What are your earliest memories of Spruce Meadows, i.e., the first time you visited, either as a spectator or as a competitor?
My first time at Spruce Meadows was in 1977 when I was 14 years old and at that time in Canada we had teams through the provinces. So, Alberta had a team, as did Quebec, and Alberta, and I think even British Colombia had a team, too. I was competing as a junior rider then.
I remember it very clearly – it was in the fall, and I knew Linda [Southern-Heathcott, President & CEO of Spruce Meadows], as she came out east to compete with us in the Toronto area. We had a team competition of junior jumpers in Calgary, and I couldn’t believe how beautiful Spruce Meadows was – I was only 14 then and I’m now 60, so that’s 46 years ago!
It was such a special time for me to be able to see riders like David Broome and Harvey Smith from the United Kingdom. Michael and John Whitaker were young guys then, just in their early twenties, and Ian Millar was very young, too – I just remember seeing all the famous riders competing there and it was just such an incredible experience for a 14-year-old.
That was the year after the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games, the equestrian events of which were held in my back yard in Bromont, when I was just 13 years old – amazing memories.
What is your single fondest memory of competing at Spruce Meadows?
The year of the World Championships in Aachen, in 2006, I was the spare rider [for the Canadian Show Jumping Team] and then afterwards we travelled to Spruce Meadows, and it was the first time that Canada won the Nations Cup, which was a great accomplishment.
My first time at Spruce Meadows in 1983 I was second in the du Maurier International to Norman Dello Joio riding his horse I Love You, with prize money of CAD $75,000, which we all thought was a lot of money at the time!
I’ve had some good, good classes at Spruce Meadows – I was third one year with Paradigm in the Chrysler Classic Derby – they were some of my best memories. But I’ve got a lot of great memories – I won the Queen’s Cup a few times, I was Canadian Champion there a few times – so many wonderful memories.
2025 marks 50 years since Spruce Meadows was founded – what does Spruce Meadows mean to you, and what makes it such a special place?
There are a lot of things – as a Canadian we are very proud to have a facility like Spruce Meadows, that is one of best in the world. I’ve had the chance to compete there and make a lot of horses – I always brought some six- and seven-year-olds to make them and at the end of the day when we had competed there for a couple of weeks in a row in the summer you would end up with a fantastic horse – if they had any talent that was the place to make them.
Every year when I got to Spruce Meadows I would always take a tour of the place, as there was always something new and interesting happening – they made that place grow every year, which is something that other places should look at, too, as it’s a great asset in how they helped build up Calgary and how they built up Spruce Meadows.
We show there from June to July and it’s a great show and then you come to the Masters and it’s like they elevate their game – it’s unbelievable, completely unbelievable.
Over the last five decades, how integral has Spruce Meadows been to the development of show jumping in Canada?
They are the only game in town in my opinion. If we didn’t have Spruce Meadows in Canada, our sport would be much worse off. Ian Millar made his fame there, the TV coverage we get there is incredible, as is the press coverage. Spruce Meadows makes riders, it makes people, and it make horses. I liken it to a golfer competing at all of golf’s Majors. It makes you and makes your name known – you just can’t get a better facility to compete at, you really can’t.
Spruce Meadows is one of the four shows that makes up the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping. For you, what makes Spruce Meadows stand out from the other Majors?
All four Majors are different, obviously with two indoor and two outdoor. I jumped for my first time at Aachen this year – I never jump in Aachen before! They are all so different – Spruce is very impressive as we still jump the long poles, and they have kept their identity since the venue was founded. They have got increasingly modern, but they have kept the personality of the place. You know when you come to Spruce Meadows that you are still going to be jumping some of the long poles and that is still their unique identity.
What three words come to your mind when you think of Spruce Meadows?
Spectacular, prestigious, beautiful, breathtaking.
Do you have any treasured anecdotes that you can share about the Southern family – Ron, Marge, Linda, Nancy?
The vision that Ron had to build Spruce Meadows was incredible. For the first 10 years when I competed in Calgary, starting when I was just 14, Spruce Meadows was 20 minutes from the nearest housing from town. You would drive for 20 minutes and not see a house until you got to Spruce – he thought he was going to be in the country, but he didn’t stay in the country that long!
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