Against all odds, Vancouver-bred equestrian Tiffany Foster will represent Canada at this Olympics in Rio 2016.
There was the first break—her back at the age of 23. Four years later, there was heartbreak—an abrupt pain shared with a nation when she was disqualified from individual competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Despite these immense challenges, both physical and emotional, Canadian show jumper Tiffany Foster will not be grounded. The resilient and talented 31-year-old equestrian athlete who first rode a rocking horse as a toddler in her North Vancouver home will compete at her second Olympic Games this month in Rio de Janeiro.
She will ride 14-year-old Tripple X, a black stallion she describes as a “beautiful and muscular” competitor with unexpectedly pretty, light brown eyes that she can lead over big jumps at the Olympic Equestrian Centre when her events begin in Rio Aug. 14.
Like all “horse people,” as she calls herself, Foster is motivated to compete and ride, not just for the sport itself, but for her enduring adoration and respect for the bold, graceful animals that move like poetry in motion.
“I feel like every ride is just for pleasure,” said the 2015 Toronto Pan Am gold medalist, who frequently takes her nine horses off the farm for open-air, all-terrain rides. “I spend a lot of time taking my horse on trail rides, along beaches and through the forest. I probably do this more than most who compete at this level because I really enjoy riding in general. I like to get out of the arena as much as possible.”
In 2008 while training a young horse in a jumping exercise at the Florida farm she operates with compatriot and Olympic champion Eric Lamaze, Foster was thrown to the dirt beneath the steed as they both flipped over.
“The momentum does not stop when you hit the ground,” she said. “I got slung forward.” A vertebra in her upper spine “exploded.” She was told she might never walk again, never mind ride. A crucial surgery to repair the bone and collect minuscule, shattered fragments was successful. Her rotation is slightly compromised—twisting yoga poses are done slowly if at all, she said—because two titanium rods, six pins and six plates hold her together.
Yet, that didn’t prevent Foster from a fifth-place finish in team show jumping at the London Summer Games. Rather, what did crush her hopes of individual success was a sudden, last-minute and controversial disqualification for hypersensitivity in her horse, Victor, who had, in her words, the equivalent of “a paper cut” above one hoof. Lamaze was outraged. Foster tearful. The decision was final.
“It’s something I’d like to forget,” she said. There might have been a lesson to pull from such competitive devastation, but Foster said she could not have done anything differently, so the setback has no take-away. “There wasn’t anything positive to come out of this. I try to pretend it didn’t happen.”
Not embittered but most certainly motivated, Foster has another shot to make Olympic memories and reach success in Rio de Janeiro.
Regardless, the time she spends with her horses and Tripple X is its own reward.
“That’s why we all enjoy riding in the first place. We enjoy our horses and make sure they’re enjoying themselves. It matters to me that he likes to work hard for me.”
Hard enough for Olympic gold? We will be watching and cheering. —Megan Stewart
The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games run Aug. 5 to 21. We at Vitamin Daily would like to wish all our athletes the best of luck!
Photo Credits—Image 1: Starting Gate Communications. Image 2: Lexey Hall photo 3: Starting Gate Communications
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