Canada’s Tonya Henning Wins in Wellington, Florida

Wellington, Florida â€“ Tonya Henning of Cambridge, ON, won the $10,000 High Junior/Amateur Classic show jumping competition at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, on March 3. Riding Mill Creek Valentine, Henning topped a strong starting field of 62 entries.

In the first round of competition, a total of 12 riders managed to leave all the jumps in place in the Internationale Arena to advance to the jump-off. Over the shortened jump-off track, the riders again attempted to leave all the obstacles intact while clocking in with the fastest time. Henning was clear in a time of 34.61 seconds to overtake the lead from fellow Canadian Lauren Hunkin who had posted a time of 35.10 seconds. Two more riders tried to catch Henning, but neither was able to better her time.

The win marked Henning’s first major victory on the highly competitive Winter Equestrian Festival circuit, a ten-week show jumping competition that attracts the best riders from around the world to Florida each winter.

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“In the first round, she was jumping really high over the jumps, so I knew she was definitely on her game,” said Henning of Mill Creek Valentine, a nine-year-old Belgian Sport Horse mare purchased by her father, Phil Henning of Mill Creek Stables, in August.

“This was the biggest course that she and I have ever jumped together. Even though it was big and very technical, she was able to answer every question asked. She was focused and confident.”

The difficult track set by Olympic course designer Leopoldo Palacios of Venezeula featured many challenging elements including a triple combination of obstacles jumped in succession, and an open water jump, an obstacle that Mill Creek Valentine had never before jumped in competition.

“She’s feisty and she knows what she wants which really works in our favour in a competition setting,” noted Henning of her horse’s personality.

“This week has been great for me. I have had good results with my other horse, El Capricho Patrick, and I just started showing our two top breeding stallions, Kaiser de la Cour and Millesime du Valy, for the first time this year. And I am especially happy to have done well for my new sponsor, Cavalor.”

Henning, 21, began training with current Olympic Champion Rodrigo Pessoa one year ago. She spent the summer at his base outside of Brussels, Belgium, and competed throughout Europe with impressive results. Since returning to North America and starting her 2007 show season in Wellington, Florida, Henning has enjoyed great success including two wins in the Low Junior/Amateur division with El Capricho Patrick, a 13-year-old Argentinean-bred gelding.

Her competitive performances attracted the attention of Cavalor, a company specialized in the development of feed supplements and nutraceuticals for sport horses whose products are distributed in Canada by Pegase Medical.

One of Canada’s top up and coming show jumping athletes, Henning is based at Mill Creek Stables in Cambridge, ON. Located less than an hour southwest of Toronto, Mill Creek Stables is one of Canadaâ€™s largest sport horse breeding operations and sales barns, offering prospects in a variety of disciplines to suit all budgets.