Canada's New Show Jumping Elite Meet The Legends of The Sport in The John Deere Canada Cup Championships

Their classrooms have been the best show jumping venues in North America and they’ve been tutored by the sport’s top mentors. And now, they’re demonstrating they have the talent to graduate to the ranks of Canada’s international show jumping elite in the $175,000.00 John Deere Canada Cup Championships held at the Tournament of Champions, September 22-25, 2005.

Riders such as Kim Farlinger, Kelley Small, Erynn Ballard, Courtney Vince and Elliot Stone represent the next generation of Canada’s show jumping athletes. “We’ve got good breadth in the pool,” says Torchy Millar, chair of Jump Canada’s High Performance Committee. “Some new faces, like Kim Farlinger and Kelley Small, have had an exceptional year.”

It’s been a heady season for Farlinger, 21, of Annan, Ontario, who is enjoying her first full season of grand prix competition. The former track and field athlete recently placed fourth at the 2005 North American Young Riders Championships held in Lexington, Virginia with her eight-year-old mare, La Forza. With her 10-year-old Zangerscheide gelding, del Destino, she was awarded the Molson Three Star Gold Medal award, for the second year in a row, at the completion of the four international summer tournaments at prestigious Spruce Meadows in Alberta. The award goes to riders who have not yet competed on a Nations’ Cup Team or at a World Championship, but are competing in FEI divisions alongside seasoned international riders.

“This year has been a learning experience for me,” says Farlinger. “It’s been exciting to learn I can stay at this level and to see my horses move up.” Farlinger is listed on the FEI Gandini World Ranking List and is the fourth highest-placed Canadian after veteran team members Jill Henselwood (68), Ian Millar (71) and Eric Lamaze (75). She was also signed in July as a member of “Team Molson”, a sponsorship that supports riders in their quest for excellence, with the objective to see them make it to the top 30 in world rankings and to hopefully, earn a medal placing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

After high school, Farlinger decided to pursue riding full-time and approached Jill Henselwood to be her coach, based on Henselwood’s excellent record with young riders. Henselwood honed Farlinger’s natural skills and helped her find the right partner in del Destino. “It’s been wonderful, it’s been great, it’s been exciting. I hope this continues,” says Farlinger, who plans to compete in the $1 million grand prix at the Spruce Meadows’ Masters Tournament in September before coming to the Tournament of Champions. She has her sights set on earning the red jacket of the Canadian Equestrian Team next year and to compete in the World Equestrian Games selection trials.

Some of the sport’s other bright up-and-comers include:

Kanata’s Kelley Small, 22, another Jill Henselwood protégé, made her mark as a successful ‘Young Rider’, bringing home team gold and bronze medals in 2000 and 2001 and placing sixth individually last year at the North American Young Riders Championships. She’s continued to impress since stepping up to the grand prix level, ending 2004 in third place in the Canadian World Cup League standings. This past winter, she had several top ten finishes in grand prix competitions on the HITS Desert circuit in California and in June finished 8th with her grey Holsteiner gelding, Calibur, in the $200,000 CN Reliability Grand Prix at the Spruce Meadows National Tournament.

Horses may be a family affair for Erynn Ballard, 24, of Hillsburg, Ontario - her parents David and Sandi own Looking Back Farm (Tottenham, Ontario) and her dad is an international course designer – but Ballard has emerged as a talent in her own right. She consistently places in the top ten at grand prix classes across North America and rides numerous mounts in the young horse development series. She was second this spring in the $75,000.00 Grand Prix in Saugerties, New York and fifth at the Palgrave $100,000.00 World Cup Qualifier in August on Robin Van Roosendael, an 11-year-old Belgian warmblood gelding owned by her parents. Earlier this year, she won a $50,000.00 Grand Pix in Ocala, Florida with Rio’s Rhapsody, owned by Sterling Honda. Currently occupying 3rd spot in the 2005 Canadian rider rankings for money won, Erynn is having her best year to date.

Her sister, Ainsley, is well-known to Canadian show jumping fans, but Courtney Vince of King, Ontario is demonstrating the same nerve and speed in the grand prix ring. In early August, 26-year-old Courtney blazed around the grand prix course at the $100,000 World Cup Qualifier at Palgrave, setting the fastest time of the jump-off; unfortunately, a fallen rail knocked she and Cassius, a nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding, from a first to sixth place. Vince works for Eric Lamaze, who has been her coach for more than a dozen years. As well as bringing along her own mount, Nalla, Vince rides several Torrey Pines horses and Kandel, a French gelding bred and owned by Yann Candele of France.

Elliot Stone’s show ring debut at age 11 was an auspicious one, when he won a jumper division class. Since then, the Midland resident, now 23, has continued to consistently rack up show jumping achievements. In 2003, he was a member of the gold medal winning team at the North American Young Riders’ Championships and in 2002, won the Jump Canada National Talent Squad Series. His partner in those endeavors was Freestyle, an 11-year-old Belgian warmblood mare that is one of his two current grand prix horses; the other is

Ancho de Pomme, a 10-year-old gelding by the legendary show jumper Jus de Pomme. Stone and Freestyle placed fifth in the prestigious $150,000.00 Rolex USET National Championship in New York this spring, 3rd in both the $75,000.00 Grand Prix in Bromont, Quebec in July and the August $50,000.00 World Cup Qualifier in Collingwood.

These talented young riders will face-off against the legends of the sport for the $175,000.00 John Deere Canada Cup Championships at the Tournament of Champions, September 22-25th at the Caledon Equestrian Park, in Palgrave, Ontario.

John Deere (Deere & Company -NYSE:DE) is the world's leading manufacturer of agricultural and forestry equipment; a leading supplier of equipment used in lawn, grounds and turf care; and a major manufacturer of construction equipment. Additionally, John Deere manufactures engines used in heavy equipment and provides financial services and other related activities that support the core businesses. Since it was founded in 1837, the company has established a heritage of quality products and services providing performance that endures to customers worldwide.

Only 35 minutes from downtown Toronto, the Tournament of Champions site is located on Hwy 50, just south of #9 Hwy. Admission on Thursday and Friday is FREE; Saturday and Sunday is $5.00 per person or $10.00 per car including parking. The show gates open daily at 10 am and close at 5 pm.

The 2005 Tournament of Champions is proud to support the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada, CARD (Community Association for Riding for the Disabled) and the Rotary Club of Palgrave.