Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze, Chris Pratt and Jenna Thompson represented 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.
At CSIO5* Gijon, Canada finished tenth. Team members enjoyed success individually with Henselwood of Oxford Mills, ON, and George, a nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Brian Gingras, placing sixth in the €125,000 Gijon Cajastur Grand Prix on September 4.
Riding Sidoline Van de Centaur, a nine-year-old Belgian Sport Horse mare owned by Torrey Pines Stable and Artisan Farms LLC, Lamaze placed second in the €23,000 1.50m Coca Cola Group competition on September 1. The previous day, Lamaze and Atlete Van’t Heike were fourth in the €23,000 1.50m Oquendo competition.
Thompson and Cathleen also earned great result with a fifth place finish in the €23,000 1.50m Cocinas Asturianas speed class and seventh in the €40,000 1.50m Volvo competition in Gijon.
In Barcelona, Canada fielded a three-man team as Henselwood’s mount had sustained a minor injury. With no drop score, Lamaze, Pratt and Thompson earned a fourth place finish among seven teams in the CSIO5* Barcelona FEI Promotional League Nations’ Cup.
Pratt, formerly of Belfountain, ON, posted a score of four faults in the first round and returned to jump clear in the second riding Cruise, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Indigo Farms LLC. Thompson of Calgary, AB, and Zeke, a 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding, incurred five faults in the first round and eight in the second. Lamaze riding Atlete Van’t Heike, an 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood owned by Torrey Pines Stable and Artisan Farms LLC, had eight faults in the first round and returned to jump clear in the second.
Following two rounds of competition, Canada’s final score of 25 faults earned fourth place overall. Sweden won with a score of 16 faults. The host nation of Spain finished second with 21 faults while third place went to the Ukraine with a score of 22 faults.
The Canadian Show Jumping Team members also enjoyed individual success in Barcelona. Lamaze and Atlete Van’t Heike won the €100,000 Grand Prix of Barcelona with the only double clear performance on September 23. The win marked the fourth CSIO5* Grand Prix victory for Lamaze during the 2011 season, having also posted wins at CSIO5* La Baule, France, CSIO5* Rome, Italy, and CSIO5* Calgary, Canada.
Thompson and her 10-year-old Hanoverian mare, Cathleen, placed eighth on the opening day of competition in Barcelona in the €6,000 1.40m Premio Especial RCPB speed competition.
“We just returned from Spain after a very successful tour that culminated in a fourth place finish in the Promotional League Nations’ Cup Final in Barcelona,” said Mark Laskin of Langley, BC, who acted as Canadian Show Jumping Team chef d’équipe. “Some of the tour highlights for me were Jill and George jumping to a great result in the very difficult grand prix in Gijon, Jenna’s mare Cathleen taking a really big step in her development by jumping clean in the King’s Cup in Gijon, Eric winning the Grand Prix of Barcelona, and Chris riding to the team’s best score in the Barcelona Nations’ Cup.”
Complete details about the two competitions may be found for CSIO5* Gijon at www.gijon.es/chipico and www.csiobarcelona.com for CSIO5* Barcelona.
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.
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