Canadian Paralympic Equestrian Team members Lauren Barwick, Eleonore Elstone, Ashley Gowanlock and Jody Schloss achieved outstanding success, winning seven of the 12 classes they entered, at the Bishop Burton College CPEDI2*, held from August 17-19, 2012 in East Yorkshire, GBR.
With more than 33 competitors at the competition from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand, the Bishop Burton College CPEDI2* has given the riders an opportunity to compete in the UK before the upcoming 2012 Paralympic Games.
Canada’s individual gold and silver medalist from the 2008 Paralympic Games, Barwick of Aldergrove, BC, rode Equine Canada’s, Off to Paris, to victories in all three of her Grade II classes. In the Team Test, Barwick and Off to Paris earned a score of 76.75%. For the Individual test they received 78.81%, and they won their Freestyle with 76.67%. Barwick was also awarded the overall highest scoring competitor of the competition.
Ashley Gowanlock of Surrey, BC, won the Grade IB Team test riding Lauren Barwick’s 2008 Paralympic horse, Maile, with a score of 71.97%. The pair then went on to win the Individual test with a score of 71.23 and placed second in the Freestyle with a score of 70.08%.
In the Grade 1A Team Test, Schloss of Toronto, ON, riding her own Inspector Rebus, earned a score of 70.20%, in the Team test, followed by a score 72.00% in the Individual test and a score of 69.83% in the Freestyle test, finishing in second place in each class.
Riding Zareno, an eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood owned by Franklin Posmus, Elstone of Langley, BC received a score of 65.16% in the Grade IV Team test, finishing in fifth position, followed by victories in both the Individual test and the Freestyle test with scores of 69.73% and 70.42% respectively.
The Canadian Paralympic Equestrian Team has been training at Bishop Burton College in East Yorkshire, Great Britain as part of their preparation for the 2012 Paralympic Games.
A strong support team has accompanied the riders and horses to England, including: Andrea Taylor (National Team Coach), Mary Longden (Assistant Team Coach), Elizabeth Quigg (Chef d’Equipe), Amie O’Shaughnessy (Team Leader), Dr. Jennifer Miller (Team Veterinarian), Alice Beatty (Stable Manager), Ozzie Sawicki (Performance Consultant), Caroline Archambault (Human/Equine Massage Therapist), and Julie Cull (Media Attache). Grooms include Anne Van Silfhout, Zoe Boyles, Tori Elley-Murray, and Kerry-Anne Bourne. Personal team support personnel include Caroline Samson, Suzie Brown, and Vanessa Lurie. Off-site support is also provided by Jamie-Ann Goodfellow and Ashley Raaymakers (Equine Canada Para-Equestrian Department) as well as April Clay (Sport Psychologist).
The next stop for the team will be the Paralympic Games, which will be held from August 29 to September 9, 2012. The equestrian events will be held at Greenwich Park starting on August 30 with the Grade II and Ib Team tests. For more information on the Paralympic Games please visit www.london2012.com/paralympics/equestrian.
To follow all the excitement of the Canadian Team competing at the 2012 Paralympic Games in Para-Dressage please visit the official team blog at http://wp.me/2F3zY.
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