Canadian Team Departs for Paralympic Games in Hong Kong

Ottawa, Ontario-Para-Equestrian Canada is pleased to announce that the team members, horses, coaches and support staff who will be representing Canada at the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, will arrive in Hong Kong August 27, 2008.

The team members include:

Rider, Hometown                                         Horse                                                              Owner

Lauren Barwick, Aldergrove, BC                      Maile, 1994 Dutch warmblood                            Jack & Linda Parelli and Christine Murphy Ksionek

Karen Brain, Saanichton, BC                           VDL Odette, 1996 Dutch warmblood                    Rider

Ashley Gowanlock, Vancouver, BC                  Donnymaskell, 1999 Hanoverian                        Alexander Mitchell

Eleonore Elstone, Langley, BC                         Lutke, 2001 Freisian                                          Terry Bianco

Jennifer McKenzie,Maple Ridge, BC                  Valentine II, 1995 Canadian warmblood              Rider

The team has been training in California during pre-quarantine export with the national team coach and Grand Prix rider Andrea Taylor of Langley, BC.

“We are sending a very strong team to the Games, and I am confident that they will be very competitive” remarked Elizabeth Quigg-Robinson, Chef d’Ã©quipe for the Canadian Para-Dressage Team.

The XIIIth Paralympic Summer Games will be held in Beijing, China, from September 6-17, 2008. The equestrian events will take place in Hong Kong from September 7-11, 2008, with nine nations contesting top honours in the team competition and riders from 30 countries vying for medals in the five grades of individual competition. Canadian Karen Brain will be trying to defend the two individual bronze medals that she won at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games.

“In the brief 12 years since Equine Canada first fielded a team to the Paralympic Games, our Para-Equestrians have emerged as some of our most successful athletes, ” remarked Equine Canada CEO, Akaash Maharaj. “With multiple medals at the last Olympiad, they set an inspirational example for the entire Canadian Equestrian Team, and we have high hopes for these Summer Games.”

For Canadian athlete biographies, venue information and competition dates, please visit the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games <http://www.equinecanada.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&id=673&Itemid=467&lang=en-GB> section of the Equine Canada website.