All four members of the Canadian Eventing Team were officially given the green light to compete at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 following the horse inspection on August 27 in Normandy, FRA.
The horse inspection took place in front of the stunning Chateau at the legendary Le Pin National Stud in the Orne region, where both the Dressage and Cross-Country phases will take place.
Going forward to represent the Canadian Eventing Team at the Games will be:
- Peter Barry of Dunham, QC and Kilrodan Abbott (Clover Brigade x Leabeg), a 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding he owns with Susan and Dylan Barry. Barry has been a shortlisted member of the Canadian Eventing Team since 2011 and made his Olympic debut in London in 2012. This will be his first-ever FEI World Equestrian Games.
- Hawley Bennett-Awad of Langley, BC and Gin & Juice, a 14-year-old Thoroughbred mare by Audio she co-owns with Linda Paine. This will be the second FEI World Equestrian Games for Bennett-Awad, who also rode for Canada in the 2010 Games in Lexington, KY, USA, helping to bring home the Team Silver Medal. She has also competed at the 2003 Pan American Eventing Championships, the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 2005 World Cup Final, and the 2012 London Olympics.
- Selena O’Hanlon of Kingston, ON and Foxwood High, John and Judy Rumble’s 11-year-old Canadian Sport Horse gelding by Rio Bronco W. This will also be the second Games for O’Hanlon, who was part of the Silver Medalist team in 2010. A seasoned competitor at major games, she also attended the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2011 Pan American Games.
- Jessica Phoenix of Cannington, ON and Pavarotti (Pavarotti VD Helle x Foxiland), a 12-year-old Westphalian gelding owned by Don J. Good. No stranger to major games, Phoenix won the Individual Gold Medal at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, MEX, and led the team to a Silver Medal finish. Her other milestones include competing at the 2007 Pan American Games, and 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games. Additionally, she was Canada’s highest-placed individual in Eventing at the 2012 London Olympics.
Technical Advisor of the Canadian Eventing Team is the renowned Clayton Fredericks, who has a successful history at the FEI World Equestrian Games himself, having won both Silver and Bronze individual medals. He also took home the Individual Silver and Team Bronze medals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Fredericks was pleased with the results of the horse inspection, stating, “I think the jog went as expected. All the horses have looked exceptionally good since we’ve arrived in the UK, and they travelled well to France.”
In terms of recent training and preparation, Fredericks was also positive about the current status of the team on the eve of competition.
” We did our training camp at Maizey Manor in Wiltshire in the UK. We had 10 days of training and had a really enjoyable time, but also managed to ramp up the pressure a little bit. I think we are in a good place,” he said.
Barry and Phoenix will be the first Canadians to enter the Dressage ring on August 27, with Bennett-Awad and O’Hanlon to follow on August 28. Cross-Country will take place on August 30, and the following day, the horses will be loaded up and shipped (with police escorts) to the d’Ornano Stadium in Caen for the final Jumping phase. A record 91 horses from 27 different nations are set to contest Eventing at the Games.
To access starting lists, information, and full results on the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, visit www.normandy2014.com.
A full media guide on the Canadian Equestrian Team can be found at www.equinecanada.ca/cet.
For those wanting to see all the action of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 from the comfort of home, FEI TV live broadcasts are available.
The FEI World Equestrian Games are held every four years, in the middle of the Olympic cycle. The inaugural Games were hosted in Stockholm (SWE) in 1990. Since then, the Games have been staged in The Hague (NED) in 1994, Rome (ITA) in 1998, Jerez (ESP) in 2002, Aachen (GER) in 2006, and Kentucky (USA) in 2010.