Canadian Pan Am Dressage Team Announced

Source :  Dressage Canada

(l-r)Reid, Strasser, Dvorak, Brooks, Holzer ©Cealy Tetley

Following the completion of the 2003 Pan American Games Selection Trials for the Canadian Dressage Team, Leslie Reid rode away with the top score after the final leg of the three phase trial.

Reid, from Langley, BC, rode Mark, a nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Marie & Lana Andrews, to the top averaged score of 71.104%. The leader throughout the trials, Reid has much international experience representing Canada being selected as the alternate rider for the Canadian Dressage Team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics aboard Seafox as well as riding Lestat to a Team Gold Medal at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba.

The second member of the Canadian squad is Jacqueline Brooks of Mount Albert, ON. Brooks, riding Gran Gesto, an eight-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Brinc Ltd. and Anne Welch, finished the trials with an averaged score of 67.097%. In 2002, Brooks and Gran Gesto were first in the Intermediare Freestyle at the Coupe des Ameriques, in Blainville, QC. That same year, Brooks also won the Prix St. Georges and the Prix St. Georges Derby aboard a borrowed mount at CDI *** Sydney, in Sydney, Australia.

Leslie Reid & Mark ©Jamie Hoare

Evi Strasser, riding GoodTyme Stables' Quantum Tyme, an eight-year-old Oldenburg gelding, finished in the third qualifying spot for the Canadian Team with a score of 66.944%. Strasser and Quantum Tyme are also no strangers to international dressage competition. The duo has represented Canada on two occasions at the World Breeding Championships in Verden, GER, placing in fourth place overall in the five-year-old division in 2000.

In fourth, riding Gambol, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood Stallion owned by Diane and George Fellows, with a score of 66.671%, is yet another Canadian dressage team veteran, Ashley Holzer. A member of Canada's bronze medal winning dressage team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Holzer was born in Toronto, ON, and is presently based in New York City, NY. As well as her Olympic bronze medal, she has also won an individual silver and team gold at 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba. Riding her current Grand Prix mount Imperioso (NL), a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion, Holzer was also chosen to represent Canada at the Open European Dressage Championships at Hickstead International Show Grounds, Sussex, GBR, on August 13-17, 2003. Christilot Boylen, Shannon Dueck, Belinda Trussell, and alternate Alexandria Wilson will join the busy Holzer in Canada's quest to qualify a team to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, GRE.

Tom Dvorak of Hillsburg, ON, was named as the team alternate aboard Lenz, a 12-year-old Bavarian Warmblood gelding, owned by the CET, with an average score of 66.542%.

Evi Strasser & Quantum Tyme

"We have a solid team of internationally experienced competitors," noted Dressage Canada's High Performance Committee Chair, Kim Goodyear. "Fielding such a squad to the Pan American Games is exciting for Canada."

The Dressage Canada's Pan American Games Selection Trials were comprised of three phases, each contributing one third to the final score. The score for phase one consisted of the average of three tests, two at Prix St. Georges and one at Intermediare I. The second phase, held on July 12 and 13 in Blainville, QC, had the competitors riding a Prix St. Georges test, worth 60% of the second phase score and an Intermediare 1 test, worth the remaining 40%. During the last phase of the Selection Trials, held on July 17 to 20 in conjunction with the Blainville CDI***-W, the riders each rode a Prix St. Georges test, worth 60% of the third phase score and an Intermediare Freestyle, worth the remaining 40%.

The four highest scoring horse/rider combinations were selected to the 2003 Pan American Games Team.

Dressage Canada fosters the growth of dressage and the pursuit of excellence in the sport at the local, national and international levels by providing support and guidance to both amateur and professional through the following programs: coaching education and programs, officials education and programs, rules & qualifying criteria, sport development, publications and awards. For more information about Dressage Canada, visit www.dressagecanada.org.


Pan American Games Selection Trials - Final Standings
Rider/Hometown/Horse/Score

1.Leslie Reid Langley, BC Mark 71.104%
2.Jacqueline Brooks Mount Albert, ON Gran Gesto 67.097%
3.Evi Strasser Ste-Adele, QC Quantum Tyme 66.944%
4. Ashley Holzer Toronto, ON Gambol 66.671%
5. Tom Dvorak Hillsburgh, ON Lenz 66.542%