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VIDEO: Foster wins $100,000 Onni Group Grand Prix at tbird in Langley

Walkington takes CET Regional Finals
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Tiffany Foster and Brighton won the $100,000 Onni Group Grand Prix, the final grand prix event of the 2021 season at Thunderbird Show Park on Sunday, Oct. 3. (tbird/Quinn Saunders)

Tiffany Foster saved her best for last.

In the final grand prix event of the 2021 season at Thunderbird Show Park, Foster, a rider with deep roots in Langley, brought out her most accomplished horse and rode to her best result at the venue this year.

Riding longtime mount Brighton, Foster won the $100,000 Onni Group Grand Prix on Sunday. Oct. 3, crossing the course a full second-and-a-half fastest.

Lauren Crooks and Louisiana van de Moortelshoeve finished second, while Foster’s student, Alicia Gadban-Lewis and Beneficial took third.

“He’d go faster than that if I let him,” Foster said of Brighton.

“I just can’t express how much love I have for him. [Brighton’s owners] the Ziegler family [of Artisan Farms] never wanted to push him more than what he was good at. I think that we’ve really managed him well, and I think the results show that.”

READ ALSO: Langley’s tbird a return to familiar surroundings for champion Tiffany Foster

“Brighty” has been a star in Foster’s stable, and even at 15, the gelding is still winning with consistency.

The pair came in to the BCHJA Fall Finale off a brief rest after capturing three international wins, including the RBC Capital Markets Cup last month at Spruce Meadows in Calgary.

They have won six FEI events since July.

“I try to protect him now and just really aim for the classes that matter,” Foster said. “So, I gave him last week off and let him rest and then aimed him for this week. And yet again, he delivered.”

“That’s his third grand prix in a row that he’s won. He’s just an unbelievable horse,” Foster said. “I don’t think I’ll ever ride a horse like him again.”

Consistency Counts for Kate Walkington and Clarimero T in the CET Regional Finals

A year ago, Kate Walkington and Clarimero T were a new partnership just getting to know one another in the ring at Thunderbird Show Park—and to mixed results.

Kate Walkington emerged victorious after three rounds of competition to win the Pacific Regional CET Finals on Sunday, Oct. 3. (tbird/Quinn Saunders)
Kate Walkington emerged victorious after three rounds of competition to win the Pacific Regional CET Finals on Sunday, Oct. 3. (tbird/Quinn Saunders)

“I got him just over a year ago. We were kind of playing around in all three rings, doing the hunters, jumpers and the equitation,” Walkintyon, 16, shared. “Last year at this horse show, we were struggling to get around the meter jumpers and the 3’3” hunters.”

READ ALSO: Fans return to stands as Langley’s tbird welcomes first international competition in 10 months

Just one year later, the pair rode to their first equitation regional win, at their first equitation regional final.

The CET Regional Medal Final, sponsored by Butet Sellier, is a jumper style equitation class open to the top 20 riders, ages 21 and under, in the BC region. The Final features two phases—flat/gymnastics and jumping.

“It was all honestly super unreal,” Walkington said. “We went in there with a top six [goal]. To go in and win it was incredible. It’s not something I thought would happen, especially in my first year doing the medals.”


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