The Canadian vet team took about three hours to look at the Canadian horses on Sunday evening and then the selectors quickly made their decision to name 6 pairs to the Canadian Olympic team. The fortunate 6, if you haven’t already heard:
Hawley Bennett and Gin N Juice
Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master
Jessica Phoenix and Exponential
Michele Mueller and Amistad
Peter Barry and Kilrodan Abbott
Shandiss Wewiora and Rockfield Grant Juan (Alternates)
After 5 hours of sleep and then the first shift of a 12 hour truck drive across Canada, please forgive me any typos. One thought about Team Canada for each hour of sleep, plus two:
1) Even though Colombo had enough at fence four on Saturday I still expected him to show jump on Sunday. However, when that didn’t happen, the writing was on the wall that his Olympic campaign was over. It’s sad news for Team Canada to have their WEG “big four” become a big three, but that’s eventing. Selena has several nice young horses coming along including her Pan Am horse Foxwood High and she’ll be back riding for Canada soon. Fortunately, the rest of the now big three remains intact.
2) Jessica Phoenix had surgery on Saturday for her broken collar bone and she should be back in action in two weeks with “Tucker” fresh from being tuned up by DOC at Camp O’Connor.
3) Once we heard that Jessie had only broken her collar bone, all signs pointed to her still being a lock for the team. I watched Jessie ride while 8 months pregnant two years ago, so don’t think she won’t be back and better then ever before the Olympics.
4) Rebecca Howard was the best of the Canadians by far at Bromont and she’s absolutely clutch. Riddle Master was never in doubt, let’s move on. Hawley Bennett and Gin N Juice came up big at the WEGs and despite the runout on Sunday, there was still no question that they would make the team. Hawley will be training with a fire these next few weeks to get things sorted out. I expect Ginny to be on top form in time for London.
5) In stark contrast to those veteran pairs, the final team spots for Canada have been up in the air all year and even through the weekend at Bromont. In May, I listed 7 other possible pairs for Canada. Of those, Lindsay Pearce with Saniki and Candar Van Het Neerveld suffered setbacks at recent competitions. As a complete aside, I should also take a moment to wish Lindsay a very happy engagement! Back to the Olympic picture, Diana Burnett and Shigatzi withdrew before the XC at Bromont. That left Shandiss, Peter, Michele, and Jessica Hampf. I honestly think that a really strong case could be made for Jessica considering her good cross-country ride at Rolex, but she underperformed the other three this weekend. Peter had to make the team after his Rolex and performing so well at Bromont. Amistad is a fantastic horse and I can see why the selectors would want to send him with Michele. Shandiss’ horse is very sound and I imagine the selectors look at sending her to England as a good way to invest in her experience in addition to serving as an alternate. I could see Lindsay serving as a backup if the team gets to England and needs another alternate.
6) What does this team mean for Olympic ambitions? I believe that the veterans–Jessie, Rebecca, and Hawley–all have to come up big. Canada should hope for one heck of a tough course at Greenwich from Sue Benson. Then they need 3 rides under 50 and they need to finish on that. It’s no secret how much I love Kilrodan Abbott, and I have considered him one of the best cross-country horses in the world for a long time–he’s very likely the most honest cross-country horse in the world. He got eliminated on Saturday for jumping (successfully) to the right of a red flag on a corner. I’m also a big Amistad fan. Although I don’t know as much about Rockfield Grant Juan, I think Shandiss is clearly a rider of the future for Canada and I love the approach of making her the alternate.
7) I think it’s important to take a moment to think about the significance of selection. These six riders have been given the incredible honor and responsibility of being asked to represent their country. I’m terribly proud for them and of them as members of the North American eventing community.
The Team USA announcement is coming later today. Stay tuned and go Canada.
