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Lots of Canadians looking for qualifying scores at Wellington Dressage Classic CDI3*

March 16, 2012

Taking a look at the entry list for this weekend’s Wellington Dressage Classic CDI3* shows there will be a LOT of maple leafs riding up the centre line looking to get qualifying scores.

In no particular order:

Evi Strasser & Action Tyme
Shannon Dueck & Ayscha
Joni Lynn Peters & Travolta
Ashley Holzer & Breaking Dawn
Tom Dvorak & Corrigan
Victoria Winter & Proton
Ute Busse & Lindor’s Finest
Gary Vander Ploeg & Cezanne
Jacqueline Brooks & D Niro
David Marcus & Chrevi’s Capital
Nancy Maclachlan & Deniros Tyme
Ashley Holzer & Pop Art
David Marcus & Don Kontes

It will be the first time that Ashley puts Pop Art & Breaking Dawn in head to head competition, so it should be interesting to see how the judges directly compare the 2 horses.
2 of the judges this weekend (Evi Eisenhardt and Gary Rockwell) will also be part of the Olympic judging panel this summer.

The leaderboard as of March 12th has Ashley & Pop Art and Jacquie & D Niro as the only 2 combinations with 4 qualifying scores….but that will likely change to be 3 combinations if Breaking Dawn keeps up his string of terrific scores.

Good luck to everyone this weekend!

 

Check out the Global Dressage Festival website for results

 

 

 

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Canadian Paralympians Busy Preparing for 2012 Paralympics

Lauren Barwick & MailleAlthough my role as Team Leader is for the Olympic Games, I do want to give a shout out & support our fiercely competition Paralympic athletes who are also taking the opportunity over the winter months to hone their skills in preparation for the 2012 Paralympics.

There are a number of Canadian Para athletes who can be found in the dressage ring this weekend at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida, and many were in the show ring today.

Multiple Olympic medallist Lauren Barwick and Equine Canada’s Off to Paris rode to victory with a 75.833% (Grade II Team), with Ashley Gowanlock and Maille not far behind with 72.045% (Grade 1B). Also competing was Jody Schloss (70.588% in Grade 1A) and Robyn Andrews (68.088% Grade 1A).

If you recognized the name of Ashley’s horse, that’s because it is the one & only Gold & Silver Paralympic horse of Lauren.
Lauren very graciously gave the ride to Ashley to help her in her Paralympic dream pursuits.
Talk about being a team player!

Canada qualified a team spot for the 2012 Paralympics by putting in some stellar performances at the CPEDI3* in Portugal last December.
Their strong performances (winning 8 out of 9 classes and taking the Team Gold by a sizeable margin)

Watch out London!

 

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Lamborghinis & Grand Prixs

Chris Pratt & Cruise

Chris Pratt & Cruise

I don’t know what would be more exciting…. winning a Grand Prix over a competitive field of 43 and having a pay-day of $60,000… or being surrounded by Lamborghinis!

Not only did Chris Pratt & Cruise win the Grand Prix, but fellow Canadian John Pearce & Chianto (part of the 2010 WEG Team) was just over a 1/2 s. away to take 2nd place honours and Jill Henselwood & George (part of the 2011 Pan American Games team) claimed 4th.

Click here for the full story

Even more impressive is that Chris & Cruise won the previou weekend in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix.

All 3 are declared for the 2012 Olympic Showjumping team (full declaration list here).

Between the results of riders doing the California circuit, and those who are based in Wellington doing the Florida circuit, it makes for some exciting showjumping action!

 

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Selena O’Hanlon & Columbo 4th at Red Hills CIC3*

March 11, 2012

Olympians Selena O’Hanlon & Columbo rode to a 4th place in a very competitive CIC3* field at Red Hills over the weekend.
The division was won by Phillip Dutton and Mystery Whisper.

Selena was also the highest placing Canadian in the CIC2* where she placed 8th aboard Foxwood High, her silver medal mount at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Congrats also goes out to Kendal Lehari who won the Advanced division with Daily Edition.

Full results can be found here: http://www.evententries.com/livescoring/14910.html

And Eventing Nation has some terrific coverage of all the divisions

Check out Kendal Lehari’s showjumping round:

Here is  Jessica Pheonix being interviewed by EventingNation.com‘s Samantha Clark of why Canadians love Red Hills.

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Sticks & Stones may break my bones, but it won’t stand in my way for the Olympics!

Pia Fortmuller & Orion

Pia Fortmuller & Orion

For those of you who don’t know Pia Fortmuller, she hails from Alberta and rode to tremendous success in the Young Rider ranks earning gold medals.

Pia has been in Germany for the last couple of years training with Olympic German medalist Heiki Kemmer. One of her top horses is Orion (who some of you may remember as Leslie Reid’s mount for the 2008 Olympic Games), her declared mount for the 2012 Olympic Games.

If you’ve never met Pia, she is absolutely one of the nicest, most gracious and wonderful people you ever could meet. Not to mention a terrific rider!

Pia recently broke her wrist while riding a rambunctious youngster, but being ever the competitor, she didn’t let that slow her down and instead created an ingenious plan to keep her training on track. Read all about it here: piavirginia.blogspot.com

Pia also didn’t let the cast stop her from taking Orion into the CDI Bremen, where she earned some fantastic results! In Pia’s words:

“The summary of the show is as follows : Orion was a Star 🙂 On the saturday we scored a 65.66% in the Grand Prix which qualified us on to the Special on Sunday. In the Special Orion and I performed our best test yet and scored a 67.24%, placing us 11th in a field of tough competitors and giving us another qualifying score for London 2012!
So basically the moral of the story is: If life gives you lemons… make lemonade out of it!”

LOVE IT!

During the Olympic Excellence Series hosted by the Canadian Olympic Committee last fall, we were asked what 5 words best describe how we want the Canadian Olympic Team to be seen as we walk into the Opening Ceremonies in London, and into our sports venues.
The words chosen were: Proud ~ Unbreakable ~ World Class ~ Fierce ~ Relentless

Pia – you are definitely the epitome of being Fierce & Relentless!!

Best of success to you in your Olympic journey.

Check out the list of 38 horse/rider combinations declared for the 2012 Canadian Olympic team: http://bit.ly/x5JMpD

And keep track of who is on top of the leaderboard here: http://bit.ly/ApmdEX
(right now it’s Ashley Holzer with Pop Art)

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