OCALA, FL (352today.com) – It’s a dream realized.
For show jumper Erynn Ballard, being named to Canada’s Olympic team has taken on greater significance.
The 44-year-old had been close to an Olympic berth multiple times. Her horse prior to the 2016 games in Rio De Janeiro was sold, and Canada didn’t send a team to Tokyo in 2021. So, she says the selection to go to Paris is even more meaningful.
“For the past decade, we’ve been working toward this goal to get here,” said Ballard, who’s no stranger to international competition. She rode in her first Nations Cup in 2006. ” It’s been a magical year, and certainly the last six weeks (with huge wins in Canada at the Thunderbird Show Park and at Spruce Meadows), have been something that dreams are made of.”
However, Ballard is going to Paris on a horse that she’s ridden for only a couple of months, the 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood Paard mare, Nikka VD Bisschop.
Ballard and Nikka qualified for the Olympic games, with a limited number of opportunities, with both human and equine athletes responding to the pressure and challenge.
“The stars are aligning. Everything is working out the way that it should,” said Ballard, who was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, and resides in Palgrave, Ontario. “Most people go to the Olympics on horses they’ve ridden for years. I’m going on one that I’ve shown in 11 classes so far. She’s an exceptional animal.”
Success has seemed to follow Ballard this summer, as she scored big wins the past two weeks at the World Equestrian Center (WEC), winning the $125,000 Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix on Coconet, a 10-year-old oldenburg mare, on June 22. She followed that up by winning the $40,000 Yeti National Grand Prix the following day on Mullentine Shalom, a 10-year-old Irish sport horse mare; and won the $62,500 Fresh From Florida Grand Prix on the 10-year-old holsteiner mare Gucci on June 30.
The veteran rider seemed to be in the right place at the right time and is no stranger to getting on a horse at the eleventh-hour, producing big results as part of the process.
“When they were looking for a Canadian rider with chances to qualify the horse for the Olympics, I was certainly the one that stood out as far as being able to get on at the last minute,” said Ballard. “It’s a great team, a great horse and great owners (Mark and Tara Rein).”
Ballard spent much of her time as a junior rider in Marion County starting her professional career in Ocala, and although she’s shifted her tack to Wellington, Florida, she still has a soft spot for the area.
“There’s a lot of history here, memories here and success here,” said Ballard. “Even though I don’t base here anymore, you never forget where you grew up and where you learned.”
She’s shown at WEC the past four summers, has enjoyed continued success and sees the venue as an exceptional place to develop horses.
“It’s a great place to make some results and it looks great on the resume,” said Ballard. “I think they (the horses) really grow here. We take them into this ring, with these jumps, this footing and teach them how to run. You can teach them how to jump and that carries on for the rest of the year. This is a spot we use.”