Boyd Martin on Asti’s Charming. Photo by Abby Powell.
Nearly 100 competitors from across seven nations are en route and arriving to the Bromont Olympic Equestrian Park today, primed to compete in this weekend’s multi-level CCI-S, in the Olympic sport of three-day eventing.
General admission and parking are free to the public for dressage and show jumping on Friday, and the exciting and spectator friendly cross-country on Saturday. Thursday will see riders giving their horses the chance to become acclimatized with the competition arena, as well as taking every opportunity to walk (on foot) the extensive cross-country courses and begin making their plans for Saturday.
For some of the best riders in the world, the event is being used as a ‘prep run’ before heading overseas to compete at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials in the United Kingdom, one of the largest CCI5* events in the world.
Top horse and rider combinations currently entered include American Olympian Boyd Martin with Tsetserleg and On Cue; Canadian Olympians Jessica Phoenix with Freedom GS and Watson GS and Colleen Loach with FE Golden Eye; Australian Ryan Wood with Cooley Flight, Great Britain’s Lucienne Bellissimo with Dari and Tremanton; Ireland’s Michael Nolan with Fernhill Galavant and Cool Macallan; Belgian Jan van Gysel with Eiffel de L’Abbaye and Spain’s Susana Tezanos-Moreno with French Kiss.
Photo by Abby Powell.
The levels of eventing offered this weekend include: CCI4*-S, CCI3*-S, CCIU253*-S, CCI2*-S, CCIU252*-S, EV110 and EV100 as well a new Team Challenge modelled after the incredibly successful and popular MidSouth Team Challenge. The fun Team Challenge is designed to give riders an introduction to the experience of riding on and strategizing as a team, with the end goal of finishing a full team with the lowest combined score possible.
Local Olympian Colleen Loach (Dunham, QC) has been a Canadian team member since 2015. She participated in the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Tryon (2018) as well as winning bronze at two Pan-American Games in both Toronto and Lima. Loach will be participating in the CCI2* and CCI4* divisions.
“Bromont is one of my favourite competitions and not just because it’s my ‘hometown’ event,” says Loach. “Bromont’s charm is its low-key, top class atmosphere in a beautiful setting. The rolling terrain makes for excellent cross-country and Derek DiGrazia is my favourite course designer which definitely adds to the appeal. We are lucky to call this event our own and a big thank you must go out to the organizing committee for keeping it alive and persevering through the turmoils of the past few years.”
Fellow Canadian Teammates Jessica Phoenix of Cannington, ON (5-time Pan-Am medalist and Canadian Olympian) and Selena O’Hanlon of Kingston, ON (Canadian Olympian with multiple World Championship starts and team silver medals from the 2010 WEG in Lexington, KY and the 2011 Pan-Am Games in Guadalajara, MEX) join Loach on the current list of entries.
For a full list of entries to date click here.
With a venue among the best in the world and cross-country courses designed by Derek DiGrazia (USA) and Jay Hambly (CAN), the MARS Bromont CCI4*, ‘Little Bromont’ and August Bromont CCI4* offer a true test for horse and rider in the perfect ‘summer resort’ setting of beautiful Bromont, Quebec.
Bromont International H.T.: [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring]
