Join us in celebrating Canada’s athletes for their results in recent FEI competitions where they left their mark in international competition. Way to go to the red and white!
News stories in this issue:
- Naima Moreira Laliberte debuts Jaliska LD to a Prix St. Georges Win
- Canada Fourth in ADGF 7 Stillpoint Farm FEI Nations Cup
- Ariana Chia and Jill Irving hit Personal Bests in the Grand Prix Special CDI3*
- Ali Ramsay Hits her Stride with Godfather B Belesbat
- Canadian Endurance Riders Racking up the Miles in FEI Competitions
NAIMA MOREIRA LALIBERTE DEBUTS JALISKA LD TO A PRIX ST. GEORGES WIN
Written excerpt by Alice Collins for Wellington International
From the 16 starters in the Prix St. Georges CDI1*, sponsored by Zen Elite Equestrian, on Feb. 24, 2024, Canada’s Naima Moreira Laliberte’s international debut on Jaliska LD vanquished all. The 27-year-old rider piloted Jaliska LD, by the Ampere son All At Once, to 73.48%.
Naima Moreira Laliberte & Jaliska LD, winners of the Prix St. Georges CDI1*, sponsored by Zen Elite Equestrian.
Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley
Laliberte was riding Jaliska LD, who is a 10-year-old KWPN mare owned by KML Inc. This was just the mare’s third Prix St. Georges test.
“The first time I sat on her as a four-year-old I thought, ‘Either she’s going to kill me or we’re going to be amazing’ — it was so much power, something I hadn’t really felt before in a young horse,” said Laliberte. “You don’t want to rush horses like that because you need that power through the levels, and for a grand prix horse — and it’s a quality I look for. We really had to take our time with her. She’s such a sweet girl.”
Read the full story here: https://gdf.coth.com/article/hendricks-claims-individual-freestyle-nations-cup-gold-medal-with-almost-80-in-agdf-7
CANADA FOURTH IN ADGF 7 STILLPOINT FARM FEI NATIONS CUP
With written excerpts by Alice Collins for Wellington International
Week 7 at the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL didn’t disappoint with Nations Cup action and great performances by Canada’s FEI level dressage riders. The weather was idyllic, warm and sunny, that has become the norm during the seven weeks of CDI competition that AGDF hosts over three months from January to March each year.
The Stillpoint Farm FEI Nations Cup was the feature competition on Thursday, February 22. Four flags lined up in the Nations Cup CDIO3* Grand Prix, with Germany taking the gold medal, the US the silver and Sweden claimed bronze. Canada’s team of Mathilde Blais Tetreault and Fedor; Denielle Gallagher-Legriffon and Come Back de Massa; and Rakeya Moussa and Davidoff V.H. Trichelhof came fourth.
The Nations Cup format has been simplified for the first time since the series first came to Wellington in 2014. Formerly, countries could put forward horse and rider combinations at small tour or big tour, but the new format requires all competitors to compete at grand prix level.
All smiles for the Canadian team in Wellington, FL
Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley
ARIANA CHIA AND JILL IRVING HIT PERSONAL BESTS IN THE GRAND PRIX SPECIAL CDI3*
Personal bests were the order of the day on Saturday in the Grand Prix Special CDI3*, presented by Iron Spring Farm, which featured an all-female podium line-up. Great Britain’s Susan Pape secured the win riding her 10-year-old stallion Vivaldi with a score of 72.936%.
Ariana Chia and Guateque IV
Photo credit: Cealy Tetley
Jill Irving and Delacroix 11
Photo credit: Cealy Tetley
Canada’s Ariana Chia and the 14-year-old Guateque IV (Layco x Salinero XIII) ‘Teq’ owned by Coves Darden Farm, scored 70.298%, eclipsing their previous best by almost 3 percentage points. This is her first season riding the home-bred PRE stallion. Fellow Canadian Jill Irving rode her own 14-year-old Hanoverian Delacroix 11 (Dancier x Don Crusador), into third with 69.809%.
Read about the Nations Cup here: https://gdf.coth.com/article/germany-extends-unbeaten-nations-cup-run-under-revamped-all-grand-prix-format-in-agdf-7
Read the GPS story here: https://gdf.coth.com/article/kevin-kohmann-crowns-2024-adequan-global-dressage-festival-week-7-with-emotional-grand-prix-special-individual-gold
ALI RAMSAY HITS HER STRIDE WITH GODFATHER B BELESBAT
Written excerpt by Desert Interntational
Canada’s Ali Ramsay took over the ride aboard Godfather B Belesbat at the beginning of the circuit, and it hasn’t taken the pair long at all to begin racking up FEI victories together. On Sunday of Desert Circuit 7, presented by TALUS, the pair picked up another win, this time the biggest one so far, in the $32,000 San Marcos Training CSI3* 1.45m Classic.
Ali Ramsay and Godfather B Belesbat
Photo Credit: High Desert Sport Photo
“My client owns the horse, Britt Scheifele, and she bought it to be her Junior/Amateur horse,” Ramsay said of the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion. “She had a broken hand at the beginning of the circuit so I took over the ride during that time, and then was able to move him up to this level.”
The horse has exceeded expectations since Ramsay took over the ride, so they’re pivoting accordingly since the horse’s ability took them by surprise.
Read the full story here: https://deserthorsepark.com/ali-ramsay-hits-her-stride-with-godfather-b-belesbat-in-32000-csi3-1-45m-classic/
CANADIAN ENDURANCE RIDERS RACKING UP THE MILES IN FEI COMPETITIONS
BROXTON BRIDGE PLANTATION – EHRHARDT, SC, USA
During the Broxton Bridge Plantation event in Ehrhardt, SC, USA on Jan. 26, 2024, Canada’s Sophia Donovan completed the CEI3* 160KM ride in 5th place with WM’s Triple Crown arriving in at 2:01:10 with an average speed of 9.7. Teammate Shannon Thorndyke came 6th with Leeloo Minai in the CEI2* 120KM ride finishing at 18:48:42 with an average speek of 12.4.
Sophia Donovan and WM Triple Crown
Photo credit: Yvette Vinton
Shannon Thorndyke and Leeloo Minai
Photo credit: Yvette Vinton
THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES ENDURANCE CUP 2024
Yvette Vinton Rayanah Alhayas
Photo credit: Yvette Vinton
At the 2024 Fursan Cup in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, there was a world-class field that included more than 260 elite-level endurance riders from 51 countries, taking part in two competitions worth a combined total of SAR $20 million (CAD $7.238 million), the largest-ever prize pool for an endurance event with all finishers guaranteed a prize of SAR 100,000 ($36,180).
In a start field of 203 combinations with 120 eliminated, the sole Canadian, Yvette Vinton finished in 77th at 18:48:35 with an average speed of 12.4 in the 120KM CEI2* race riding Rayanah Alhayas.
“I wanted to see the terrain and the venue because the World Championships will be there in 2026. The venue is great, the food was excellent and the set up with the quarantine barns were well done,” said Vinton. ” I had not been to Saudi Arabia before, but have been to Dubai and found the terrain is very different with mountains in addition to the sand. The weather was nice, a little like Florida, where I live with cold nights and warm days.”
Vinton rode an 11 year old chestnut Arabian mare provided by a local owner, and felt she lived up to her colour. When they headed out on the fourth, and final loop she got a little feisty. “She was fit and had lots of energy left, but I was considering ending the ride,” she explained. “When some other riders came along, it gave us a group to be with and helped us finish the last loop. Sometimes that attitude that she had in those moments makes for a really good horse, but you just have to know how to work with it.”
Watch the full event coverage on ClipMyHorse.TV.