Canada Finishes 11th in Para equestrian Team Event

PARIS – Canada only has one half horse, half human team, and it competed in the dressage grade 3 team event on Friday.

The Paris 2024 Para equestrian team event competition is taking place at one of the Games’ most spectacular venues where the riders and their horses plunge into the origins of the equestrian arts, practiced in this royal setting since the late 17th century.

With Jody Schloss riding El Colorado, Austen Burns with Happy Feet 3, and Roberta Sheffield on Fairuza, the Canadians finished 11th in the team event.

“I think my favorite part of para equestrian is the relationship you build with the horse,” Burns said after his round.

“Unlike other sports, where it’s an individual, horse riding and para equestrian is a relationship. And I’m very lucky to ride on an incredible horse that I’ve got the opportunity to build a relationship with over the past year or so.”

Competing against 15 other countries, each rider took a turn in the ring performing the test preemptively created by the federation equestre internationale (FEI) for the grade 3 classification.

As grade 3 competitors, these riders were only required to walk and trot with their horses. They also competed in a smaller ring than the grade 4 and 5 classifications would use.

Schloss competed first with El Colorado, scoring 69.375 for her round. Burns followed on Happy Feet 3, earning 68.167 points. Sheffield finished for the trio with 70.967 on Fairuza.

After her performance Shefflield shared just how focused she gets during competition.

“I don’t really know what happened in there. I was so focused in the moment and riding every stride that was in front of me, that I wasn’t thinking about what had gone wrong, what had gone right, what could have improved.”

In dressage, a mark in the 60 point range — like what Schloss and Burns achieved — is regarded around the satisfactory level, while a 70 range result — like Sheffield’s — is considered a quite good finish.

For context, the highest scoring rider of the day earned 80.000 for her round. The highest individual score possible is 100.000, but that is extremely uncommon.

In total the Canadians earned 208.509 points, finding themselves 27.058 points behind the gold medalists.

The scores are evaluated based on each competitor’s accuracy as they follow the predetermined test sequence, the quality of each movement, and the overall artistic expression of the athlete and their horse.

Para equestrian is the only sport at Paris 2024 judged by artistic expression and thus offers athletes a unique type of competition.