Ottawa, ON – September 15, 2026 – Equestrian Canada’s Eventing High Performance Advisory Group is pleased to announce the return of the Country Yucca Eventing Travel Grants for U25 athletes, designed to assist young Canadian eventing riders in furthering their competition experience either across North America or overseas.
Launched in 2025, these grants have been established and named in honour of Country Yucca, a pony with a huge heart and personality ridden by Nick Holmes-Smith, who later represented the Canadian Eventing Team at the Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 Olympics.
“In the 1970’s to early 1990’s as an eventing competitor I struggled to afford the costs of traveling and competing. I am now very happy to be able to help today’s riders with their financial challenges” says Holmes-Smith.
Emily Gilbert, chair of the Eventing High Performance Committee remarked: “We are deeply grateful to Nick Holmes-Smith for his generous continuing support. His commitment helps the HPAG expand programming and opportunities for U25 athletes and exemplifies the spirit of giving back to the sport of Eventing.”
Alberta native Gabrielle Shank was a recipient of one of the inaugural grants and commented on the difference it made to her development and that of her horse, Billy.
“As a western Canadian rider working toward the upper level of eventing, opportunities to compete and train at the FEI levels are limited,” she remarked. “Support like this makes a meaningful difference. This funding allowed us to continue developing our partnership and work toward competing at the Advanced level. It directly supported our winter training and competition plans in Ocala, as well as our return to Rebecca Farm, two key steps in achieving our long-term goals.”
She added, “Balancing high-performance riding with my post-secondary studies can be challenging, and this bursary helped relieve some of the financial pressure so I could stay focused on improving, learning, and representing the Canadian Eventing U25 Development Team to the best of my ability. I’m incredibly grateful for this support.”
Awarded once per calendar year, grants will be distributed to up to four recipients at the discretion of the selection committee. $20,000 CAD total will be awarded once per year with grants of $5,000 for travel within North America or $10,000 for overseas travel.
The grant must be used toward:
- Travel expenses (flights, fuel, horse transport)
- Entry fees and stabling
- Accommodation during the event
- Veterinary and health certificates for travel
- Other approved competition-related costs
Eligibility: To be considered for the grant, applicants must:
- Be aged 16–25 as of January 1 of the competition year
- Be actively competing at the Training level or above
- Be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada
- Demonstrate financial need and clear competitive goals
- Have a plan to compete outside of their home region, either across North America or internationally
- Be in good standing with Equestrian Canada
The HPAG will take into account the competition performance record of the athlete/horse combination, giving specific consideration to Athlete/horse combinations who have achieved a Target Performance Result as outlined in the full criteria. Preference will be given to Athlete/Horse combinations having completed a CCI2*-L or higher.
For the 2027 competition season the application timeline is as follows:
- Applications Open: September 15, 2026
- Deadline to Apply: October 12, 2026
- Recipients Notified: October 31, 2026
How to Apply
Applicants must submit the following information to the Eventing HPAG at eventinghpag@gmail.com. Please review the rubric to ensure your application aligns with the priorities of these grants.
- A personal statement (max. 750 words) including:
- Your competition goals
- Why this grant is important to your development
- How you plan to use the funds
- An outline of travel plans
- A detailed budget breakdown of estimated travel expenses
- One reference letter from a coach, mentor, or federation official
5. A competition resume from the last 2 years
2025 Country Yucca Grant Recipients
The Inspiration: Country Yucca represents the resilience of a true cross-country athlete. Yucca loved cross country and was well-known with his signature bald face and four white socks – he was hard to miss. At first, some might have thought Yucca was too small to jump the more advanced fences, but he quickly proved otherwise. Nick and Yucca were kindred spirits, small and carefree, enjoying galloping over the countryside in the southern Okanagan, British Columbia and all-over North America. Nick has influenced many Canadian eventers over the years, including several riders who have gone on to wear the maple leaf. Bruce Mandeville, Rebecca Howard and Michael Winter have all been fortunate to have worked with Nick on their road to representing Team Canada.
