Camille Carier Bergeron of Laval, QC, closed out week 10 of competition at the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL, with a win in the Under 25 Freestyle, presented by Diamante Farms, on Sunday, March 20, 2022.
Having led a two-member team to victory in the CDIO-U25 Nations’ Cup on Thursday, March 17, Bergeron returned to the International Ring to win the Freestyle competition riding Sound of Silence 4, a 14-year-old Westphalian gelding (San Amour I x Limes) owned by Gilles Bergeron. The pair earned a score of 72.230% to win the popular competition that sees athletes choregraph required technical movements to the music of their choice. Bergeron’s Nations’ Cup teammate, Vanessa Creech-Terauds, 22, of Caistor Centre, ON, placed fourth with a score of 70.030% riding her long-time partner, Fleur de Lis L, a 13-year-old Hanoverian mare (First Dance x De Niro) owned by her mother, Diane Creech, in partnership with breeder Louise Leatherdale of Leatherdale Farms.
Bergeron was performing her Under 25 Freestyle program for only the second time in Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) sanctioned competition with Sound of Silence 4, who goes by the nickname ‘SOS.’ The program, designed by Karen Robinson of Applause Dressage in Vancouver, BC, was originally choreographed for Bergeron’s other top mount, Acoeur, with whom Bergeron is currently ranked number two in the FEI Under 25 world rankings.
“As ‘SOS’ is so new at this level, I didn’t really plan a freestyle yet for him, so I used the one that I knew,” said Bergeron, 21, of the freestyle program that features the same music used by her uncle to advertise his safari in South Africa. “I think it suits him pretty well so far. The music helps to give that feeling of his big and lifting passage, so I think that’s really good. He has a very powerful canter, and the music is also quite powerful in the canter, so I think it enhances even more his gaits.
“I came into this show not really knowing what to expect because it’s only his second U25 CDI and I didn’t want to put too much pressure on him,” continued Bergeron who trains with Canadian Olympian Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu. “We ended up doing really well, and I have a feeling of gratefulness towards my horse and towards all my team and everybody who has contributed to our success. We had an awesome team, and all the other riders were super supportive of each other. That’s the feeling that I really like in all the Nations’ Cups that I have participated in – all the Canadians being a big family supporting and cheering for each other. We’re so used to competing individually for ourselves, so to compete as a team is a refreshing change and it’s so fun.”
Beatrice Boucher placed second in the Intermediate I Freestyle riding Summerwood’s Limei. (Cealy Tetley photo)
Beatrice Boucher, 24, of St. Dominique, QC, closed out the week by finishing runner-up in the CDIO3* Intermediate 1 Freestyle, presented by Still Point Farm. Riding Summerwood’s Limei, a nine-year-old Hanoverian mare (Londonderry x Weltmeyer) owned by Monica Von Glahn, Boucher earned a score of 71.345%.
“I think the judges really like the music, it’s very classical and gives them a little bit of a refreshing feeling,” said Boucher, whose freestyle program was also originally composed by Applause Dressage for another horse. “I’ve never ridden this freestyle in competition with her before today, but the pattern is not that hard, so she was just cruising along and doing everything quite nicely. The incredible thing about this is that there is so much room for improvement.”
Having been a member of Canada’s winning Under 25 Nations’ Cup team last year, Boucher joined Pia Fortmuller of Foothills, AB, Megan Lane of Loretto, ON, and Evi Strasser of Ste. Adele, QC, on the senior Nations’ Cup team that placed third this year. While Boucher and Summerwood’s Limei contested the small tour division, the other three team members competed in the large tour, or Grand Prix, division.
Lane, 30, was the top-placed Canadian in Sunday’s Grand Prix Freestyle, earning a score of 72.580% for fourth place riding Zodiac MW, an 18-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Rousseau x Amethist) owned by Deer Ridge Equestrian. Fortmuller, 36, was right behind her in fifth place with a score of 71.550% riding Frieda, an 11-year-old Hanoverian mare (Fuerstenball x Rouletto) that she owns with her partner, Lars Busch. Strasser, 58, placed sixth after riding Déjà Vu Tyme, her Hanoverian gelding (Dauphin x Werbellin), to a score of 68.800%.
For more information on the CDI-U25 and CDIO3* Nations’ Cup competitions, held during week 10 of the AGDF, visit gdf.coth.com.
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