Fair Hill, Maryland – October 26, 2003 - The Canadian Eventing Team won the Silver Medal and earned Olympic qualification at the 2003 Pan American Eventing Championships held October 22-26 during the CCIO*** Fair Hill International Three Day Event in Fair Hill, Maryland.

Comprised of Hawley Bennett of Langley, BC, Bruce Mandeville of Puslinch, ON, Penny Rowland of Orangeville, ON, and Michael Winter of Toronto, ON, the Canadian Eventing Team opened the three day event in second position following Friday’s dressage test and maintained the placing through Saturday’s demanding cross-country phase. On Sunday, Bennett, Mandeville and Winter successfully completed the final phase of stadium jumping to secure the Team Silver Medal and a berth at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

“I had such a great time, everything about it was positive!” enthused Winter, 29, who was Canada’s top finisher individually with a score of 92.8 penalty points to move into eleventh place.

Winter, now based in Newnan, GA, was riding Balista, a 12-year-old American thoroughbred gelding owned by Emeline Loughlin. Both Winter, 29, and Bennett, 26, were making their Canadian Eventing Team debut at the 2003 Pan American Eventing Championships.

“I couldn’t have asked for more from my horse, he was great!” noted Bennett, who placed 15th individually riding Livingstone, her 13-year-old Canadian thoroughbred gelding. “And I couldn’t have asked for a better Team!”

The Canadian Eventing Team was anchored by Mandeville and Larrisa, a 14-year-old Canadian Trakehner mare owned by her breeders, Franz and Elke Hollenbach. Together, Mandeville and Larrisa have successfully completed the 1999 Pan American Games, 2000 Olympic Games, 2002 World Equestrian Games and CCI**** Badminton earlier this year and have now added a Team Silver medal to their long list of accomplishments.

“She was great!” said Mandeville who finished in 14th place individually with a final score of 106.4. “She’s tired, poor girl, but she is such a trooper!”

As Rowland was forced to withdraw her horse, Aberdare, during Phase C on Saturday, hers became the drop score as only the top three scores are counted towards the Team standings.

“A team success doesn’t happen without a team effort, and it has truly been a team effort!” noted Greg Paull, chef d’equipe of the Canadian Eventing Team. “Every single one of our athletes appreciated how important it was to have a team finish and put that objective before their own individual goals. Jimmy Wofford, our team coach, has been an inspiration and we’re looking forward to working with him for another year as we move towards success in Athens!”

While the Silver Medal belonged to Canada with a final score of 325 penalty points, the United States successfully defended the gold medal with a final score of 190. Brazil earned the bronze medal with a total of 1394.4 penalty points.

The United States swept the individual medals. Darren Chiachhia of Springville, NY, won the gold medal riding the Trakehner stallion, Windfall 2, for owner Dr. Timothy Holekamp. Karen O’Connor earned the silver medal riding Joker’s Wild while Jan Thompson earned the bronze medal with Shared Dreams.

Similar to a triathlon, horse-rider combinations compete in three distinct phases – dressage, cross-country and stadium jumping, held over three consecutive days. As three day eventing was not included in the Pan American Games programme in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the Pan American Championships were organized in conjunction with the annual CCI*** Fair Hill International Three Day Event in Fair Hill, Maryland. Twenty-six horse-rider combinations representing Argentina, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States contested the Pan American Eventing Championships division.

The annual CCI*** Fair Hill International Three Day Event attracted 70 entries. Suzy Pettman, 25, of Westbank, BC, enjoyed a top ten finish, placing seventh riding Kilcoltrim. Pettman dropped just one rail in the final stadium phase to finish the event with a total of 68.2 penalty points.

Gary Roque of East Caledon, ON, placed 22nd with a total score of 101.8 penalty points riding Waikura while Amanda Vines of Langley, BC, finished in 34th position with Simon Says, her 13-year-old Canadian thoroughbred gelding. Lesley Grant of Mount Albert, ON, finished 36th with a final total of 148.6 penalty points riding her 12-year-old Canadian thoroughbred mare, Snappy.

The CCI*** Fair Hill International was won by Karen O’Connor of The Plains, VA, riding Grand Slam while young rider, Kristin Schmolze, 20, took second place with Cavaldi. Julie Richards placed third riding her 2000 Olympic mount, Hyde Park Corner.

Proud supporters of the Canadian Eventing Team include Abbott Laboratories, Bayer Healthcare, Boogaloo Brushing Boots, Can-Pro Horse Equipment (Bahr’s Saddlery), E.W. Tack, Maui Jim Sunglasses, Merial Canada Inc., and Phoenix Performance Products.