Canadian dressage athletes had the opportunity to test out the environment of the future site of the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) during the CDI 3* Tryon, held April 20-23, 2017 at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, NC.

Canadian Olympian, Belinda Trussell of Stouffville, ON danced into the top three in the big tour aboard Tattoo 15 (Tuareg x Ramiro’s Son), her 14-year-old Westphalian gelding. One of Canada’s most successful dressage athletes, fans are accustomed to seeing Trussell paired with Anton, her long-time partner that took her all the way to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. However, following Anton’s retirement from international competition in 2017, Trussell has stepped Tattoo 15 up to the big leagues.

“This is Tattoo’s first year competing at the grand prix level,” explained Trussell. “We did three national shows in Florida, and Tryon was our first CDI. A horse in their first year of grand prix often has ups and downs. We had some amazing tests in Florida. Considering we had quite a number of errors in Tryon, I was pleased with his scores. The judges were all very positive and encouraging.”

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