The first three EC gold-rated shows have taken place at Angelstone in Erin, Ontario, including the first grand prix events of the year in Canada, with strict COVID-19 safety regulations in place. Temperature checks and verbal health questions, horses shipping in the day before the show, social distancing protocols and masks are now the new normal at this facility hosting events without spectators on the premises; they also offer livestreaming so others can follow the action.
Keean White, Angelstone owner and founder, is very pleased with the way things have been going. “So far so good! Entering Phase 3 made everything much easier to run. It’s a big responsibility for organizers and exhibitors to follow the guidelines put in place, and everyone has been great about following the rules.”
He added, “August and September are a full go. We have the Kubota Triple Crown planned along with the Canadian Derby Championship, the U25 Championship and The Great Pony Challenge. 2020 is not cancelled!”
Out west, Tbird successfully ran its first two outdoor summer ‘Rendezvous’ shows of the 2020 season, with two more planned for August before the EC gold Autumn Welcome and BCHJA Fall Finale in September. An Instagram post on July 14th reads “Thank you for helping us all stay safe, maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, and following guidelines set out by our signage and COVID stewards. We’re grateful to be able to do this with you!”
Chris Pack, COO of Tbird, commented, “We had two weeks of successful training jumping at our Rendezvous jumping, which wasn’t a competition, but merely training rounds. But everyone was very thankful to get off their farms and were such good exhibitors ‒ always wearing masks and keeping up with all our covid protocols. We went above what is required generally in BC; we submitted a very strict plan to the local health authority, so we wanted to make sure we adhered to the plan, as we are very thankful for their assistance in allowing our industry in BC to successfully restart!
“We are actually going to be running our first show coming up in August, which will be a gold EC show in our Grand Prix ring, while the rest of the arenas are doing training jumping, as BC is still limited to 50 [people] per ‘event’.”
On the dressage scene, things are a bit slower to get relaunched. The Canada Cup Dressage Festival was held July 24-26 at Maple Ridge Equisports Centre in BC, while Caledon Dressage will be holding a show at Angelstone September 18-19 and is also considering an October date.
A quick online check found the following venues are back in action and have been hosting or are offering upcoming EC-rated shows. Of course, all dates listed below are subject to change or cancellation if provincial premieres deem it necessary to roll back re-openings because of the continuing spread or resurgence of the coronavirus.
If your recognized horse show is not listed here, please let us know at editor@horse-canada.com so that we can add your event to our online calendar as we rebuild it.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Completed:
Rendezvous Week 1 (July 7-12)
Rendezvous Week 2 (July 14-19)
Scheduled:
Rendezvous Week 3 (Aug. 11-16)
Rendezvous Week 4 (Aug. 18-23)
Autumn Welcome (Sept 16-20)
BCHJA Fall Finale (Sept 23-27)
Pacific Regional Dressage Finals (Oct. 2-4)
Completed:
Southlands Invitational Horse Show (June 18-21)
Southlands Summer Premier Horse Show (July 15-19)
Scheduled:
Southlands Riding Club Summer Classic (August 5-9)
Scheduled:
MREC Dog Days of Summer (July 31-August 2)
MREC Labour Day Hunter Jumper Show (September 4-6)
ALBERTA
Completed:
Amberlea Meadows Corona Series (June 20-21)
Amberlea Meadows Corona Series (July 3-4)
Amberlea Meadows Restart Summer Show (July 22-26)
Scheduled:
Amberlea Meadows Novice Rider Horse Show (Aug 15-16)
Sparkle & Spurs Alberta Provincial Championships (Aug 28-30)
Amberlea Meadows Harvest Horse Show (Sept 19-20)
ONTARIO
Completed:
Erin Welcome (July 1-5)
Headwaters Cup (July 7-12)
July Phase 1 (July 21-26)
Scheduled:
Champions (August 20-23)
International (August 27-30)
National (September 10-13)
Completed:
Ottawa 1: July 22 – 26
Scheduled:
Ottawa 2 (July 29-Aug. 2)
Ottawa 3 (Aug. 19-23)
Ottawa 4 (Aug. 26-30)
Ottawa 5 (Sept. 2-6)
Ottawa 6 (Sept.23-27)
Ottawa 7 (Sept.30-Oct. 4)
Equestrian Festival (July 28th-August 2nd)
Summer Festival (August 4th-9th)
QUEBEC
Completed:
La Classique Regionale Becancour (July 10-12)
Scheduled:
CSO Still Summer! (August 19-23)
HORSE TRIALS
Completed:
Will O’Wind CCI Summer Horse Trials (July 4-5)
Scheduled:
Will O Wind Horse Trials Aug. 15-16
Oct. 4 – Will O’Wind Fall Finale
A note on the Will O’ Wind website read: “Thanks everyone for helping us make the first event of the 2020 season a success.We had to limit the number of competitors and support staff in order to minimize the number of people in the warm-up rings, walking courses etc. Everyone co-operated, and we did not hear a single complaint about the rules or restrictions.
“Directors of the OEA were invited to be on site to remind all members about new rules and to support the organising committee. Thanks for the help.
“Despite having to follow Public Health and EC rules and guidelines, most competitors accepted the lack of prizes and ribbons gracefully. Hopefully we will soon be back to normal, with full blown award ceremonies and pageantry.”
MARS Bromont CCI Three Day Event and Eventing Nations Cup Bromont will run but no date set yet.
Completed:
July 25/26 – Oakhurst Horse Trials
Upcoming:
Sept 20 – Oakhurst Horse Trials II
Sept 26 – Upper Canada Derby
Completed:
July 25-26 – Glenarden Farms Horse Trials
Upcoming:
Oct. 10 – Glenarden Fall Finale
Completed:
July 18-19 – Grandview Summer Horse Trials
Upcoming:
Sept 26 – Grandview Fall Horse Trials
Other upcoming Horse Trials
Aug. 14-16 – Alhambra Summer Event, AB
Aug. 22 – Wits End Horse Trials, ON
Aug 29 – Cherrylane Horse Trials, ON
Aug 30 – Stevens Creek Horse Trials, ON
Sept 5-6 – Dreamcrest Horse Trials, ON
Sept. 13 – Glen Oro Autumn Horse Trials
Sept. 19-20 – Alhambra Fall Event, AB
Oct. 3-4 – MREC Mary Swanson HT, BC
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