Horsing Around

This past Friday, we tapped into our inner Kate Middletons and attended the FEI Nations Cup at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley to watch equestrians from Mexico, Canada, the US and Ireland compete in this Olympic-calibre team horse-jumping event. This marked the first time the prestigious event has been held in BC, and North Vancouver export Tiffany Foster provided one of the afternoon’s three elegant, double-clear rides with her horse, Victor. 

Sponsored in part by Swiss watchmaker and official event timekeeper Longines, the VIP tent of this first and only Canadian stop for the international series was the place to see and be seen on a sunny Friday afternoon.

To make the 45 kilometre trip from Vancouver, we traded in our Car2Go for an Electric Ford Focus, which we charged up at the local Save-on-Foods station before settling into the comfy recycled Repreve faux leather seats and zipping onto Highway 1.

Fully electric with no engine to speak of, the smooth, quiet ride provided the perfect transition from Vancouver traffic to expansive countryside. Rolling down our windows to take in the clean, fresh country air, we felt worlds away from urban life as we expertly maneuvered into our spot in the VIP parking lot (thank you, rearview camera!).

The 90 kilometre round-trip put quite a dent in the car’s 140-kilometre range, but thankfully the Focus came equipped with a handy charge cable, which we plugged into our friends’ carport at our post-event BBQ later that evening.

One of the highlights of the day was a course walk with designer Peter Holmes prior to the start of the competition. We had a horse’s-eye view of just how challenging these verticals and water obstacles were, and naturally our host, Longines, was the sponsor of the triple jump—a.k.a. the hardest of them all. Longines has a long history of ties to the equestrian world, with the oldest known advertisement for the brand (1881) covering all things horse racing.

We settled into our front row seats to take in the opening flag ride, the national anthem and the competition itself while sipping on G&Ts and alternately chatting with our friends from Longines and Global Watch Company, or holding our breath in anticipation of each round.

We weren’t the only ones mesmerized by the beauty: The Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco was also there to cheer on equestrian beau Karl Cook.

Canada came in second this round, and finished third overall, but we got a taste of what we’ll see at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Both Foster and her Nations Cup teammate, gold medalist Eric Lemaze, will take to the field for Team Canada in August, and we have high hopes for these high horses!  —Kelsey Klassen and Lise Boullard