Haitian Jockey Mateo Coles

Mateo Coles, a young sportsman aged 17, is imbued with an indelible love for horses and equestrian sports. When he was very young, his parents introduced him to riding horses at the equestrian center Les Samans, where he started with his coaches Romy Tchudy and Daniela Roy.

Horse riding has always been a theme of the Coles’ family life, especially for Mateo’s brother, who unfortunately suffered a concussion after falling from a golf car and was forced to stop riding horses. The Coles family has since exchanged equestrian sports for tennis. Mateo lived in the world of tennis until the summer of 2013 when he rediscovered the experience of riding horses, his passion and the synergy that exists between him and the beautiful beings. He knew immediately that he wanted to start a professional career in equestrian sports, specifically in jumping, and from there his adventure began.

For Mateo Coles, there must be a unique complicity between the rider and the horse—an extremely important relationship, especially at the competitions. Horses are his best friends. He compares them to human beings: there are some idiots, and some very intelligent. Mateo has two, AJ and Willy, but his favorite is AJ, who comes directly from Germany, and who Mateo describes as smart, nice and super strong.

Show Jumping is a discipline requiring technique and precision. The young rider knows he has to give himself, body and soul, if he wants to reach the highest level. He devotes himself to rigorous training, accompanied by several experienced coaches. He trains four hours a day on weekdays and six hours a day on weekends, which allows him to work on his strengths, weaknesses and technique.

This summer, the young and talented show jumping competitor took part in the German Friendship, an international competition, and shone brightly among his peers. After this extraordinary experience, he engaged in a more intensive training with his personal coach in Weston and participates every weekend in competitions in Wellington, Palm Beach, where he wins and sometimes in second or third place.

Mateo does not want to regress because he plans to do regional competitions in Guatemala, Tryon, North Carolina and Kentucky, and he returns to Germany in the summer of 2018 for the Olympic Junior Games and hopes to win medals in his category.

As a sportsman his diet is restricted; he must take food with important nutritional values, including lots of protein for constant energy gain, and fruits and vegetables. He cannot miss his guilty pleasure, Nutella. He exercises to maintain a good physical condition and also tries to meditate 15 minutes a day to strengthen himself mentally and to remain 100 percent focused and determined. When he is in the arena, his goal is to win. Mateo wants to represent his country, Haiti, with dignity in international competitions and it is important for him to float the two-colored Haitian flag high.

Mateo Coles is involved as a Haitian sportsman in the social sphere; for him it is a responsibility, a civic duty. He has allied with the Kay Père Juste orphanage, located at Wharf Jérémie, which takes care of 600 children and is also a school. Mateo joins his parents in social work and every year they organize a Christmas party for these children and distribute gifts to them. The young competitor in Haitian jumping has his follies and his hobbies: he plays tennis, football, ping-pong and video games. His favorite brand is Vince. This fiery and talented sportsman is very ambitious and has specific goals that he intends to achieve. He believes in work and discipline, and recognizes the ultimate chance he has to represent his country.