2022 GRIT Team Announced by Ontario Equestrian

Ontario Equestrian’s amateur high performance program, GRIT (Great Rider Intensive Training) is targeted at podium-bound riders with successful competition experience, whose goal is to represent Ontario in one of Equestrian Canada’s National Team programs. Athletes who are between the ages of 13 and 30, reside in Ontario, are current OE members, and compete in show jumping, eventing, or dressage are welcome to apply.

Ontario Equestrian recently announced the 2022 GRIT team, consisting of:

Dressage
Zachary Marshall
Allie Schmidt
Anna Swackhammer

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Eventing
Lindsay Beer-Drury
Nicole Reynolds

Jumping
Olivia Blaber
Rayne Dubois
Carson Lewis
Mackenzey Nadeau
Emma Saunders
Mercedes Shulman
Becca Turnbull
Jessica Wang
Taylor Wood

Their schedules will include:

Full Team Fall Training Camp
Two Mini Training Camps
One Monitored Competition (Per Discipline)
Completion of Foundational Riding Skills Assessment
Functional Movement Screening
Daily Training Environment Visits
Weekly Strength and Conditioning Sessions with CSIO’s Kiri Langford
Competition Tracking
Regular Training Updates
Creation of Individual Athlete Performance Plans
Creation of Yearly Training Plans
Monthly Webinars with Industry Professionals
Online Learning through Equestrian Canada’s ECampus
Social Media Campaigns

GRIT’s Head Coach, Christilot Boylen, was encouraged by the exceptional talent in the 2022 applications. The program is a serious commitment and the athletes will be exposed to top level trainers and sport scientists.

When asked about his involvement with the program, Chris Delia commented, “As a coach of a GRIT rider of almost two years, I have really come to appreciate and respect all that the program offers its young members. Not only does it provide so many important resources for them to become well-rounded students of the sport such as fitness programs, sports psychology resources, access to world class and multi-disciplinary clinicians and trainers, it inspires the kids to think big. It fosters a culture and attitude of high achievement ‒ which really is the true engine that will drive their future success in high performance and, by extension, Canada’s future success in our sport.”

To find out more about the program, see profiles of the 2022 athletes and learn about the first class of GRIT Grads, click HERE.