It started when Canadian Olympian, Selena O’Hanlon, from Kingston, Ontario, decided to help those affected by the devastating fires in Australia.
“The images out of Australia were horrifying. I was in tears thinking about the loss of life. Those poor people, those poor animals,” said Selena. “With the idea of a fundraiser and clinic, I approached others and the event snowballed.”
Florida landowner Derek Strine stepped up right away and offered the use of his outstanding equestrian facility Barnstaple South to hold the ‘Kick On For Koalas’ clinic. An “A” list of top riders followed, forming a dream team of international riders and trainers who are eager to donate their time:
Buck Davidson, who represented the USA in the World Equestrian Games and international events around the world;
Lauren Kieffer, Olympian and member of the gold medal-winning US team at the 2015 Pan Ams;
Scott Keach, two-time Olympian for Australia (1988 in eventing and 2016 in show jumping);
Dominic Schramm, a former member of Australia’s Young Rider’s Squad, now a 5* alumni of Land Rover Kentucky;
Lesley Grant-Law, a Canadian top-level eventer, named alternate for the Canadian Olympic Eventing team at the 2008 Beijing Games;
Selena O’Hanlon, who made her international riding debut riding for Canada in the 2008 Olympics.
Kick On For Koalas offers participants top-level instruction in dressage, stadium jumping and cross-country, plus opportunities to have photos with your heroes, and more.
The O’Hanlons are reaching out to corporations like Tallman Group, who are stepping up and sponsoring individual cross-country jumps. Selena O’Hanlon hopes this fundraiser will raise significant funds to help Australia recover from the devastating fires. “My mother and I raised over $14,000 for Japanese relief after the 2011 earthquake and $24,000 for the tsunami. I know the eventing community can dig deep and make a difference for Australia now.”
Kick On For Koalas will take place on Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at Barnstaple South, 10800 NW 145th Ave., Morriston, FL. USA 32668. All of the funds raised at this event will be split between:
Equestrian Fire Relief Australia – equestrianfirerelief.com.au
and
The WWF’s Australian Bush fire Emergency – wwf.org.au
For additional information please contact Morag O’Hanlon at:
eventer6@gmail.com / 613-331-4080
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