Canadian endurance athletes have continued to position themselves as strong contenders for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) following a successful CEI 2* 120km ride at the WEG Endurance Test Event, held April 26-28, 2018 in Mill Spring, NC.
Robert Gielen of Flesherton, ON was the first North American to cross the finish line on April 28, taking eighth place. He and his nine-year-old Arabian gelding, More Bang For Your Buck (Doran x Forty Thieves) had a total time of 08:52:29, riding at an average speed of 13.54km/hr. Gielen was supported by grooms, Misha Green and Sylvia Gillies, and crew members, Martin Gillies, Dina Riddick and Mike Bostic.
“I’m happy with the results,” said Gielen. “I set out to be somewhat competitive, but didn’t expect to be as high as I was. That probably worked in my favor because it was such a technical trail and we had such a long first loop that took almost three hours to complete. I wasn’t keeping track where everyone else was, I just concentrated on my horse.”
Just behind Gielen was Wendy MacCoubrey of Ste-Justine-de-Newton, QC in ninth place. She completed the course at an average speed of 13.29 km/hr, riding her homebred nine-year-old Arabian/Standardbred-cross mare, Black Bart’s Lolita (sired by Vondar Black Bart). Her ride time of nine hours was accomplished with the help of grooms, Scott Hie, Jamie Martell, and EC Director of Sport, Jon Garner.
“Tryon International Equestrian Center is a top notch facility,” commented MacCoubrey. “The course was tough, and they had last minute changes due to earlier rains, which I believe caused it to be much more challenging. There wasn’t much flat terrain, and we had sharp turns, a rolling wide track and beautiful scenery.”
Tracy Vollman of Regina, SK came in 21st, completing the course with a time of 09:43:11 and an average speed of 12.37km/hr. Vollman and her 16-year-old Arabian gelding, Ra Karim, were supported by grooms, Stacey Woelk and husband Kelly Vollman, and crew member and daughter, Lexi Vollman.
MacCoubrey concluded, “Our Canadian Endurance Team is shaping up nicely and I think we showed that at the Test Event. If this was a team event, Canada would have taken silver! It takes a village, and our village is coming together.”
Full results from the WEG Endurance Test Event can be found here.
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