The vaulting season is well underway within North America, and Canadian vaulting athletes have been earning impressive results on the CVI circuit, picking up plenty of top-three placings, including multiple wins at the CVI 3* Pacific Cup in Hollister, CA from May 5 to 7 and the CVI 3* Canada Cup in Chilliwack, BC, held May 26-28.
The newly formed 3* Senior Squad, consisting of Jeanine van der Sluijs of Olds, AB, Avery Malone of Innisfail, AB, Emily Stevenson of Carstairs, AB, Dallyn Shields of Didsbury, AB, Averill Saunders of Sundre, AB and Naomi Rowe, also hailing from Didsbury, have been impressing judges with their energetic and entertaining Beauty and the Beast inspired freestyle this season.
Partnered with She’s All That, a 12-year-old Canadian Sport Horse mare owned and lunged by van der Sluijs’s sister, Angelique, the squad earned back-to-back wins at the Pacific Cup and Canada Cup, winning on scores of 6.032 and 6.024, respectively.
“This is our first season competing together as a squad and the partnership between all of us is working really well,” explained van der Sluijs, who represented Canada at the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in France. “We still have a ways to go, but I am happy with where we’re at this early in the season.”
Van der Sluijs continued, “The CVI Pacific Cup is a big competition and an important event for all athletes in North America. It’s the first international event for all of us each year, and we truly enjoy competing at this venue. A highlight for us was that all the squad members really came together and showed their character to tell the story of the routine. It was a great experience in general for the squad to compete at this high of a level, and we continue to feel stronger as a squad each time we compete.”
Also picking up a squad win at the Canada Cup was the ‘Elements’ team of Chilliwack locals, Jennifer Sedler, Aleasha Meloshinsky, Ava Burgener, Jessica Church, and Samantha Kennedy, and Chelsea Wensley from Maple Ridge, BC. They secured the win on a score of 5.188 paired with Promise, a 19-year-old Belgian gelding owned by Alisa Schmidt and lunged by Lisa Coates.
Van der Sluijs has also been impressive in the 3* Female Individual Senior division. Partnered with Oliver, her 18-year-old warmblood gelding sired by Beaujat, and lunged by her sister, Angelique, van der Sluijs finished second at the Pacific Cup on a score of 6.859, then followed up with a win at the Canada Cup.
“This year I’ve been training lots of new skills and this was the first time I was competing my new routine internationally,” noted van der Sluijs. “Both my technical and freestyle routines are still a work in progress. I am working on really defining each character and continuing to play around with little twists to the music and costumes. The general idea of the freestyle routine is a dark and mysterious, queen of spiders feel. It is very different from what I have done in previous years. My technical routine is a lot softer and has more of a classic and elegant side to it.”
Fellow Canadian, Jessica Bentzen has also earned top results in the 3* Female Individual Senior division, including third place in Chilliwack on a score of 6.420. The Parksville, BC native worked with Hugo, a 12-year-old gelding owned and lunged by her mother, Debbie.
In the 2* Female Individual Senior, Korynn Weber of Nelson, BC, earned second place finishes at both competitions. She scored 6.204 in Hollister and 6.401 in Chilliwack with Azrael, a 12-year-old mare lunged by Bentzen and owned by Naomi Weber.
Taking over the role of lunger, Jessica Bentzen helped Errington, BC native Pearl Holmquist vault to victory in Round 1 of the 1* Female Individual Senior in Hollister aboard Matisse, a 13-year-old Shire/Paint-cross gelding owned by Debbie Bentzen. Holmquist earned 6.436 to take the win.
Brooke Boyd of Olds, AB followed in second with a score of 6.261. Boyd was partnered with Lincolm (Lauries Crusader XX x Abhang III), a 22-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Devon Maitozo and lunged by Talesia Dobin.
In addition to her Elements squad success at the Canada Cup, Aleasha Meloshinsky landed in the top three on the leaderboard in front of her hometown crowd in the CVI 1* Female Individual Senior, after taking second place with 5.675 paired with Epona, a 12-year-old mare owned by Jessica Church.
Canadians have been equally successful in the Junior divisions this spring. Talmage Conrad of Cardston, AB performed atop Azrael, lunged by Jessica Bentzen, in the CVI 1* Male Junior Individual at the Pacific Cup, claiming victory on a score of 6.288. He followed up with a third place finish (6.290) at the CVI 2* level in the Canada Cup, once again with Azrael, this time lunged by Korynn Weber.
Fellow Cardston competitors, Rielynn Conrad and Maicee Williams have been on fire in the CVI Junior Pas-de-Deux, bringing home first place from the Pacific Cup after scoring 5.488 with Vidar, a nine-year-old Shire/Thoroughbred-cross gelding owned and lunged by Patti Skipton of Santa Cruz, CA. In Chilliwack, they took second place on a score of 5.449, this time carried by Fortissimo, a nine-year-old Percheron-cross gelding owned and lunged by Todd Griffiths.
Some of Canada’s youngest vaulting athletes have also had some of the biggest successes. Three 13-year-old athletes picked up top results this spring.
Averill Saunders of Sundre, AB, brought home second in the 1* Female Individual Children at the Pacific Cup with a score of 6.328. She vaulted with Wagner PR (Justice x Flemmingh), a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned and lunged by Angelique van der Sluijs.
At the Canada Cup, Railey Bird of Telkwa, BC earned third place in the CVI 2* Female Individual Children division, scoring 4.928 for her performance with Promise, lunged by Lisa Coates.
The CVI 1* division at the Canada Cup saw Ariadne Greekas of Qualicum Beach, BC scored 5.809 for second place paired with Matisse, lunged by Jessica Bentzen.
For more information and results, visit www.pacificcupcvi.com and https://vaultcanada.org.
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