Grant comes from a horse family, starting in the sport in Langley, BC, at the Thunderbird facility where his father was a show farrier. Growing up in a horse family where both mother and father held prominent careers in the equine industry, the affinity to the jumping sport was natural. After riding throughout his childhood, Peter left horses to pursue goals in other sports. It wasn’t long, however, before he was drawn back to the sport of show jumping, where course design was a perfect fit to bring together both a love for horses and top sport.
To further perfect his craft, the younger Grant moved east to Spruce Meadows, where he is well known for his prestigious mark in designing numerous CSI 5* courses for all combinations, inspired by mentors Leopoldo Palacios, Anthony D’Ambrosio, Alan Wade, Werner Deeg and Guilherme Jorge.
In the early 2000s, Grant and his close friend Joey Rycroft built jumps for local barns with the help of their late parents William Rycroft and Heather Grant. In 2010, they became friends with Caroline Weilinger (now Grant), a rider and groom, with skills in business administration. From there, Pacific Equine Sport was born — a business offering services ranging from FEI course design, tournament management and the production of show jumping obstacles. The trio incorporated the business in 2013 and moved to Calgary, AB.
Grant is appreciative of receiving this award. “It was quite a pleasant surprise to be named this year,” he said, “I don’t think any of us do the job looking for awards, but it was a nice feeling. I feel honoured to be recognized, especially with so many good officials in Canada.”
The 43-year-old Grant is internationally recognized as an FEI Level III course designer, EC Senior and USEF ‘R’ rated hunter course designer. He has supported course designing teams at championships that include most recently, the FEI 2022 World Championships in Herning, DEN; the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; 2007 and 2017 FEI Jumping World Cup Finals; and the 2010 and 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games.
EC is pleased to have the opportunity to recognize the immense value that Grant has brought to both the organization and the sport of show jumping worldwide.
First introduced in 2004, the EC Official of the Year Award was created to shed light on the talented and knowledgeable officials who help ensure EC sanctioned competitions are safe, fair and fun for all participants. Grant is part of a list of distinguished award recipients, which includes Sharon MacBay (2021), Kim Morrison (2019), Eric Ratledge (2018), John “JT” Taylor (2017) and Michel Vaillancourt (2016). For a full list of recipients, click here.
Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley