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OPPOSITE PAGE TOP: Team member, Sara Sheppard OPPOSITE PAGE, BOTTOM: Saddle Seat Canada from left to right: Robyn Davies, Brittany Blanchard, Rachelle Devenyi, Cailtyn Malyk, Sara Sheppard, Catriona Kozijn and Skye Davies ABOVE: Saddle Seat Canada gathers at the opening ceremonies of the Saddle Seat World Cup 2016 LEFT: Team member, Robin Davies BELOW, LEFT: Team member, Rachael Devenyi BELOW, RIGHT: Team member, Catriona Kozijn
ultimately accumulate toward a total team score. Any kind of saddle seat-type horses are donated for use at the competition. Mostly, this includes Saddlebreds because of the five-gaited divisions but Morgans and Friesians are also used. The athletes compete on horses that are supplied by the host competition and horses they are not familiar with, which is a true test of their horsemanship and riding skills. Each rider performs and is judged on rail work (riding as a group doing all required gaits), and an individual work out (pattern) on two different horses. The riders only have 20 minutes of practice time on each horse before they have to show. In fact, some riders don’t even get that much time because the coach may switch up horse and rider combos at the last minute, to obtain the best possible matches. This year, Saddle Seat Canada sent both three-gaited and five-gaited Canadian Saddle Seat Teams to the
International Saddle Seat Equitation World Cup in Paarl, South Africa. The competition took place at Mistico Equestrian Center from July 3-9,2016. The Canadian Teams brought home bronze medals in both the threegaited and five-gaited divisions. AB
“The athletes compete on horses that are supplied by the host competition and horses they are not familiar with, which is a true test of their horsemanship and riding skills.” A L B E RT A B I T S | F A L L 2 0 1 6
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