DECEMBER 2025 THE RIDER /31


Champions Crowned At Equestrian Canada National Dressage And Para Dressage Championships (East), At Complex Équestre De Bécancour, In Bécancour, Quebec


Ottawa, ON - October 10, 2025 – For the first time in over twenty- five years, Equestrian Canada’s National Dressage and Para Dressage Championships were held, divided between the East and West sides of the country across back-to-back weekends. The National (West) Champi- onships took place September 26 and 27 at Thunderbird Show Park (Langley, BC) with competitors from across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Man- itoba competing in the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines of Dressage and Para Dressage. The National (East) Championships took place October 3-5, at the Complex Équestre de Bécancour, in Bécancour, Quebec, with com- petitors from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and New- foundland. Riders had to declare their


intention to compete with the top eight from each test level and cat- egory (Junior, Amateur and Open) being invited to their re- spective region’s Championships based on their qualification scores and ranking. Nearly 200 athletes declared and worked at qualifying during the January through September qualification period. Athletes were able to qualify across divisions ranging from Training to Fourth level; as well as FEI Children, Junior,


CH Anna Swackhammer, Fabienna GV, Rockwood, ON RES Marilou Deschenes, Baldacci, Laval, QC


FEI U25 CH Brooke Mancusi, Dejohn Ymas, Chambly, QC


FEI Small Tour Open CH Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu, Furst Foun- dation, Saint-Bruno, QC RES Camille Carier Bergeron, MSJ Furst Zonik, Laval, QC


FEI Small Tour Amateur CH Darlene Mergl-Moore, Rubina KG, Port Colborne, ON RES Vera Rubisova, Rockstar, Toronto, ON


and fit to compete. Here, Alexia Bissonnette presents her horse at Bécancour. Photo Credit: Sandra Lachèvre Photographe


Ahead of each competition (East and West) the horses were pre- sented to a panel of vets and officials to ensure they were sound


“The resurgence of the Na-


tional Championships both East and West have created a great op- portunity for our national and in- ternational riders to engage in a Championship format,” said James Hood, Director of High Performance


at Equestrian


Canada. “The novel feature of using the same panel of judges for both weeks is a distinctive Canadian advancement for our programming based on the size of the Country. With a combined 150 entries between the two Championships, this will help create a nationwide platform for


eron riding and Mathilde Blais Tétreault commentating; before Brittany Fraser Beaulieu per- formed a freestyle demonstra- tion. Equestrian Canada’s annual Dressage and Para Dressage awards were handed out and will be publicly announced in a re- lease to follow. The following are the Na-


tional (East) Champion and Re- serve Champions (as applicable) for complete results including the concurrent EC Gold show visit https://www.foxvillage.com/sho


w?id=11378 Competitor, Horse, Hometown


James Irwin and Flirtfaktor S, Champion FEI Medium Tour Open. Photo Credit: Sandra Lachèvre Photographe


CH Elisabeth Campeau, Voila Voltaire, Mirabel, QC RES Masha Jung, Darius, Bridgewater, NS


EC National Second Level Open CH Cheryl Meisner, Natuurlijk, Windsor, NS RES Kiara Williams-Brown, Nikita, Navan, ON


EC National Second Level Amateur CH Carl-William Sévigny, Alberto de Niro, Eastman, QC RES Nathalie Côté, Bon Vivant, Bromont, QC


EC National Second Level Junior CH Olivera Donskov, Contessa the Red, Ottawa, ON RES Emma Larochelle-Lemieux, Yougo, Ulverton, QC


EC National Third Level Open CH Eloise Brulotte Dulude, Winhorse’s Ambiorix, Magog, QC RES Paul-Antoine Lepage, Lance, Mel- bourne, QC


EC National Third Level Amateur CH Josée Mercier, Gladiator III, Quebec, QC RES Caroline Tétreault, Azzaro, Saint- Germaine-de-Grantham, QC


EC National Fourth Level Open CH Emmanuelle Lord, Milo B, Pakenham, ON RES Justine Dilly, Iaccob d’Astra, Sher- brooke, QC


EC National Fourth Level Amateur CH Vivian Demerchant, Kingsdale, Rusag- onis, NB RES Amelie Pilon, Ali Baba, Saint-Jean- sur-Richelieu, QC


FEI Children’s CH Annabelle Gauthier, Northwind Mar- rakesh, Saint-Charles-Borromée


FEI Junior CH Frederique Genest, Flaminia, Saint- Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC


FEI Young Rider


FEI Medium Tour Open CH James Irwin, Flirtfaktor S, Stouffville, ON RES Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu, Harmo- nium, Saint-Bruno, QC


Grade I Para Dressage Grand Prix CH Alexandra Vadnais, Alaska du Fjord, Laval, QC


Grade IV Para Dressage Grand Prix CH Wanda Jamieson, Gerard XXII HCI, Merrickville, ON


Grade V Para Dressage Grand Prix CH Natasha James, Pantera, Nanaimo, BC**


(Natasha trained and showed in


Quebec for the 2025 season hence was al- lowed to compete in the East champi- onships.)


The results of the Overall


Equestrian Canada National Dressage and Para Dressage Champions will be announced shortly from Equestrian Canada.


Alexandra Vadnais and Alaska du Fjord, Cham- pion Grade I Para Dressage Grand Prix. Photo Credit: Mousse Photographie


Young Rider, U25, Small, Medium and Big Tour. East coast organizer, Carine


Blaquière of Équico Quebec, was thrilled with the success of the event.


“Overall it was an excellent


weekend,” she remarked. “There was great turnout, and the ath- letes told us they really appreci- ated both the event itself and the venue here at Bécancour.” To keep the playing field


level between the East and West as much as possible, the judging panels were identical over the back-to-back weekends, right down to the judges keeping their same positions from which to ob- serve the competition at each event. Equestrian Canada and each organizer will be tabulating and reviewing the scores at which point the overall Canadian National Champion and Reserve Champions will be announced.


FEI Medium Tour Open podium celebration. Photo Credit: Mousse Photographie


performance. “Equestrian Canada ex-


tends our deepest thanks to both organizing committees, the vol- unteers and the officials for the work they did to ensure an out- standing competitive opportunity for all. Equally, we were thrilled to host our Red & White fundraising activities at both, bringing our communities to- gether to celebrate, have fun and raise funds to help send our Dres- sage and Para Dressage teams to the World Championships at Aachen next year. With over $20,000 being raised between the two events, we are grateful to all who participated, and those who continue to do so through the Dressage and Para Dressage $500 Clubs.” The Red & White fundrais-


ers at the National (East), also in- cluded a silent auction and a dressage masterclass demonstra- tion with Camille Carier Berg-


EC National Training Open CH Anna Swackhammer, Perfexxion, Rockwood, ON RES Kiara Williams-Brown, O’Reilly, Navan, ON


EC National Training Amateur CH Léa Riopel, Fleur d’Iris, Blainville, QC RES Émilie Robert-Leblanc, Lady VIP, Mascouche, QC


EC National Training Junior CH Isla Grant, Wonder Woman, Ottawa, ON RES Elisabeth Campeau, Voila Voltaire, Mirabel, QC


EC National First Level Open CH Maya Markowski, Dance with the Devil, Listowel, ON RES Eve Morency, Manhattan, Saint- Bruno, QC


EC National First Level Amateur CH Courtney Vriens, Saritzia, Drayton, ON RES Marie-Ève Dionne, Leo, Saint Jean- sur-Richelieu, QC EC National First Level Junior


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