Few Canadian names are as closely associated with the sport of dressage as Christilot Boylen. Hailing from Schomberg, ON, Boylen has enjoyed a remarkable career spanning over 60 years. As a trailblazer and Canada’s most decorated dressage rider, she was presented with EC’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019 and only retired from competition herself in 2020. With her latest Pan American Games appearance, this time as high performance coach to Beatrice Boucher, one of Canada’s bronze medalists, the experience came full circle.
It was at this year’s games that Boylen learned that some of her legendary accomplishments are big news, even to her! It seems she wasn’t aware of her Pan American Games records until she was on the ground in Quillota, Chile for Santiago 2023 in October.
“You know, I never really thought about it,” Boylen said in conversation. “And then two days ago, my Uber driver says to me, you’re kind of famous down here!”
According to her driver, he had recently seen her photo on Chilean television, as they were discussing the upcoming equestrian events and going through record holders in the sport. With a total of seven medals, it turns out she’s the all-time dressage medal leader with five gold, a silver and a bronze.
In addition to her medal total, Boylen holds another important Pan Ams equestrian record, she’s the only athlete to hold three individual gold medals, which she earned in Cali 1971, Mexico City 1975 and Indianapolis 1987.
She also made her mark at the Olympics. In her first appearance at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, she was the youngest-ever Olympic dressage competitor at the age of 17. She went on to compete at five more Olympic Games (1968, 1972, 1976, 1984 and 1992), landing in the top-10 seven times in team competition and three times as an individual.
When asked about the difference between the Pan American and Olympic Games, she described the Pan Ams as a good earmark for athletes with its own sense of accomplishment competing against the best of both North and South America. She also reflected now as a coach and being on the other side of the planning, that contesting them are almost as complicated to prepare for as the Olympics.
“They all are both on this four-year cycle, and you get yourself accustomed to that,” she explained how important long-term planning is in both Pan American and Olympic cycles. “For example, I always had my children in between, because everything (in our sport) has to be planned!”
Widely respected by her peers, and endorsed by her renowned students, owners and athletes, she has touched many lives and careers with her talent and guidance. Some of Boylen’s students include Belinda Trussell and Megan Lane, who represented Canada at the Rio 2016 Olympics and 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games. Also reaching beyond the dressage realm, she has impacted many athletes including Canadian Eventing Olympian, Selena O’Hanlon, and in her work as lead coach in the Ontario Equestrian GRIT program for young riders in eventing, hunter/jumper, and dressage.
For current student Beatrice Boucher, the pair connected several seasons ago in Wellington, FL when Boylen asked her to ride one of her horses. “My mom has been my trainer forever, and then when I started riding Christilot’s mare last year, I found I really enjoyed riding with her,” said Boucher of the Canadian dressage icon. “She’s a horsewoman, she wants the best for the horse, and she has a lot of experience. I found her training to be close to my own values.
(Left to Right) Wendy Christoff, Chair, EC Dressage Committee; Beatrice Boucher; EC Senior Dressage Athlete of the Year; Coach Christilot Boylen; and Monica von Glahn, Owner of the Year (Summerwood’s Limei) at the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair in Toronto, Nov. 2023.
Photo Credit: Ben Radvanyi
EC and members of Team Canada have benefited from her experience and willingness and commitment to the future of the sport. “It’s hard to capture what Christilot means to the sport of dressage in Canada, as her impact has been so vast,” said Christine Peters, EC Senior Manager, Dressage Olympic/Paralympic Program. “Her incredible depth of knowledge and talent has been invaluable to the Canadian Dressage Team.”
The team was definitely happy to have her on site in Chile with Boucher and mare Summerwood’s Limei who together earned the team bronze medal and Olympic berth – the ever important goal for these games. That accomplishment will be one of her student’s memories, and when asked, the experience helped Boylen reflect on what the Pan American Games have done for her over her lifetime.
“You know what Pan Ams have done for me?” she stated. “They’ve shown me political situations up close, because over the years, like in ‘71 in Colombia, it was still under military control, and we were in (a venue) like this, a military setup,” she said, referring to the Chilean military base that was host to Santiago 2023’s equestrian events.
“But it was flourishing. They were still in power, and it was gorgeous there. It lacked for nothing. Since then, most of the South American countries have changed their philosophies and their governments and now here you see what used to be probably a more significant military camp, and now it’s not because the importance is no longer there. And so for me, it’s been a real historical journey.”
Boylen is the head coach of the GRIT (Great Riders Intensive Training) program run by Ontario Equestrian.
Photo Credit: Andreé-Anne Brunet Photography
Even now in her 70s, Boylen’s energy and influence on Canadian results in the 20 x 60 ring shows no signs of abating. Once the athletes are selected for Paris 2024, even if she’s not personally heading to France in the summer, her legacy certainly will be.
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