SEPTEMBER 2023 THE RIDER /41


Exclusive to the Digital Edition of The Rider


SEPTEMBER 2023 Vol. 5, Issue No. 3


CELEBRATING 53 YEARS


Canadian Show Jumping Team Third In BMO Nations’ Cup


Calgary, AB, Sept. 9, 2023 – The Canadian Show Jump- ing Team finished third be- hind winning team Ireland and second place Germany in the BMO Nations’ Cup on Saturday, Sept. 9, at the CSIO5* Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ tournament


in


Calgary, AB. Defending champions


Sweden were first into the International Ring followed by Ireland, Great Britain, Belgium, Canada, Germany and the United States. After a challenging first round with four teams advancing with double digit scores, the Swedish team failed to ad- vance to the second round with a total of 34 faults. Very unusual for a


five-star Nations’ Cup, there were three riders that came out of their tack and fell on course, including Ireland’s Conor Swail ranked 14th in the world who had a fall at the water jump and was un- able to return for the second round leaving Ireland with no drop score. “It was a real battle


today,” said Chef d’Equipe Ian Millar, who himself won the BMO Nations’ Cup for Canada in both 2006 and 2014. “It showed the diffi- culty of the course and not to mention the difficulty of the sport. Thank goodness no one got hurt today, but it


just reminds everyone that our sport is a risky business. When you see great riders doing it, they make it look easy; something could al- ways go wrong and there could be very serious conse- quences.” With just four faults in


the first round, the Canadian team of Mario Deslauriers, Erynn Ballard, Amy Millar and Tiffany Foster advanced to the second round just be- hind the first placed Irish team with a single fault. The podium positions remained a tight race between the top three teams of Ireland, Canada and Germany all the way to the final competitor. Canada’s


lead-off


rider Mario Deslauriers, 58, originally from Venise-en- Quebec, QC, incurred seven faults with one rail down and three time faults in the opening round with Emer- son, the mount he partnered with to win the CSIO4* Wellington Nations Cup earlier this year. On their second tour


of the course designed by Leopoldo Palacios, Deslau- riers and the 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Eldorado van de Zeshoek x Berlin) owned by Wishing Well Farm LLC incurred four faults with a single rail in the triple combination. Next in the order for


time Olympian with her World Championships part- ner delivered a very well ex- ecuted clear first round but were just over the 78 sec- onds time allowed and added four time faults to the score. Coming back in the second round, the pair en- sured a quicker pace and de- livered


the clear


performance that Canada needed to hold and finish on 12 faults for the bronze. “First things first, my


Mario Deslauriers and Emerson. Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley


the home team was Erynn Ballard of Tottenham, ON, posting a clear first round aboard her 2023 World Cup Final mount Gakhir (Sparat- acus x Labor’s VDL Indo- rado) a 12-year-old Dutch warmblood gelding owned by Esperanza Imports LLC & Ilan Ferder. Ballard, who made


her Nations’ Cup debut when she helped Canada win this event for the first time in 2006 came back in


the second round and in- curred eight faults with a step in the water and took an unlucky last rail on course. Third rider Amy Mil-


lar, 46, of Perth, ON, deliv- ered two strong rounds in front of the hometown crowd. Riding Truman, a 14-year-old Selle Français gelding (Mylord Carthago x Kolibri) owned by Millar Brooke Farm Ltd. and Over- lund, Amy Millar was one of only four riders to jump clear in the first round. She and her top partner that won the BMO Nations’ Cup in 2021, came back in the sec- ond round and had just a small blemish with one rail down in an otherwise per- fect round. “I was really happy


with Truman today. He jumped the first round beau- tifully; it could not have been better,” Amy said. “It was the lightest of rubs in the skinny vertical in the second round and I have ideas about what I need to do to clean that up.” “It’s always so special


Erynn Ballard and Gakhir. Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley


to be here at Spruce Mead- ows,” Amy continued. “The thing is that we want to win here so badly. The crowd was amazing, we got tonnes of congratulations, and everyone is happy with what we did. The field of compe- tition here is really high so


that is to be remembered when we think about where we stand in the world. If you’re third here, you’re not in a bad position! That’s the big picture for us as we have to get to Paris.” Riding in the anchor


position was Tiffany Foster of Langley, BC, and Figor, a 13-year-old Dutch Warm- blood gelding (VDL Groep Zagreb x C-Indoctro) she owns in partnership with Ar- tisan Farms LLC. The two-


horse was amazing. He jumped double clear; he was incredible today,” said Fos- ter. “Those time faults in the first round were 100% my fault. As a rider in a Na- tions’ Cup, your focus is clearing the jumps, and in this particular one, you also had to focus on going fast. I was glad I could come back and go clear for the team.” “I am also very hon-


oured that Ian (Millar) would put me to go last in this Nations’ Cup,” she con- tinued. “I know it means a lot to him and I am glad that I was able to pull through.” Foster went on to ex-


press gratitude for the hosts and the hometown crowd in Calgary. “For us as the Canadian team, you can see that we brought and rode all our best horses, we take this Nations’ Cup very seriously. We really appreciate what


Spruce Meadows does for the sport of Show Jumping and are grateful for the sponsorship of BMO to hold an event like this. We also really appreciate the fans coming out.” Ireland claimed vic-


tory with a nail biting final clear round to hold up the BMO Cup for the first time since 2001 on a total of five faults. Germany took the sil- ver with six faults, Great Britain was fourth with 41 and Belgium rounded out the teams that finished the competition in fifth with 57 faults.


“It was a great contest,


and I am very proud of our Canadian team - each and every one of them,” said Ian Millar. “We are building to- wards the Pan American Games in Chile and every- one is honing their skills and getting their horses ready. We wanted to do very well here, and we did, but it is about peaking to win the gold medal in Santiago.” The Canadian Show


Jumping Team will compete next at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, from Oct. 20 – Nov. 5, 2023. For full results from


the CSIO5* Spruce Mead- ows ‘Masters’ tournament, visit www.sprucemead- ows.com/masters/.


Amy Millar and Truman. Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley


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