Horse Show & Clinic Coverage
Jeux Equestres Du Quebec
by Trish Oswald | September 23, 2008The Federation Equestre du Quebec’s “Caballista†hosted the province’s 13th inter-regional finals September 11th-14th, attracting more than 400 entries.
Qualifiers from eight regions in the disciplines of hunter, equitation, jumper, dressage and eventing enjoyed three days of competition – mostly under sunny skies – at Bromont’s Equestrian Park.
The province’s regions run qualifying competitions from May through August each year, with the top four riders in each division within the discipline going forward to the Finals. During the JEQ, regions are identified by coloured ribbons on their riders’ jackets, with the top three competitors in each division awarded gold, silver and bronze medals, contributing to their region’s final score.
Special events during the three days included a “welcome†barbecue for everyone on Friday night, followed by the popular “Rendez-vous des Kurs†under floodlights on Saturday evening. Sponsored by VIA Rail Canada, this competition featured freestyle dressage tests to music by 11 riders ranging from Level 1 to Intermediaire. The winning test, at Intermediaire level, came from Maguin and Annie Desranleau, with a score of 72%, closely followed by the FEI Pony test of Ronja 591 and Julie Chanelle (71.25%). The Intermediaire level performance of Elios and Cindy Pronovost scored 67.25% to place third. A much appreciated demonstration at Grand Prix level by Armand Valkenborg and Seigneur brought the evening to a close.
This year, the JEQ featured additional awards – the Forestier Athletes of the Year. Sponsored by the French saddlers, Forestier, the top qualifiers from each region in the disciplines of hunter/jumper, dressage and eventing competed against each other for the use of a $3,000 Forestier saddle. Sarah Lemay was the hunter/jumper winner, with Arielle Bourget-Martineau heading the dressage riders and Sarah Ouellet-Laplante on top in the eventing competition.
Special jumper classes included the 1.10m Grand Prix, won by Steve Paquette and Armani, and the Jumper Equitation, headed by Katia Richer. Two hunter equitation Medal classes were included in the programme. Kim Picard was the winner of the FEQ Medal and Alexandra Gagnon took the red ribbon in the Pony Medal. The Hunter Classic was won by the Sud-Ouest region’s My Romeo, ridden by 13-year-old Alexandra Leier.
The Pre-Training winner in eventing was Sarah Ouellet-Laplante, riding A Touch of Frost. Alexandra Barry and Devon took the gold medal in the Training Division.
The strong Rive-Sud (South Shore) region continued its dominance of the JEQ, by winning its twelfth title in thirteen years. Another well-supported region, Laurentides (Laurentians) finished in second place with the Sud-Ouest (South West) region in third. The very small delegation from the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region distinguished itself by taking the gold medal in Show Jumping.
