Ballet on Horseback
accomplished equestrians
do u g pal m er
four Competition is fierce for spots on the 2015 Pan Am dressage team – and
L
eah Wilson has a dream. The 27-year-old equestrian from
Palgrave hopes to represent Canada in dressage at the 2015
Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. “The time is right,” Leah says. “I’ve got my fingers crossed. I’m going to give it a shot.”
34
IN THE HILLS Summer 2014
Leah Wilson and Rendezvous perform an extended trot at the Caledon Pan Am Equestrian Park last year.
The fact that the Pan Am equestrian events will take place at the Caledon Pan Am Equestrian Park in Leah’s hometown makes realizing her dream seem tantalizingly close. But she would pursue her goal no matter where the Games were held. Leah has been riding since she was nine years old and competing internationally since she was 16. Longlisted for the Canadian dressage team from 2004 to 2011, Leah won a silver medal at the 2007 North American Junior and Young Rider Championships. For the past few years, she has set aside her compe
titive goals to concentrate on building her coaching and training business. But this year, she says, “I’m going full steam ahead with competition.” With her most promising horse, eight-year-old Rendezvous, Leah, who owns and operates Aislinn Dressage Inc., a training centre near Orangeville, joins a handful of elite dressage riders from the Head waters region, all of them determined to represent Canada next summer on the pan-American stage. Other Headwaters’ hopefuls include 48-year-old Tom Dvorak, a veteran dressage competitor from
