Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze, Chris Pratt and Jenna Thompson will represent the Canadian Show Jumping Team at CSIO5* Gijon, ESP, from August 31 to September 5, and in the FEI Promotional League Nations’ Cup Final at CSIO5* Barcelona, ESP, from September 21–25.
The Spanish tour is made possible through Sport Canada’s ‘Own the Podium’ program, a national sport technical initiative designed to help Canada’s summer and winter athletes achieve podium success at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
2008 Olympic team silver medalist Jill Henselwood, 48, of Oxford Mills, ON, has declared George, a nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Brian Gingras, as her mount for the Spanish tour.
Olympic Champion Eric Lamaze, 43, of Schomberg, ON, has declared two horses owned by Torrey Pines Stable and Artisan Farms, LLC for the Spanish tour. Currently ranked number one in the Rolex World Rider Rankings, Lamaze will take Coriana Van Klapscheut, a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare, and Sidoline Van de Centaur, a nine-year-old Belgian Sport Horse mare.
Chris Pratt, 42, formerly of Belfountain, ON, and now residing in Valencia, California, has declared three horses. They are Cruise, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Indigo Farms LLC; G5, a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Indigo Farms and Susan Geliebter; and Grandula, a 12-year-old Westphalian mare owned by Brookwood Stables.
Making her third consecutive appearance on the Spanish Tour, Jenna Thompson, 23, of Calgary, AB, has declared two horses, Zeke, a 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding, and Cathleen, a 10-year-old Hannoverian mare. Thompson owns both horses.
“I am looking forward to returning to Spain this year,” said Mark Laskin of Langley, BC, who will act as Canadian Show Jumping Team chef d’équipe for Gijon and Barcelona, aided by stable manager Darren Roberts. “We have a veteran group of riders with some inexperienced horses, so this tour will be extremely beneficial in their development.”
Laskin continued, “Gijon is a fantastic venue, an elite Nations’ Cup and a great warm-up for the Promotional League Final in Barcelona. With this mix of riders and horses, I am optimistic about our prospects for yet another great result.”
In 2010, the Canadian Show Jumping Team placed second in the €60,000 Nations’ Cup competition at CSIO5* Gijon and third at the €90,000 FEI Nations’ Cup Promotional League Final at CSIO5* Barcelona.
A Nations’ Cup is the only competition in show jumping where riders, in teams of four, compete as a country. The top three scores from each team are counted towards the final result of the two-round competition.
There are only two Nations’ Cup events held annually in North America. The $350,000 BMO Nations’ Cup at the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ Tournament in September and the $75,000 FEI Nations’ Cup at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, in March.
Complete details about the two competitions may be found for CSIO5* Gijon at www.gijon.es/chipico and http://www.csiobarcelona.com/ for CSIO5* Barcelona.
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