OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018 THE RIDER /31
Royal Horse Show’s Opening Weekend Showcases Top Sport Amy Millar to Defend Canadian Championship title, Lauren Kieffer to Make Royal Debut
Toronto, Ontario – Show jump- ing and indoor eventing will highlight opening weekend at the Royal Horse Show, held as part of the 96th Annual Royal Agri- cultural Winter Fair, from No- vember 2 through 11, 2018, in downtown Toronto, ON. Amy Millar of Perth, ON,
will defend her title in the $125,000 Canadian Show Jump- ing Championship on Friday and Saturday evenings, November 2 and 3. Having claimed her first national title riding her 2016 Rio Olympic Games partner, Heros, at last year’s event, Millar is hop- ing for a repeat performance. “Heros is in great form and
I’m very excited to be back showing after having my baby,” said Millar, who recently re- turned to the saddle after deliver- ing her second child on July 16. “We both understand the job and our mission is to lay down clear rounds, just like we did last year.” No stranger to the Royal
Horse Show, Millar has been at- tending the annual event since she was a child. “As a competitor, I love the
atmosphere,” said Millar, who is in the unique position of defend- ing her Canadian Championship title against her brother, Jonathon, and her father, Ian, a 12-time title holder. “The elec- tricity in the building makes rid- ing in the Canadian Championships really special. I’m looking forward to that feel- ing of excitement and anticipa- tion.”
Opening Night of the Royal
Horse Show will feature the $25,000 Canadian Show Jump- ing Championship, Round 1, pre- sented by Lothlorien. Following Friday night’s speed round, horse-rider combinations will re- turn in reverse order of standing to tackle the $100,000 Canadian Show Jumping Championship, Round 2, on Saturday night. Ac- claimed course designer Alan Wade of Ireland will set the show jumping tracks throughout this year’s Royal Horse Show. In addition to determining
who will be crowned this year’s Canadian Champion, the Cana- dian Show Jumping Champi- onship also determines which riders move forward to the Royal Horse Show’s international divi- sion, held during the second week of the Royal Horse Show and highlighted by the $205,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Toronto, presented by GroupBy. Two spots are open to the top-placed competitors not al- ready qualified. Erynn Ballard, Mario Deslauriers, Keean White, and Ian Millar are pre-qualified based on their standings in the Longines World Rankings while Jump Canada’s high performance committee has named Ali Ram- say and Beth Underhill as its two picks for the international divi- sion.
The $20,000 Horseware In-
door Evening Challenge will kick off the excitement on both Friday and Saturday evenings with the fast-paced thrills that come from jumping solid cross-country ob- stacles combined with delicate
Amy Millar of Perth, ON, will defend her Canadian Show Jump- ing Championship title with Heros on Friday and Saturday nights, November 2 and 3, at the Royal Horse Show in Toronto, ON. Photo by Ben Radvanyi Photography
show jumping fences at high speed. A master of his trade, Great Britain’s Mark Phillips will once again design the tracks in the Coca-Cola Coliseum. Hot off a recent appearance
at the 2018 World Equestrian Games, Canadian Eventing Team members Lisa Marie Fergusson, Colleen Loach, and Selena O’Hanlon will be among those looking to take home the lion’s share of prize money. Lauren Ki- effer, veteran of Pan American Games, World Championship, and Olympic Games competition for the United States, will be making her Royal Horse Show debut in this year’s Horseware Indoor Eventing Challenge. “I have never done indoor
eventing before so it will be new
for me,” said Kieffer who is based in Middleburg, VA. “Boyd Martin had a lot of great things to say after he did it last year and I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. I’m excited to try it.” Kieffer will have the added
challenge of riding an unfamiliar horse. She will be paired with Glendening Avis, a 13-year-old Canadian Sport Horse mare that owner Callie Evans has success- fully competed through to the three-star level. “I’ve always really quite
liked the mare and Callie was kind enough to offer her to me,” explained Kieffer. “I’ve seen her compete before and I’ve liked her for a while, she’s a buckskin and I’m partial to mares, so it worked out well. I’ve had the opportunity
to catch ride a lot of horses at the upper level so it’s not something that is foreign to me. You don’t try to push any of your style on them but instead try to adapt to their style so the horse gets com- fortable with you as quickly as possible. The biggest thing I’ll try to do is get in sync with the mare.” Expressing her excitement
for this year’s Royal Horse Show, Kieffer said, “The Royal is such a cool place, it’s got a lot of great things going to for it and a lot of talent across all disciplines. In- door eventing is a great showcase to get the conversation started about eventing and get people asking questions. The more peo- ple we can get interested the bet- ter!”
In addition to show jumping
and indoor eventing, fans will also be treated to an exciting line- up of featured entertainment on Opening Weekend. Australia’s Guy McLean will demonstrate his unique form of natural horse- manship on both Friday and Sat- urday nights while Pogo Puissance by Xpogo will take jumping to new heights as young athletes attempt to set records by jumping obstacles on pogo sticks.
More than 1,000 horses
from around the globe will com- pete for $980,000 in prize money during the 10-day CSI4*-W Royal Horse Show. VIP Platinum and Gold seating, as well as group and individual tickets, are on sale now and moving quickly. All Royal Horse Show tickets in-
clude general admission to the Fair.
Purchase Tickets Follow the Royal Agricul-
tural Winter Fair on Facebook and YouTube, @royalhorseshow on Twitter, and @theroyalfair on Instagram for a behind-the- scenes look at the Royal Horse Show. Please use hashtags: #RAWF18, #RoyalFever, #Roy- alHorseShow, #FEIWorldCup, and #Longines if you plan to write about the Royal Horse Show and the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Toronto on your outlet’s social media channels. For more information on the
Royal Horse Show, the marquee event of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, please visit
www.royalfair.org/horseshow.ht ml.
Funding support for The Royal has been provided by the City of Toronto and the Government of Ontario.
About The Royal The Royal Agricultural
Winter Fair is the world’s largest combined indoor agricultural and equestrian event. This year marks the 96th Royal Agricultural Win- ter Fair runs November 2-11, 2018, at Exhibition Place, Toronto, Canada. For competi- tion schedules, live webcasting, results and to purchase tickets, please visit
www.royalfair.org.
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