Ballard helping push Canada show-jumping to new heights
Fresh off a third-place finish on Darko’s Promise in last weekend’s Spruce Meadows Pan American Cup grand prix, Erynn Ballard spoke about the state of Canadian show-jumping with great optimism.
“There’s a lot on the table,” the 37-year-old from Hillsburgh, Ont., proclaimed. “To be Canadian and to be in this position now, it’s looking pretty good for us. We have to collectively decide what everyone is ready for.”
Ballard is ready for anything. On a high with a stable of fine horses, Ballard is throwing her name into the hat for Canadian teams near and far.
“I just think there’s an opportunity now for up-and-coming Canadians,” she said in expanding on her comments. “Say 10 years ago, we weren’t as recognized in the world. Now we are. We’re getting invitations to bigger shows. When you have all these shows close together, if you have the right horse right now, you have an opportunity. Canada is going to have to make smart choices, send the best team they can to the (Spruce Meadows) Masters, to WEG (World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina), to Barcelona (Nations Cup final) ...
“We have a lot of support. We have a bigger fan base in the east than we used to have. So I think it’s just an exciting time. Maybe for me, specifically, because I have the best horses I’ve ever had right now ... and more than one. Now I have five. Changes the game.”
Her newest mount and one she has great faith in is Darko’s Promise, an offspring of the great Darco, the partner of now-retired Belgian rider Ludo Philippaerts. The Pan American was only their third show together.
“I feel very lucky to have this horse and to have Ilan (owner Ferder) as a supporter,” said Ballard, 94th in the FEI rider rankings. “It’s his passion and his business. He also sees if there’s a chance to be a part of a championship team, just because he isn’t riding himself doesn’t mean it isn’t a dream of his to have a horse represented. Hopefully we have an opportunity to keep a good one a little longer.”
Ballard made her Nations’ Cup debut in 2006 at the Spruce Meadows Masters, with Canada winning the event for the first time. And that year she was named Equine Canada’s Equestrian of the Year.
A frightening injury in 2013 set her back. She broke her collarbone and shoulder joint, as well as shattered her scapula. She also sustained severe nerve damage.
“Maybe it happened at the right time,” Ballard said with a shrug. “I didn’t have the right horses. I don’t think there’s ever a good time to get injured, but it made the desire to come back stronger. The first summer I was back, I got Appy Cara, and it’s been flying ever since. For a very bad injury, I had a very good surgeon and a very good recovery. Right now, five years later, I don’t have any secondary issues with it.
“I had a decision to make. I could have given up completely. I was travelling around with students, and I said to my mom, ‘If I never ride again, I could still make a living. I can still teach.’ She said, ‘You probably need to start riding again.’ I got back on, and I thought, yeah, I like this.”
She missed the first two weeks of the Spruce Meadows summer series in order to give her horses experiences at other venues.
“When I started this partnership with Ilan at the beginning of the year, that was the idea,” she noted. “Let’s do bigger, let’s do more, let’s create opportunity ... If the horses get sold, that creates money. Money buys new horses ... money lets you come to horse shows like this.”