Riders to Watch: Page 3 Nayel Nassar
February 27, 2014
Vol. 2 No. 3
Week V
Canadian National Anthem Plays in Sochi and California By Lindsay Yandon
Becoming a Clarke
While Canadian hockey was winning gold in Sochi, Canada was also made proud in the U.S. When O Canada played after Saturday’s $50,000 Purina Animal Nutrition CSI-W2* Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, it was playing for more than just the winner, Elizabeth Gingras of Alberta. Gingras and the up-and-coming Bretton Chad, also of Alberta, went one-two for Canada in a threehorse jump-off and celebrated together for their home nation.
An intimate event at the Chateau le Dome at Saddle Rock Ranch in Malibu, California brought two equestrian families together forever with the wedding of Ashlee Bond and Sage Clarke on October 13, 2013.
While humble about the results, Gingras couldn’t control her excited reaction to how her 11-year-old Hanoverian mare performed. One of only three to jump clear over Manuel Esparza’s original track, Gingras topped a complete field of 21 for her first-ever win in a World Cup qualifying class. Esparza of Mexico City, Mexico set a technical track within the FEI-standard confines of the Strongid® C 2X™ Grand Prix Stadium. The twelve obstacles offered horse and rider 15 jumping efforts, with a long and scopey line across the middle of the ring that included a vertical with a Liverpool, seven strides to the triple combination and ended with a tall plank vertical.
By Lindsay Yandon
Bond, a household name in international show jumping, and Clarke, a rodeo bulldogger, cousin to show jumper Lane Clarke and farrier by trade, horses rule this couple’s world. The age-old advice to keep business and personal separate was, however, lost on this pair. “We both get it,” said Bond. “We understand how time consuming this business, but we both love it and it works out better that way. I love that he is able to work at the shows with me and he loves to able to watch me compete.”
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“The water to the triple was very tricky to jump clear,” said Gingras. “The first vertical was a very careful fence and my horse has a large stride, so I was worried about fitting in the seven properly. Then, the plank was tall and pointed right at the out-gate.”
Elizabeth Gingras (right) and Bretton Chad (left) made Canada Photo by Lindsay Yandon
7.5x2proud in the CSI-W2* last week.
“We have been riding together in Alberta for many years,” said Gingras of her history with Chad. “Obviously you always want to win, but it was awesome to see two Canadians at the top. If the roles had been reversed, I would have been a very proud second.”
Gingras jumped the line unscathed, but others were not so lucky – half the field picked up faults in the triple combination line and it was the only element that crushed clear rounds for six pairs. “Her scope is unreal,” said Gingras of the mare that Emile Hendrix found for her over a year ago. “I got her as a nine-year-old, so we have really grown together and become a team. I couldn’t have asked for anything more than what she gave me today.”
HUNTINGTON BEACH . DEL MAR
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Ashlee Bond and Sage Clarke in one of their equine-inspired engagement photos. ©Love and Lemonade Photography
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