Joséphine Westerling-Garmin is the co-owner of Westeros Equine Academy with her younger sister Emma Westerling. The riding center, located in Hammeau-sur-Mandre, in southern France, was passed down to the two of them 6 years previously, when their parents chose to retire to Paris. As a driven control freak, she currently runs the business mostly on her own, which gives her little time to consecrate her three children, Lyanna, Emeric and Sophie, and creates a lot of tension between her and her intermittently absent husband, Ludovic.

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          As the daughter of a successful British businessman and famous French show jumper Natalie Westerling (née Marionnaud), Joséphine always felt pressure to demark herself in the best way possible; both her parents were extremely busy people and she hoped to capture their attention and approval with little success. As a child, she spent a lot of time being lugged around at her mother’s training sessions and competitions and showed early skills in the saddle herself. It didn’t translate in good results in the show ring however, which is something she still feels like a failure for and one of the reasons she secretly resents her sister, the natural. To curb that lack of talent in the domain her mother was known for, Joséphine poured herself in academics and all other equestrian specialities with brio. She is often told she is her father’s daughter whom she resembles in both intelligence and character.

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          After her sister was born, Joséphine started helping out at her parents newly started private stable (at the time named Ecuries des Andals), giving lessons to rich beginners and exercising boarding horses, something she enjoyed enormously. Encouraged by both her family and pupils, she passed her instructing certificate right after graduating high school with honors, and continued teaching at other stables close to Simuniversity where she studied Equine Management. During her first year, she felt pressured to start dating, something she had never been interested in, and accepted the advances of Ludovic Garmin, himself studying Law at the time. They quickly married and Josie found herself pregnant at the age of 21 but continued her studies via online courses until her graduation 2 years later. Back to Hammeau-sur-Mandre, she took on more and more responsibilities at WEA because of her parents having their hands full with a teenage Emma, until the place was finally passed down to them officially.