The Pan Am Games Reveal Latin American Talent
by Kim MacMillan A
t the final week of the Games in Toronto in July, the show jumpers brought the largest crowds to Caledon Equestrian Centre and also had the largest group of contestants, with
50 starters from 16 different countries. Not only did the Latin American countries send competitive
showjumping teams, but also the island nations of Barbados, Bermuda, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico sent individuals. Except for Brazil, the other South and Central American nations had a chance at the Games to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics and to prove themselves on the world stage. The team competition used the traditional Nations’ Cup
format—two rounds over the same course to determine the team medals. Canada’s team (Ian Millar, Eric Lamaze, Tiffany Foster and Yann Candele) had a super day and captured the gold in front of a joyful home crowd. Team Argentina (Ramiro Quintana, Matias Albarracin, Luis Pedro Biraben and José Maria Larocca Jr.) also had a stellar day to take silver. The United States took bronze by coming back from a twelve fault deficit from the first round to ride four clear trips in the second. Brazil finished fourth and Colombia fifth. Sadly, for Mexico, for the first time since 1960 their team did not qualify for the Olympics next year. A few days later, the individual final for the jumpers was held
to include two rounds. 35 horse and rider pairs jumped in Round A with 21 horse and rider combinations returning to vie for medals in Round B. By the time the dust settled from Round B, there was a five-way tie for bronze (between riders from Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and the United States) and a jump off for gold between McLain Ward from the U.S. on Rothchild and Andres Rodriquez of Venezuela riding Darlon van Groenhove. The bronze jump-off was first and Lauren Hough and Ohlala of
United States were the only ones to leave all of the rails up to grab the bronze. José Maria Larocca Jr. on Cornet du Lys from Argentina took fourth, Brazil’s Pedro Veniss riding Quabri de L Isle took fifth and Venezuela’s Emanuel Andrade on Hardrock Z took sixth, who at only 18 years old, was the youngest rider in the competition. Luis Pedro Biraben from Argentina riding Abunola took seventh. Andras Rodriguez went first in the jump-off for gold and laid
down a blazing trip, but brought down the final fence. Then it was McLain and Rothchild’s turn. The scrappy little horse galloped around the course with his fierce game face on and left everything standing letting out a final “take that” buck as he finished, securing the individual gold. In conclusion, the Latin American countries as a whole are
catching up and in some cases hot on North America’s heels. The Brazilian Team proved themselves contenders earning two medals (bronze in dressage and silver in eventing) and a fourth place finish (jumping). Besides their silver in show jumping Argentina took fifth in dressage. Nearly all of the Latin American countries had at least one stand-out rider in one of the disciplines who made it into the top ten.
22 September/October 2015
stallions for their breeding programs. “They are all from European bloodlines, of course, because in Central and South America, even if you breed horses, most of them are from Euro- pean bloodlines,” says Colombian Olympian Daniel Bluman. At the moment, he says, he only has one horse in his string actually born in Central America. “I have been lucky to have a lot of support from the Colombian owners. So usually people buy horses; they take them to Colombia as young horses and develop to be important horses.” Of course, Europe’s breeding model, with its assiduous attention to bloodlines and documentation of their horses, is a framework well worth studying. Certain countries, most notably Argentina and Brazil, have breeding programs that rival some of the best in Europe. They are certainly not as well-known however, so the incentive to constantly improve—and to get more recognition—is strong.
Te Mental Aspect Success is all about being prepared, and it’s
often said that being prepared mentally is half the battle. For Daniel, having the confidence to go out and be competitive in this sport has made all the difference. “I think that riders like Pablo Barrios and Andres Rodriguez and myself have, in the past seven years, proven that it is possible to win big competitions.” He quali- fies this statement though, noting that all of South and Central America cannot be lumped together. “Brazil has always been strong thanks to the real (their currency), and then there is the rest of South America that’s never really been in the top of the sport. In the past five to seven years, Columbia, Venezuela and even Mexico, their countries are starting to rise again and compete and win big competitions,” he says. He is of the opinion that the region’s riders are starting to see that being competi- tive against their U.S. and European counter- parts is, in fact, possible. “They are believing that it is something that is achievable, and that makes them work hard and invest and get young horses and try to invest in their training and it’s paying off.” Daniel also knows what it’s like to enter the horse world as a newcomer. “I think I knew I was aiming to try to be a professional after 2004 when I won the children’s FEI champi- onship,” he says. “I saw these events sort of as a sign that maybe I should consider being a professional show jumper. My family was not
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