If you can win at Spruce Meadows, ‘you can win anywhere’
Welcome, one and all, to the Spruce Meadows Masters.
Welcome to a fantastic five-day event that sees scores of riders and their horses come a-calling to create the perfect picture of showjumping for themselves and their countries.
Yes, superstars saddle up on their mounts at the world-class facility in southwest Calgary in search of their own ... well ... Masters-piece. For good reason ...
“It’s the biggest three days on the international show-jumping schedule annually,” said Spruce Meadows senior vice-president Ian Allison. “Every couple of years, you’ll have the Olympic Games or the World Equestrian Games or that type of thing. But on an annual basis, the final three days of the Masters are the biggest three days of the sport, for a number of reasons.
“They offer the most FEI (International Federation for Equestrian)-ranking points for riders and horses, they offer the most prize money in the sport, and the fan base and the enthusiasm unto which it is received here in Calgary in just amazing. It really is a spectacular international event.”
With 200,000-plus fans expected to take in the high-profile tournament, which begins Wednesday morning, it’s hard to argue with the longtime spokesperson.
It’s also hard to argue with its history, now entering its 43rd year of bringing the world’s best showjumpers and their horses to Spruce Meadows.
This year’s Masters, as always, features an impressive roster of both team and individual champions from the sport. They will compete for some of the sport’s most coveted titles. Individual athletes arriving from across the globe represent countries including Australia, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, Lebanon and Egypt.
Included on the schedule is the BMO Nations’ Cup, with the US primed to defend its coveted title in the celebrated team event Saturday, and Sunday’s third leg of the 2018 Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, the $3-million CP International Grand Prix, which is considered show-jumping ’s biggest day of the annual FEI calendar.
The added motivation for painting a Masters-piece this year is how well that bodes for the followup event. Many of the sport’s prestigious riders will head to North Carolina following the Spruce Meadows tournament for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games.
“One of the things is if you talk (to top riders such as) Eric Lamaze or Kent Farrington or Bezzie Madden is they will say, ‘If you can win here any day, you can win anywhere in the world,’” Allison said. “So for horses to come in here and be at the top of their game and be able to jump these big courses in the big stadium at Spruce Meadows, it really sets them up well for a championship environment.
“So you’ll see them using this as not only an opportunity to have a big week in the sport but also to set up for the World Equestrian Games in a couple of weeks time.” For many, however, a strong performance in the Masters is the primary focus. And two locals are gearing up for the BMO Nations’ Cup, in particular. Calgary’s Kara Chad and Okotoks’ Lisa Carlsen join Canadian superstars Eric Lamaze and Ian Millar on the fourperson Nations’ Cup team for Canada.
“I think we have a pretty strong team — I’m riding with two great riders and an up-and-coming fantastic rider,” said the veteran Carlsen, who last competed in the Nations’ Cup in the 1980s. “We’d like to be in the winners’ circle.”
Spruce Meadows welcomes nine national federation teams set to compete in the coveted BMO Nations’ Cup. The 2017 champion, the United States, returns to the International Ring to defend its title.
The remaining roster of nations invited to compete in the esteemed event include Belgium, Brazil, Germany, France, Ireland, Mexico,
I think we have a pretty strong team — I’m riding with two great riders and an up-and-coming fantastic rider. We’d like to be in the winners’ circle.
Switzerland and Canada.
“We have a plan for the week, so we’ll stick to that as much as we can,” said Chad, 22, of Team Canada.
“I mean ... it’s show-jumping, so you can never really predict what’s going to happen. Up until this point, I think we’ve done everything we could to be ready for this competition to highlight this as being the pinnacle of the summer with looking ahead to the World Equestrian Games also.”
Chad will join fellow Canucks Lamaze, Erynn Ballard and Mario Deslauriers for the trip stateside to the WEG immediately after the Masters.
“Spruce Meadows is an excellent preparation for a championship like that,” she said. “It’s going to tell you where exactly you and your horse are at going into the WEG. You’ll know what you need to do and have a better idea coming off a competition like this to be in the right mindset for your horse to perform for you.”