New year, new name, new goals

Happy new year, Canadian dressage fans! If you're new here, welcome. If not, you may notice a few changes on the site. We've changed our name from Canadian Dressage Addict to Canadian Dressage news to reflect our goal to be a primary source for news, updates, athlete profiles and more from the world of Canadian dressage. 

As an Olympic year, 2024 is a critical one for our national squad members and hopefuls. Over the coming weeks and months we'll delve into the qualifying process and get to know some of Canada's top team contenders. For now, let's start with a look at where Canadians stand on the FEI world rankings at the start of this new year.

​FEI WORLD RANKINGS - CANADIAN STANDINGS - AS OF JANUARY 3, 2024

What do those rankings mean in terms of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics? Pretty much nothing. They reflect last year's achievements and qualifying will be based on horse and rider performance between January 1 and June 24, 2024, with one score from each of the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special to be earned after April 1, 2024. Hence the mass exodus of Canadians to Florida and California, where CDI competitions throughout the winter season offer numerous opportunities to earn scores (not to mention the bonus of training in above-freezing temps).

As well, it's important to note that not all of Canada's contenders are included on this list.  For example, 2020 Olympic team member Lindsay Kellock took time off last year due to the birth of her baby, but with a number of top-quality horses in her barn, will likely be back in the CDI ring this year. Shannon Dueck's lovely mare Angelika MW is knocking on the door of the Grand Prix. After a season spent overseas training with the incomparable Carl Hester, will the pair be ready to compete at the highest level by spring? Only time will tell, but I wouldn't count them out! Tina Irwin acquired her new Grand Prix horse Guernsey Elvis last year and had some successful outings at national shows and I expect to see them in the CDI ring at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival this year. 

By the same token, not all the Canadian horse / rider combinations in the current world ranking list will be competing together in 2024. Most notably, #2-ranked Pia Fortmuller made the decision to retire her lovely Grand Prix mare Frieda last year, just prior to the close of the Pan Am qualifying period.

It's probably also worth noting that FEI world rankings at the end of the qualifying period is NOT what determines who will represent Canada at the Olympics. The team will be determined through Equestrian Canada's somewhat complicated qualifying criteria, plus a significant amount of leeway from the powers that be to make selections. More on that in the coming weeks. 

We'll be keeping a close eye on the World Cup qualifying process as well. Three spots in the final are allocated to horse / rider combinations from the North American League and currently Canada's Tanya Strasser-Shostak with Fidelis Tyme are ranked third in the league.

​Stay tuned and buckle up - it's going to be an exciting year!