The Canadian Eventing Team could not have foreseen the unfortunate incident that took out one of their members, but the three remaining riders rallied and stayed in the medals.
Drizzly Dressage
A cold, wet day for the dressage phase did not dampen the spirits of the athletes or fans at the Caledon Equestrian Park. A number of the horses found the big atmosphere a bit disconcerting, including Bill Owen, ridden by Waylon Roberts, the first up for Canada. The 11-year-old CSH gelding historically turns in a solid dressage test, but had trouble focussing, which was reflected in their score of 65.10 which left them in 33rd position on day one. “As soon as he went in that arena, he was looking up into the stands the whole time,” said Roberts. “I think the atmosphere in there was a lot for him and he got very expressive.”
Colleen Loach and the lovely grey Selle Francais gelding Qorry Blue d’Argouges fared much better, scoring 51.80 and landing in 10th spot. “I was really happy with him, I don’t think we could have done much better for where we are now,” said Loach of their performance in her first major games.
Kathryn Robinson and Let It Bee had a spectacular dressage test, scoring 39.80 for second place after the first day of competition. Robinson lives in the UK and competes primarily in Europe, so this was their first North American event.
Jessica Phoenix was rewarded with roars of approval by the partisan fans following her test with Pavarotti. The pair – defending Pan Am gold medalists – scored 42.10, good for fourth place. “He really enjoys his job,” she said of ‘Rotti. “I can honestly say that he enjoys it as much now as he did four years ago.”
At the end of the day, the team standings looked like this: the USA topped the leaderboard with 133.00pp, Canada was close on their heels with 133.70, and Brazil was third with 136.70. Individually, Ruy Fonseca of Brazil and Tom Bombadill Too held first position with 38.90, while Marilyn Little of the US was third behind Robinson with 40.30 with RF Scandalous. Things were looking very promising for Canada heading into the cross-country phase.
Sizzling Cross-Country
Geoff and Ann Morgan’s Will O’Wind Farm was inundated by thousands of enthusiastic eventing fans on a sweltering Saturday. The Canadian-themed track, set by Aussie Wayne Copping, was fairly straightforward and was ridden that way by most, as the alternate routes were extremely time-consuming.
As expected, the more seasoned combinations ate the course up, while some of the less experienced struggled with runouts and refusals. Just 18 of the 42 starters went double clear; there were 10 eliminations and seven falls of horse and/or rider. Shockingly, one of those was Canada’s Robinson and Let It Bee, who had a hard spill at the second fence, the Hayracks, but were not injured. “I’m fine, he’s fine – we’ll live to fight another day,” said a disappointed Robinson afterward.
Phoenix commented on the loss of a valuable squad member. ”In team competition, it’s very rare that everyone has a perfect day. You have to be a professional about it – you get focussed and you do your job.”
This turn of events put pressure on the remaining three team members, who came through in typical tough Canuck fashion. Roberts and Bill Owen, Loach and Qorry Blue d’Argouges, and Phoenix with Pavarotti were all double-clear, but losing the best dressage score on the team meant that Canada slipped to third place in the standings with 159.0 behind the US (133.0) and Brazil (136.7). Phoenix now held third place individually, with Loach 9th and Roberts 17th.
Silver Show Jumping
The Canadians had the benefit of walking the course with Ian Millar prior to Sunday’s show jumping phase. “It rode just the way he said it would,” said Roberts, who had the final fence down with Bill Owen and ended up holding onto 17th place in his second Pan Am appearance. “It’s great to see all the familiar faces and everybody rooting for the Canadians,” he added, sporting a vintage team jacket given to him by Mike Winter before the 2007 Pan Ams. Loach finished on her dressage score in 8th place with a clear round on Qorry, who is owned by fellow eventer Peter Barry.
Phoenix really put pressure on the final two riders when she and Pavarotti had a super clear round. Little of the US also left all the poles up with her mare RF Scandalous, meaning that the final rider, Fonseca, had to go clear. A single expensive rail ended up dropping the Brazilian to third, moving Phoenix up into the silver medal position.
“It was so awesome to be able to do that in front of the home crowd!” Phoenix said with a huge smile. When asked what’s next for Rotti, she explained, “We’ll head him towards Pau, which is a 4* in the fall [in France] and get him qualified for the Olympics next year.”
Individual gold medal winner Little, a regular on the US Jumping Team from 1999-2011, said she became interested in eventing while watching the 2010 World Equestrian Games on television. “I thought ‘I’d like to do that, it looks like a lot of fun!’” she said.
The final team medal standings were not affected by the show jumping result, with the US grabbing gold (and a spot in Rio), the Brazilian squad the silver, and Canada the bronze. Fonseca, who once worked as a groom for Andrew Nicholson, said of his Brazilian teammates, “We were from the same area and went through the same Pony Club and never realized that one day we would be on a team.” Although show jumping is the main equestrian sport in that country, “When we won gold in ‘95 at the Pan Ams, that gave eventing a huge lift up.”
The Rio eventing roster so far includes Canada, the US, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Australia, and Ireland. As the host nation, Brazil is also guaranteed a starting spot.
RESULTS
Final Team Standings:
GOLD: United States – 133.0
Marilyn Little, RF Scandalous 40.30
Boyd Martin, Pancho Villa 44.30
Lauren Kieffer, Meadowbrooks Scarlett 48.40
Phillip Dutton, Fernhill Fugitive (52.40)
SILVER: Brazil – 140.70
Ruy Fonseca, Tom Bombadill Too 42.90
Carlos Parro, Calcourt Landline 45.60
Marcio Carvalho Jorge, Lissy Mac Wayer 52.20
Henrique Plombon, Land Quenotte (55.40)
BRONZE: Canada – 163.0
Jessica Phoenix, Pavarotti 42.10
Colleen Loach, Qorry Blue D’Argouges 51.80
Waylon Roberts, Bill Owen 69.10
Kathryn Robinson, Let It Bee (1000)
4. Ecuador 186.10
5. Mexico 233.30
6. Chile 245.50
7. Uruguay 307.00
8. Colombia 329.40
9. Argentina 1191.40
10. Venezuela 2065.20
11. Guatemala 2141.70
Final Individual Standings
Place/Rider/Horse/Nat. Dress. XC Jumping Total
GOLD: Marilyn Little, RF Scandalous (USA) 40.30 0/0 0 40.30
SILVER: Jessica Phoenix, Pavarotti (CAN) 42.10 0/0 0 42.10
BRONZE: Ruy Fonseca, Tom Bombadill Too (BRA) 38.90 0/0 4 42.90
4. Boyd Martin, Pancho Villa (USA) 44.30 0/0 0 44.30
5. Carlos Lobos, Ranco (CHI) 45.30 0/0 0 45.30
6. Carlos Parro, Calcourt Landline (BRA) 45.60 0/0 0 45.60
7. Lauren Kieffer, Meadowbrooks Scarlett (USA) 48.40 0/0 0 48.40
8. Colleen Loach, Qorry Blue D’Argouges (CAN) 51.80 0/0 0 51.80
9. Marcio Carvalho Jorge, Lissy Mac Wayer (BRA) 52.20 0/0 0 52.20
10. Phillip Dutton, Fernhill Fugitive (USA) 48.40 0/0 4 52.40
Other Canadians:
17. Waylon Roberts, Bill Owen 65.10 0/0 4 69.10
Elim. on XC – Kathryn Robinson, Let It Bee
