April 16, 2004 – Midland, Ontario – Show jumping athlete Elliott Stone is set to make his World Cup Final debut when the annual event is held April 21-25, 2004, in Milan, Italy.

Stone, 21, of Midland, ON, is one of two Canadian representatives invited to contest the 2004 World Cup Final and will compete alongside Canadian World Cup League winner, Ainsley Vince of Milton, ON. Stone will ride Freestyle, a 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by his father, Michael Stone.

“My number one goal is to get some good experience,” says Stone who began his competitive career at the age of seven. “My horse feels really, really ready. She is fitter and jumping better than she ever has. I would be very happy to be among the top twenty riders who make it into the final round on Sunday.”

An appearance in Milan will not be the only European experience for this short listed member of the Canadian Show Jumping Team. Stone has accepted a job with Jurg Notz and began working in early April at his Stall Notz training facility in Bern, Switzerland, located mid-way between Geneva and Zurich. Approximately 70 show jumping and dressage horses are currently in training at Stall Notz while a breeding program continues to produce horses for the future.

“My plan is to stay at least six months,” notes Stone who will be responsible for taking the top horses to competitions. “I am meeting a lot of the big professionals in Europe and really want to watch the international scene up close. I also wanted to make some good connections for buying horses, which I have already done, finding high quality horses at reasonable prices. I would like to return to North America with a big string of horses for the winter circuit in Palm Beach, Florida, or Indio, California.”

A successful 2003 season saw Stone compete in his first World Cup Qualifying event in June, the $60,000 National Bank World Cup Qualifier in Bromont, QC, where he advanced to the jump-off with both Freestyle and Ancho de Pomme and placed fourth and eighth respectively. In August, he was a member of the Gold Medal Team at the 2003 North American Young Riders’ Championship before representing Canada at the Washington International Horse Show in October where he enjoyed a fourth place finish in the $20,000 Open Jumper Hit and Hurry riding Freestyle and also placed fourth in the $25,000 International Puissance after clearing a height of 6’3” with Ancho de Pomme, a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding.

Stone is proudly supported by Stoneleigh Motors, a General Motors dealership located in Midland, ON.

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PHOTOGRAPH
“Elliott Stone and Freestyle will represent Canada at the 2004 World Cup Final in Milan, Italy.”
Photo Credit – Cealy Tetley