For nearly three decades, Pedro Cebulka has been directing horse-and-rider traffic and calming nerves at the ingate at major show jumping tournaments, Olympic Games and international championships around the world. Famously recognizable for his dashing haberdashery, humour, and flair, this Invermere, BC, resident followed a rather natural evolution to his current status of ringmaster extraordinaire.
The Early Days
Born in Germany, Pedro began travelling extensively in the mid-70s, and by 1977 he found himself at Spruce Meadows during the facility’s early days, mucking out stables, doing maintenance, building courses, announcing – whatever needed to be done. As he was fluent in several languages (German, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, and some French), he became an interpreter for the Mexican and European teams that came to compete, and fast friendships were formed.
At Equitana in 1986 he was asked to control the in-gate, getting horses and riders in and out of the ring, keeping them calm, communicating with the ground jury, vets and TV crews. As it turned out, he was a natural.