Riders lean on their furry friends
Tenth place in the Aon Cup on a sweltering Thursday afternoon wasn’t what Tiffany Foster was riding for.
A fast and clean first run earned the Canadian a spot in the jumpoff, but she couldn’t keep up the pace in the trophy round.
“I thought she was fast when we were going, but then I looked up at the end and saw the time. I guess we weren’t,” Foster said with a shrug after the event.
She may have been a little disappointed, but a key member of Foster’s support team couldn’t care less.
Bichu, her nine-year-old French bulldog, was contentedly waiting for her to finish in the International Ring, taking the sting out of the loss.
“They always love you,” Foster said. “They don’t know what colour of ribbon you got.”
Foster is just one of dozens of riders at Spruce Meadows this week with all manner of mutts in tow. Most are small breeds, making it easier to travel around the world with them from show to show.
So much time is spent on the road that having a canine companion helps break up the boredom and the loneliness, they say.
“We show pretty much every weekend,” said Foster, who has home bases in both Ontario and Florida. “It’s a little bit of familiarity. You’re always in a weird hotel room, so at least if you have your dog, you don’t feel totally alone.”
That’s also true for Bo Hopson, who is a long way from his home in Houston, Texas. But despite it being his first time to Spruce Meadows, he was fitting right in with his own French bulldog, Pancho.
“I’m having the time of my life. This is the best horse show I’ve ever been to. It’s a real treat, for him, too,” drawled Hopson as he splashed his seven-month-old pup with a water hose on Wednesday.
“He’s part bulldog, part duck,” Hopson joked.
Sarah Stewart, a show-jumper from Red Deer, said she brings her three dogs wherever she competes.
“We’re animal lovers,” she said.