The Equine Canada and the Canadian Reining Committee (CRC) is pleased to announce the Canadian Reining Team for the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™, (WEG) to be held in Normandy, FRA, August 23 – September 7, 2014.
The declared riders in alphabetical order are:
Lisa Coulter/Princeton, BC
Josiane Gauthier/Lucama, NC
Matthew Hudson/Marieville, QC
Cody Sapergia/Lermoos, AUT
Coulter has represented Canada a number of times including at the 2009 Kentucky Cup, 2010 WEG in Lexington, KY, and 2011 FEI World Reining Final in Sweden. In addition to her successful reining career, Coulter also adds her expertise to the Canadian Reining Committee as a volunteer.
Josiane Gauthier relocated to North Carolina from Quebec in 2000 to start working with her father, Francois Gauthier, who was a member of Canada’s silver medal winning reining team at 2006 WEG. Josiane Gauthier has achieved her goal of becoming a professional reiner, and now she will follow in her father’s footsteps and represent Canada at WEG.
Breaking on to the reining scene in Italy as a young trainer, Hudson relocated back to Canada after four years in Europe to train at Equine Plus in Quebec. Hudson was named by National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) as the Up-and-Coming Trainer of the Year in 2012, and was the Trainer of the Year in 2011 and 2012 in Quebec.
Currently residing in Lermoos, Austria at the ranch of Tina Künstner-Mantl and Klaus Mantl of JacPoint Quarter Horses, Sapergia is close to the heart of reining in Europe. In 2013, Sapergia, riding Nu Chexomatic, was the NRHA World Champion.
“It’s a big honour to be part of such a great event with such a good team,” said the team’s chef d’équipe, Lynne Laforme. “Each rider has a solid background of show experience at a high level. I feel that Canada’s team will be very competitive at WEG.”
For additional information on the CRC and its programs, including selection criteria, please visit the Equine Canada website at www.equinecanada.ca or e-mail reining@equinecanada.ca.