perfect,” Pierre explained. “At the time, there
wereonly about fivehorse importers and, speaking the language,
I specialized in French and Belgian horses. All my competitors
were importing fromHollandandGermany.”
Thestart of PJSaddles
One day in 1982while in France looking for horses, Pierremet
asaddlemaker fromHermesnamedBrunoDelGrange. Together,
theydesignedamore comfortable, durable, close-contact saddle.
It was thebirthof the new style of French saddle.
After two years of studying, redesigning and riding in the PJ
by Delgrange, it hit themarkets and was an immediate success.
When the competition began to arrive 20 years later, Pierre
decided to findaway to improveuponhis saddleat abetter price.
He was able to find a prestigious saddle maker from whom he
could import all of thebest French leather andmanufacture thePJ
Premiere, PJUSA, PJPro andPJOriginal.
“Thegoal of thePJPremiere is that people can start to ride ina
perfectlybalancedsaddleat averyeconomical price,” expounded
Pierre. “We added more stitches and fancier leather to the PJ
USA saddle so it has the look of a fancier show saddle. The PJ
Pierre Jolicoeur
Pierre Jolicoeur:
Passion, Timing
&HardWork
e
Entrepreneur
Pierre shows off PJSaddle equipment.
