The fences are set here for the second day of show jumping at the Pan American Games! Today the team medals will be decided after two rounds of jumping, and we'll also know the 35 individuals who'll return on Saturday to vie for those medals. Fifty pairs are jumping today.
Flipping through an issue of The Chronicle of the Horse from 1975, we found a picture of Canadian rider Ian Millar, his arm wrapped in a sling, at the 1975 Pan American Games. Read on to hear the incredible story.
Riders at the Pan American Games have 45 seconds to trot around the outside of the ring once the judge rings the bell and we wanted to know how they prepared their horses to enter at A.
While we loved cheering on the U.S. and Canadian teams as they battled it our for the top medals, we equally enjoyed talking with riders from smaller countries who each came to the Pan Ams with an interesting story to tell.
Here's three riders we found.
We’re three days into this two-week competition now, and, as you’ve probably heard, things aren’t going perfectly. There’s been no live streaming. It’s been warm, and there’s no shade for the spectators. There aren’t many food options at the Caledon venue. But, despite the annoyances (and no video is a big one for those of you at home!), I already have plenty of highlights from the Pan American Games in Toronto.
The U.S. team came to these Pan American Games with a mission in two parts. The first was scoring an Olympic qualifying spot for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, but the way there was a team gold. The four riders—Steffen Peters, Kimberly Herslow, Laura Graves and Sabine Schut-Kery—completed that mission today by winning the team competition.
As riders came out of the dressage ring yesterday at the Pan American Games, several of them exchanged high fives with a very enthusiastic volunteer who was helping open and close the gate at A. Closer examination under her baseball cap revealed just who that volunteer was—Canadian team alternate Jacqueline Brooks.
