Thanks to a generous donation from Kelly McCarthy-Maine and Shane Maine, the athletes will have access to travel grants to assist in the costs of travelling to and competing in the southern Belgian town close to the border of Luxembourg.
The following members of the Canadian Eventing team will represent the maple leaf in Arville (in alphabetical order):
Hanna Bundy
Horse: Lovely Assistant (Colonel John x Silver Ghost)
Owner: Juliana Hansen
Kendal Lehari
Horse: Audacious (Iron Man x Rumlum Star)
Owners: Gwen, Kendal, and Rein Lehari
Katie Malensek
Horse: Landjaeger (Landkönig 3 x Unbridled’s Image XX)
Owner: Katie Malensek
Jessica Phoenix
Horse: Wabbit (Line of Departure x Great Gladiator)
Owners: Jim Phillips, Colleen Mitchell, and Jessica Phoenix
Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley and Katie Malensek
“The Eventing High Performance Advisory Group is excited to be sending four horse & rider combinations to Arville, thanks to Kelly and Shane’s generosity,” shared HPAG chair Emily Gilbert. “This competition will provide crucial team experience and exposure to the Nations Cup format for the athlete combinations and international experience in a globally competitive field.”
Last year’s Nations Cup at Arville saw five European nations compete including Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Great Britain, and FEI World Championship winners – Germany. With a key strategic goal of building a positive performance trajectory for the Canadian Eventing Team adding them into a mix with some of the world’s best will deliver in spades.
The team heading to Arville has three newcomers to this level of international competition with one veteran rider. As a three-time Olympian, five-time Pan American Games medalist and appearances in three FEI World Equestrian Games, Phoenix has a wealth of intercontinental experience. Bundy, Lehari and Malensek will be making their first appearance on European soil. Each are excited for what the experience will bring to them, their horses, and the Canadian Eventing Team as a whole.
“We are incredibly honoured to have been named to the Nations Cup team for Arville this August,” said Phoenix of Cannington, ON. “Canadian Eventing is building a world-class program with exceptional opportunities, and we are so thankful to be a part of this upward momentum. Thank you to Kelly and Shane for making this travel grant possible! And thank you to Jim Phillips and Colleen Mitchell for being wonderful owners of Wabbit!”
Bundy of Toronto, ON shared her pride for representing the maple leaf. “I am so proud to be named to the Canadian Nations Cup team in Arville, Belgium,” she said. “Receiving one of the generous travel grants has made the trip possible for us and I am so grateful. Go Canada!”
Malensek, who resides in Ormond Beach, FL, is a small animal veterinarian who competed in her first CCI 4* in Myakka, FL, earlier this year. She and ‘Brewster,’ now nine, have been partnered since he was a yearling. “It is an honour to be selected for the Nations Cup team for Canada this summer. I am so grateful for the opportunity provided by the Eventing HPAG, and of course, Kelly and Shane,” she said. “The exposure for my horse and I to the competition, training and courses overseas will be unparalleled.”
Lehari of Uxbridge, ON, said “I am very excited and honoured to be named to the Nation’s Cup Team for Arville on Audacious,” she said. “This is such a fantastic opportunity to get experience overseas that the HPAG, Kelly McCarthy Maine and Shane Maine have made possible. I will travel overseas with two horses (Audacious and Mitchell) and extend my stay to train and compete in the UK to get more experience competing overseas.”
For more information on the CCI4* Arville, please click here.