Canada’s Erynn Ballard is about to realize her Olympic dream
Veteran rider selected for Canadian team and relishes the opportunity. It’s been decades in the making, but Erynn Ballard has finally reached a long-sought after objective, representing Canada in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
No stranger to competing on the international stage, Ballard, 44, represented Canada at the 2019 Pan American Games, and rode in her first Nations Cup in 2006, appears poised to make a difference in her Olympic debut. She’ll be in the irons on the 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood Paard mare, Nikka VD Bisschop, a partnership that is just months in the making.
“This has been a dream and a long time coming. I’ve been close to the Olympics, but never a spot on the Olympic team,” said Ballard. “In Rio, my horse got sold right before, then, we didn’t send a team to Tokyo. For the past 10 years, we’ve been working toward this goal to get there. It’s been a magical year, and certainly the last six weeks have been something that dreams are made of, from start to finish with the wins, the success, the horses, being able to ride Nikka at the last minute.”
However, being based in the Sunshine State during the winter has its advantages, said the rider who was born in Oakville, Ont., Canada, but now bases in Palm Beach County.
“Wellington is home now. Whoever thought that you could do business in Florida all year round?” said Ballard. “Between Wellington, WEC and Venice and Sarasota, there are so many venues and people are making their full-time homes here. The sport is here 365 days a year. Wellington is home, it serves a purpose. It’s a great lifestyle. It’s a great show. Wellington, with 13 weeks [of the Winter Equestrian Festival], is an amazing place to develop horses and they have the big grass ring [as well as Wellington International showground]. A lot of people don’t need to look further than Florida, to have a career and have a business. That’s a pretty cool thing for the state of Florida.”
This could be interesting: