The following Canadian athletes have been invited to the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) Test Event – Endurance CEI 2*, to be held April 26-28, 2018 in Mill Spring, NC:
- Robert Gielen – Flesherton, ON
- Wendy MacCoubrey – Sainte-Justine-de-Newton, QC
- Kimberley Woolley – Finch, ON
The three athletes were chosen to compete in the 120km race based on their standings in the 2017 FEI Open Riders World Endurance Rankings, in which MacCoubrey was the highest placed Canadian, followed by Gielen and Woolley as the second- and third-highest Canadians.
MacCoubrey had an exceptional 2017 season that included multiple top-three finishes on her nine-year-old part Arabian mare, Black Bart’s Lolita (sired by Vondar Black Bart). The duo ended the year strong, earning fourth in the FEI Open Combination World Endurance Rankings.
Gielen was close behind in the FEI Open Combination World Endurance Rankings in eighth with his horse, More Bang for Your Buck (Doran x Forty Thieves). The nine-year-old Arabian gelding and Gielen have won six consecutive endurance races together at the FEI level since 2016.
The final athlete competing in the WEG Test Event, Woolley, has competed with her 12-year-old Arabian mare, Schakka Khan (Sambors Destiny x Hesa Champ), at the FEI level since 2013. The duo came in second at the 2017 Coates Creek Challenge, covering the 120km distance at an average pace of 12.14km/hr.
More information on the 2018 World Equestrian Games can be found here.
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