Oh Canada

I think we're all confused.

Many of us saw the Canadian Team Selection and went.... "Huh. Interesting. Not what I expected." Of course, Jessie and Colleen have worked incredibly hard to get to this point, but I don't think anybody expected Canada to ship 17  and 19 year old horses to Tokyo to compete on the world's biggest stage. I think we all had questions, so I went digging. I am not shy about calling up a bunch of random people and asking for their time, and I am so gracious to those that spent hours on the phone with me. I said the same thing, "I want to write about the facts. This isn't gossip. This isn't hearsay. What are the facts? We all have questions."

I would like to start by stating that I interviewed many people involved in the process. Riders, representatives, and committee members. I won't be quoting them directly as I have assured them anonymity. This blog is the result of my direct research and all opinions, and mistakes, are my own. ​

The Facts
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Team Selectors: Penny Rowland and Jimmy Wofford with Waylon Roberts as a tie-breaker​
James Atkinson was an original selector but recused himself citing personal reasons
Technical Advisor: none 
Chef d'Equipe: none
Team Coach: none
Team Veterinarian: Jan Henriksen DVM
Rider Representative: Mike Winter
Eq Canada Eventing High Performance Manager: Fleur Tipton Eq Canada Overall High Performance Director: James Hood  

Individuals Selected for Olympics: 
Jessica Phoenix/Pavarotti
Colleen Loach/Qorry Blue D'Argouges
Alternates
First Alternate: Karl Slezak on Fernhill Wishes
Second Alternate: Hawley Bennett-Awad on JollyBo

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A Quick History

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It's hard to decide where to begin. It's impossible to decide where to begin with the direction of the 2021 Olympics, but if we were to start at the beginning, who knows how far back we would go. 
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Equestrian Canada has been a bit of a mess for years. Continually changing leadership, a different coach almost every cycle, and no true leadership from the High Performance Eventing Manager. Their processes are open to litigation and Technical Advisors aren't involved or are only involved as much as they have to be, and selectors that don't even try to get to the events. It's no wonder the athletes are fed up. 

For the Tokyo Olympics, there are only 200 spots for all of the horses competing in Jumping, Eventing, and Dressage. 75 spots for Jumping, 65 spots for Eventing, and 60 spots for Dressage. When looking at Teams, there were only 20 teams for Jumping, and 15 teams for each Eventing and Dressage. Any country that didn't qualify a team could get one individual spot for dressage, one individual spot for  jumping and two individual spots for eventing. The list of Qualification Events is located below.  Canadian Eventing didn't send a team to Poland or France and failed to qualify a team at any of the other events.

In 2016, Jessica Phoenix sued Equestrian Canada after not being named a member of the 2016 Olympic team that would compete in Rio, citing that the Selection Process was unfair. Equestrian Canada paid $35,000 towards Phoenix's legal costs. She finished in 38th place individually with Team Canada (Rebecca Howard, Jessica Phoenix, Colleen Loach, Kathryn Robinson) placing tenth overall.
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Back in 2017, Equestrian Canada attempted to change things by getting together an EC Eventing Committee to address the Canadian High Performance Riders’ concerns. A new Chair of Eventing High Performance Committee was named, Rob Stevenson, and there was much discussion on how the High Performance Committee needed to meet the needs of the athletes. But now, there is no Rob Stevenson. There isn't a Coach. There isn't a Technical Advisor. So who is leading the team? 19 riders wrote letters of complaint to Equestrian Canada. Rider representatives were quitting due to conflicts of interest and their voices not being heard. Equestrian Canada then hired a third party for external audit and Ozzie Salwicki appeared on the scene. Somehow, in some way, Mr. Salwicki went from the third party auditor and turned into the Chef D'Equipe for Eventing during 2015. 

The 2018 World Equestrian Games arrived and a team was named. Hawley Bennett-Awad on JollyBo, Lisa Marie Fergusson on Honor Me, Colleen Loach on Qorry Blue d'Argouges, Selena O'Hanlon and Foxwood High, with Jessica Phoenix on Pavarotti. A good placing would give Canada a Team spot in the Olympics. It's also important to remember that Canada was scheduled to host the 2018 WEG at Bromont but they couldn't come up with sufficient funding to back the Games. Team Canada finished in 11th place at WEG, unable to secure an Olympic team spot. 

The 2019 Pan American Games, located in Lima, Peru, gave the Canadian team another chance. Dana Cooke, Colleen Loach, Jessica Phoenix, and Karl Slezak were named. Equestrian Canada looked like they wanted to give the rookies a shot at Lima (with the exception of Pavarotti)  but it backfired when they again didn't qualify a team. The records of the horses are posted below. ​​

Dana Cooke on FE Mississippi from 2018 through Lima Pan Ams

Jessica Phoenix on Pavarotti from 2018 through Lima Pan Ams

Karl Slezak on Fernhill Wishes from 2018 through Lima Pan Ams

Colleen Loach on FE Golden Eye from 2018 through Lima Pan Ams

In 2019, the entire High Performance Group disbanded because of the appeals over Carding. (I'm not even going to start discussing carding because that's an entirely different blog post with more appeals and lawsuits.) Rob Stevenson and David O'Connor stepped down over the disputes and  riders weren't told until months after that the Chair of High Performance and the Technical Advisor resigned. There was a scramble for a new Technical Advisor, there was no Team Coach, and Equestrian Canada didn't notify riders of the budget or the search process. Equestrian Canada  told the riders in March 2020: "Unfortunately the time frame for accreditation has passed. A Team Coach, even selected now, would not be able to join the riders in Tokyo." The riders then elected to not hire a coach. The riders did vote on adding Jimmy Wofford as a selector. Many cited Penny Rowland as biased due to her relationship with Jessica Phoenix, but only one rider actually went on record stating they thought Penny was biased. Penny Rowland owns Cranmore Farms in partnership with Dr. Usha Knabe, who is the veterinarian for Pavarotti. 

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Tokyo Olympic Nomination Criteria and Procedure 

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Equestrian Canada has all of the Nomination Criteria and Procedures listed on their website. The criteria was approved by the COC October 21st, 2019 and was last updated May 3, 2021. The Eligibility for Athletes (Equine and Human) can be checked on the list of Criteria and Procedures. Any horse/rider pair that was interested in potentially being on the Team had to Declare by Monday, November 2nd, 2020.
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I will copy and paste sections of the Nomination Criteria and Procedures that I find the most interesting.

When it came time, there were only a few horse and rider pairs that were seriously in contention for the 2 individual spots.

Colleen Loach on Qorry Blue D'Argouges
Karl Slezak on Fernhill Wishes
Lisa Marie Fergusson on Honor Me
Jessica Phoenix on Bogue Sound/Pavarotti
Hawley Bennett-Awad on JollyBo
Mike Winter on El Mundo
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Remember that an FEI Qualifying Result (MER) must take place from 1 January 2019 until June 21, 2021 for it to count towards a Qualifying Result at a CCI5*-L, CCI4*-S, or CCI4*L. MER's are Dressage 45 penalty points or less; Cross Country clear round or a maximum of 11 points for activating a Frangible Device with not more than 75 seconds exceeding optimum time for three and four star competitions and 100 seconds in the case of five star competitions. Jumping Test not more than 16 jumping penalties.

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Breaking Down FEI Results

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Equestrian Canada Nomination Criteria and Procedures, Section 5.2.1. The Selection Panel will consider the performance results of the combination in international CCI 5*-L, CCI4*-L and CCI4*-S competitions in 2019 and 2020 and 2021. Competition results achieved at 4 star and 5 star level (or the equivalent) prior to 2019 may be considered to demonstrate the experience of the combination.

In assessing the performances, the Selection Panel will:
• consider the demonstrated competitiveness of the combination in all phases on a consistent basis
• consider those combinations that have demonstrated reliable cross country performances with no jumping penalties
​• consider those athletes that have achieved the National Team Program High Performance Squad metrics in 2019, 2020 or 2021, however, these athletes will not be given priority over other athletes in the selection process.
​This breakdown will include competitions beginning January 1, 2019 through current and focusing on 4*S, 4*L, and 5*L results. 

Qorry Blue D'Argouges with Colleen Loach
2004 Selle Francais Gelding
Colleen is #308 on the FEI Rankings List
Qorry's FEI Record
​Notable Appearances: Eliminated at the 2019 Kentucky 5*L, 6th at the 2019 Bromont 4*L, 2nd at Red Hills CCI4*S,  Eliminated at the 2021 Kentucky 5*L, Eliminated at 2021 Great Meadows
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Colleen's record is missing the Great Meadows FEI that was a Mandatory Outing for the US riders, so at her last two competitions she fell off. Her horse stopped at the jump into the water and Colleen fell off. Colleen and Qorry have a long history together, starting their FEI career in 2013 after she took over the ride from Peter Barry (CAN). Since the beginning of 2019, Qorry's dressage is very consistent with scores ranging from 32 to 34.8 He has a very good cross country record, with the last penalty in 2016 at the Rio Olympics. Qorry typically has at least 4 penalties in SJ and sometimes 8 penalties. He has had one clear round since 2017 and this was at the 2021 Red Hills CCI4*S. 

Fernhill Wishes with Karl Slezak
2009 Irish Sporthorse Gelding
Karl is #302 on the FEI Rankings List
Fernhill Wishes FEI Record
​Notable Appearances: 6th at 2021 Jersey CCI4*L, Fell at 2021 Kentucky 5*L, Technically Eliminated at 2021 Chatt CCI4*S, 5th at 2021 Red Hills CCI4*S, 12th at the 2019 Pan American Games, 5th at the 2019 Bromont CCI4*L

Fernhill Wishes was Technically Eliminated at the 2021 Chatt 4*S because Karl missed a fence. Fernhill Wishes' dressage scores range from 27.7 to 37.4. The horse's last cross country penalty was at the 2019 Pan American Games. His SJ shows 8 penalty points at the Jersey CCI4*-L, one rail at the 2021 Red Hills CCI4*S, but other than that, in recent years he doesn't have any SJ penalties. 

Honor Me with Lisa-Marie Fergusson
2006 Mixed Breed Gelding
Lisa-Marie is #315 on the FEI Rankings List
Honor Me FEI Record
​Notable Appearances: 37th at the 2021 Kentucky CCI5*L, 8th at 2019 Ocala Jockey Club CCI4*L, Withdrew at the 2019 Fair Hill CCI4*L, 23rd at the 2019 Kentucky 5*L

Honor Me's dressage scores range from 31.7 to 42.8 since 2019. Honor Me hasn't had a significant cross country penalty since 2016. Honor Me has only jumped 3 clear show jump rounds since January 1st, 2019 with records showing 8 through 16 penalty points in the SJ phase. 

JollyBo with Hawley Bennett-Awad
2004 British Sport Horse Mare
Hawley  is #475 on the FEI Rankings List
JollyBo FEI Record
​Notable Appearances: 5th at the 2021 Rebecca Farm CCI4*L, 14th at 2021 Jersey CCI4*L, 7th at 2020 Galway Downs CCI4*L, 20th at 2019 Kentucky 5*L, 50th at 2018 World Equestrian Games

JollyBo's dressage is consistent with the range running 32.4 to 36.7  since January 1, 2019. She hasn't had a Cross Country penalty since 2018. Her Show Jumping record ranges from 12 penalties to a clear round with only two clear rounds jumped since January 1, 2019. 

Pavarotti with Jessica Phoenix 
2002 Westfalen Gelding
Jessica  is #392 on the FEI Rankings List
Pavarotti's FEI Record
​Notable Appearances: 3rd at 2019 Red Hills CCI4*S, 10th at 2019 Ocala Jockey Club CCI4*L, 6th at 2020 Red Hills CCI4*S, 11th at 2021 Kentucky 4*S

Pavarotti's Dressage scores range from 27.4 to 35.3. Pavarotti's record is clear of XC penalties since 2019 with one fall in 2018 at the WEG. Pavarotti's SJ penalties range from clear rounds to 12 penalties, with his most recent outing at Kentucky CCI4*S ending on a 69 with 12 SJ penalties. 

El Mundo with Mike Winter
2009 KWPN Gelding
Mike is #657 on the FEI Rankings List
El Mundo FEI Record
​Notable Appearances: 14th at 2019 Tattersalls CCI4*L, 26th at 2019 Blenheim CCI4*L, 18th at 2020 Burnham Market CCI4*L

​Mike Winter is based in the UK. Why is this important? Where we might run 20 to 30 FEI horses in a 4*L division in the United States, Mike competed against 91 horses when he finished 18th at the 2020 Burnham Market CCI4*L. The winning score was a 23.2 and they didn't hit 40 penalty points until 35th place. When looking at FEI records, El Mundo's placings may seem "not as good" when compared to the North American based riders but it's important to remember that he is competing with the top riders in the entire world. This would also explain his FEI Rankings Number because it's based on top finishes. 

El Mundo's Dressage ranges from 30.4 to 37. He has had two cross country penalties since January 1, 2019 but in SJ, it's 50/50 whether he has a clean round or 4 penalties.

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The Rest of It and How to Fix It

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For the 2021 Olympic trials, there were no predetermined selection trials cited. Therefore, the riders were told that they could choose their own events and schedules, but they were also told that their FEI Results from 2019-2021 would be evaluated for selection. The team vet, Jan Henriksen DVM, reviewed some horses in January/February 2021 and then again at the Kentucky CCI 4*S/5*L. Additionally, there were a few Canadian horses that were fully evaluated after CCI4* Jersey's show jumping. This was the same Jersey CCI4*L where neither one of the selectors was present and instead, had Ryan Wood and Matt Brown stand in as "spotters". This would also be the same event where five Canadians placed in the top 20 (Karl Slezak, Colleen Loach on two horses, Hawley Bennett-Awad, and Kyle Carter). 
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When it came time for the final jogs of the selected Canadian Olympic horses, the alternates were not notified. When looking at the ages of the two selected horses (17 and 19) perhaps it would have been wise to have an alternate standing by. Karl Slezak heard of the final jog through the grapevine, loaded his horse at Chatt Hills, and drove through the night to get to the jogs in New Jersey. Let me repeat: the first alternate for the Olympic games received zero communication from Equestrian Canada about the final jogs. Hawley Bennett-Awad as the second alternate was not notified of the inspection. With her residence in California, she was unable to make the drive. The same veterinary evaluation was performed on Karl's horse, filmed and recorded, for proof. I was told that the selected horses were not lunged and they did not have flexions done. This is concerning, especially considering back in 2016 then Team Veterinarian Dr. Jill Copenhagen and Dr. Anne Baskett expressed concerns. From Dr. Copenhagen: "To summarize my findings on Pavarotti, he has chronic active tendonitis affecting the right front SDF. It has been closely monitored since October 2015. There are two areas of concern. An older area of inflammation at mid level of the tendon has been non-reactive and static on ultrasound since the spring. A newer area of fibre disruption and inflammation presented itself in April 2016....there is a strong possibility that the fibers will tear more fully at some point during his athletic career. That may be this year or 2 years down the road.... I cannot predict the outcome, but I do have reservations about his soundness following an Olympic effort at speed." This opinion was challenged by Pavarotti's vet Dr. Usha Knabe (business partner to Team Selector Penny Rowland), who stated, "I performed both a clinical and ultrasound examination...his tendons palpated normally." 

And citing the Post Team Selection under Substitutions 7.2.3: A substitution may be required in the following: if a combination is underperforming during the 2020 pre-Games training camp to the extent that, in the reasonable opinion of the Selection Panel in consultation with the Team Veterinarian, it is reasonably likely to have a negative impact on the team's performance during the OG. One has to wonder if it was wise to send Colleen after she fell during Qorry Blue D'Argouges' last two preparatory competitions? The Selection Panel also added: The Selection Panel shall then have the authority and absolute discretion to make all such substitution decisions after reviewing all relevant evidence and in consultation with the athlete.

I asked every single person what they thought EC needed to change to make “the team”, “a team.” Every single person's first reaction was to restructure the entire High Performance personnel. Many people said there needs to be more rider involvement. In such a small country with a limited pool of High Performance Eventers, it makes sense that the riders would have a stronger voice. People suggested revamping Equestrian Canada's High Performance program and starting over from scratch. New Selectors, new Team Coach, new Technical Advisor/Chef d'Equipe. Many riders are not currently willing to "rock the boat" because there is such a small number of them, and because they want to be selected. The riders had a lot of great suggestions for the High Performance Eventing Group in 2020, but nothing was addressed and nothing was changed. It was repetitively stated that there is no leadership, no direction, and that Equestrian Canada has let riders down in a lot of ways over the years. There needs to be good people in charge of the Eventing Committees: people who are passionate, knowledgeable, and care about the success of the Canadian team that are unbiased and willing to work together. 

So here we are. It's the day of Cross Country at the Tokyo Olympics and Colleen Loach is the only Canadian to leave the start-box because Jessica Phoenix pulled Pavarotti Tuesday July 27th citing "a minor injury during his final preparation gallop." With only two individuals qualified, would it have been a better use of funds to send two horses that could have used the international experience for the future when Canada could qualify a full team? Equestrian Canada could have even saved funds by sending a rider that is already halfway there (Mike Winter on El Mundo, based in the UK). ​

Please join me in wishing Colleen and Qorry the best of luck and a safe run on cross country and a speedy healing to Pavarotti!

Chime in below... what are your thoughts on Equestrian Canada and how they handled the 2021 Tokyo Olympics? Who would you have put on the team?