Canada fielded a triple threat team comprised of Camille Carier Bergeron of Mascouche, QC, Vanessa Creech-Terauds of Caistor Centre, ON, and Beatrice Boucher of Saint-Dominique, QC.
The CDIO-U25 FEI Intermediate II test on March 17 determined the team standings. Carier Bergeron led the pack, armed with both team and individual bronze medals from the 2020 Nations Cup. Partnered with Acoeur (Acordelli x Ricardo), a 14-year-old Baden-Württemberg gelding owned by Gilles Bergeron, she captured first on a score of 69.412%.
Carier Bergeron of Mascouche, QC, and Acoeur set the winning tone for Canada’s Under 25 (U25) team in the CDIO-U25 Nations Cup, held March 16-21, 2021, during the 10th week of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL.
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
Creech-Terauds, who had competed in the three previous Nations Cups with two team bronze medals under her belt, came next for Canada on the leaderboard. She and Fleur de Lis L (First Dance x De Niro), a 12-year-old Hanoverian mare owned by Diane Creech and Louise Leatherdale, danced their way to a score of 66.529% for fourth place.
Rounding out the team performance was Boucher in her Nations Cup debut – and, impressively, her first-ever FEI level competition aboard Baldacci (Havidoff x Rubiquil), owned by Camille and Gilles. Boucher and the 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding placed sixth on a respectable score of 65.323%.
Team Canada totaled a final score of 135.941 – just enough to edge out the United States’ score of 135.295 and find themselves atop the podium for the first time in the Nations Cup’s four-year history.
The extensive experience of the U25 team resulted in a gold medal for Canada.
L to R: Camille Carier Bergeron, Beatrice Boucher, Vanessa Creech-Terauds
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
Carier Bergeron and Acoeur went on to maintain their dominance in the individual awards. They first captured the bronze medal in the CDIO-U25 Grand Prix on March 18 with a score of 68.205%. Gold went to Americans, Hope Cooper and Hot Chocolate W (70.590%), and silver was awarded to her countrymen, Codi Harrison and Katholt’s Bossco (70.282%).
Finally, Carier Bergeron and Acoeur added a gold medal to their growing collection in the CDIO-U25 Grand Prix Freestyle on March 19. The duo’s personal bests score of 74.485% boosted them out of reach of Harrison and Katholt’s Bossco, who secured silver with 74.030%, and Cooper and Hot Chocolate W, who earned bronze with 70.695%.
Individual CDIO-U25 bronze and gold medals were also in the cards for Carier Bergeron and Acouer.
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
“Acoeur definitely gave it all during the last three days. I’m over the moon to come home with three medals,” said Carier Bergeron. “We had some glitches in the CDIO-U25 Grand Prix, which were unfortunately very expensive. Therefore, for the Freestyle I just wanted to focus on having a clean test, which we did!”
Carier Bergeron added, “What a dream team we had with Vanessa and Beatrice. It brought so many memories back from the time we all competed together at the North American Youth Championships. The spirit between us all was fantastic and Denielle, our Chef d’Equipe, was such a supportive, caring and dedicated leader. I am so grateful to my whole team and all my friends behind this. I could never have done it without all of them.”
Boucher and Baldacci placed sixth in both the CDIO-U25 Grand Prix (65.513%) and CDIO-U25 Freestyle (70.315%). Creech-Terauds and Fleur de Lis L closed the competition by placing seventh in the CDIO-U25 Grand Prix (65.000%) and fifth in the CDIO-U25 Freestyle on a score of 70.325%.
“The horsemanship and professionalism from these girls was inspiring,” said Chef d’Équipe, Denielle Gallagher-Legriffon of the Canadian U-25 team. “They all tried their best, took each day and improved upon their performances. I feel so confident that these girls will be incredible ambassadors for Canada across the globe. I’m so proud!”
For full results from the AGDF CDIO-U25, click here. Visit the EC website for more information about dressage programs and services.