Travel Grants for U25 Eventing Athletes

Equestrian Canada’s Eventing High Performance Advisory Group is pleased to announce the Country Yucca Eventing Travel Grants for U25 athletes, designed to assist young Canadian eventing riders in furthering their competition experience either across North America or overseas.

These grants have been established and named in honour of Country Yucca, a pony with a huge heart and personality ridden by Nick Holmes-Smith, who later represented the Canadian Eventing Team at the Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 Olympics.

“In the 1970’s to early 1990’s as an eventing competitior I struggled to afford the costs of traveling and competing. I am now very happy to be able to help today’s riders with their financial challenges,” says Holmes-Smith.

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Emily Gilbert, chair of the Eventing High Performance Committee remarked: “We are deeply grateful to Nick Holmes-Smith for his generous support of the Eventing HPAG’s vision and strategy. His commitment helps us expand programming and opportunities for U25 athletes and exemplifies the spirit of giving back to the sport of Eventing.”

Awarded once per calendar year, grants will be distributed to up to four recipients at the discretion of the selection committee. $20,000 CAD total will be awarded once per year with grants of $5,000 for travel within North America or $10,000 for overseas travel.

The grant must be used toward:

Travel expenses (flights, fuel, horse transport)
Entry fees and stabling
Accommodation during the event
Veterinary and health certificates for travel
Other approved competition-related costs

Eligibility: To be considered for the grant, applicants must:

Be aged 16–25 as of January 1 of the competition year
Be actively competing at the Training level or above
Be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada
Demonstrate financial need and clear competitive goals
Have a plan to compete outside of their home region, either across North America or internationally
Be in good standing with Equestrian Canada

The selection committee will take into account the competition performance record of the athlete/horse combination, giving specific consideration to Athlete/horse combinations who have achieved a Target Performance Result as outlined in the full criteria. Preference will be given to Athlete/Horse combinations having completed a CCI2*-L or higher.

For the 2026 competition season the application timeline is as follows:

Applications Open: October 1, 2025
Deadline to Apply: November 1, 2025
Recipients Notified: December 1, 2025

How to Apply

Applicants must submit the following information to the Eventing HPAG at eventinghpag@gmail.com

1. A personal statement (max. 750 words) including:

Your competition goals
Why this grant is important to your development
How you plan to use the funds

2. An outline of travel plans

3. A detailed budget breakdown of estimated travel expenses

4. One reference letter from a coach, mentor, or federation official

5. A competition resume from the last 2 years

The Inspiration

Country Yucca represents the resilience of a true cross-country athlete. Yucca loved cross country and was well-known with his signature bald face and four white socks – he was hard to miss. At first, some might have thought Yucca was too small to jump the more advanced fences, but he quickly proved otherwise. Nick and Yucca were kindred spirits, small and carefree, enjoying galloping over the countryside in the southern Okanagan, British Columbia and all-over North America. Nick has influenced many Canadian eventers over the years, including several riders who have gone on to wear the maple leaf. Bruce Mandeville, Rebecca Howard and Michael Winter have all been fortunate to have worked with Nick on their road to representing Team Canada.