Welcome to the Lima Lowdown! To introduce myself, I’m Jessie Christie, the Media Attaché for the Canadian Equestrian Team in Lima. I’m proud and honoured to be part of the ‘team behind the team’ – and each day of the Games, I’ll be bringing you exclusive stories and photos from our Canadian athletes, grooms, owners, and team personnel here in Lima.


Canadian Show Jumping Team anchor, Mario Deslauriers, is in a unique situation at the Lima 2019 Pan Am Games. While obviously he would love to bring home team gold for the maple leaf, he would probably be just as proud to see the United States win.

That’s because his daughter, Lucy Deslauriers, is here making her major games debut for the US Show Jumping Team. 

CET on the Go | Like Father, Like Daughter – Mario and Lucy Deslauriers Talk Family Ties

It’s the maple leaf and the stars and stripes, all in one family at Lima 2019!
Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley

Married to American Lisa Tarnopol Deslauriers, and holding US citizenship, Mario lives in New York with his family, including Lucy and her twin brother, Jack. Having been recruited by owner, Jane Clark, he rode for the US Team for nearly a decade before re-joining the Canadian Equestrian Team in 2018, explaining, “Always at heart, I was a Canadian. It feels like the right way to finish my career.”

Lucy started following in her father’s footsteps from an early age, and by 13 was jumping 1.20m, and incredibly it was with her Lima 2019 horse, Hester. Although she’s just 20 now, when American veteran, McLain Ward was forced to pull out of Lima due to an injured horse, Lucy was called up.

On day one of competition, Mario had the opportunity to watch Lucy complete a perfect clear round. We caught up to both of them in the mixed zone to find out how it feels to compete on opposing teams in Lima 2019.

CET on the Go | Like Father, Like Daughter – Mario and Lucy Deslauriers Talk Family Ties

Mario got to watch his daughter, Lucy, lay down a perfect clear in her major games debut, riding Hester, her trusted partner since she was 13 years old.
Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley

Lucy Deslauriers

We have a lot of fun with it. Obviously, in the competition ring we are on different teams, but I think at the end of the day, we’re on the same team all the time. So you know, we get two chances here. So, that makes it a lot of fun.

He’s one of my main coaches, so I’m really lucky to have him experiencing all of this with me. He’ll get to ride and tell me what he feels, and in response to what he’s seen me do, so it’s fun that we can sort of bounce ideas off of each other – he tells me more than I’m telling him – but I feel lucky that he’s here with me.

On the good days, we celebrate together and on the bad days, we talk about everything we can do better to prepare for the next round. So, like I said, I feel lucky that he is here with me and whatever happens today, we’ll talk about it and re-group for tomorrow.

Mario Deslauriers

It’s interesting competing against my daughter. We’ve competed together for a long time now. She’s been doing this height for three or four years, so every show we compete against each other. But this is a bit different. This is a championship. It’s her first championship, so there is a lot more pressure, and you’re with your team all the time. But, she has a good supporting cast. Beezie Madden and everybody in the US is helping, and I’m trying to not interfere. You have to handle every situation a bit differently, but we’re doing great so far. She had a great round and I’m very proud of her.

I rode for Canada for a long time, then I did a little stint for the Americans for six or seven years. It’s good to be back in Canada. I’m Canadian and I’m lucky that I’m very well mounted. I have three or four good horses. So it’s fun. And I compete against Lucy now, so we’ve got one on each side. It’s good – we’ve got two chances!