Nicole Walker, a 24-year-old graduate of Wilfred Laurier University with a major in Environmental Studies, competed in the Spruce Meadows Summer Series for the first time, won the CSI3* $100,000 Prix de Penn National Grand Prix at the Pennsylvania National with Falco Van Spieveld, and finished her season with a win in the Uplands U25 Jumping National Championship at the Royal Winter Fair with Excellent B.

Nicole recently began working at The Stronach Group (founded by her grandfather, Frank Stronach), has joined the board of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, and also assists in the management of the Adena Springs Thoroughbred Retirement Program. This, all while developing her string of competition horses and having some breakthroughs with younger mounts.

Nicole laughs that her Aurora, ON-based Adena Springs North is “a bit of a travelling circus” with winters spent in Wellington, FL. Since 2013, she spent her summers in Europe training with Irish team veteran and Olympian bronze medalist Cian O’Connor, an experience which she credits for completely immersing her in a new level of the sport.
The logistics of the partnership, with O’Connor splitting his time between Europe and North America, necessitates the use of some alternative methods to stay connected. “When I am in North America and Cian is in Europe, we send each other videos and exercises over WhatsApp. This summer, Mark Kinsella, who knows the Karlswood [Stables] system very well, has also helped me at home.

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