August 19, 2004 – Athens, Greece – The Canadian Dressage Team comprised of Ashley Holzer of Toronto, ON, Cindy Ishoy of Jerseyville, ON, Leslie Reid of Langley, BC, and Belinda Trussell of Stouffville, ON, are prepared to begin competition on Friday, August 20, at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Canada presented its horses on Thursday morning for a mandatory horse inspection where a total of 53 horses were observed, 40 being team competitors and 13 belonging to individuals representing an additional eight nations. Dashing home country hopes, Heros ridden by Alaia Demiropoulou of Greece was not accepted, reducing the number of competitors to 52 horse-rider combinations.

Of the ten countries competing, Canada had the good fortune to draw ninth place in the order of go. Held over two consecutive days to accommodate the large number of competitors, Reid, 48, will perform the Grand Prix test 13th in the order of go riding Mark, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Deryol Andrews, while Holzer, 40, will compete as the 25th of 26 competitors on Friday riding Imperioso, her 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion.

On Saturday, Trussell, 32, will be the 37th rider to perform the Grand Prix test riding Royan II, her 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding, while Ishoy, 52, will ride her 10-year-old German-bred gelding, Proton, in 50th position.

“The horses all went through the jog this morning with flying colours, and they are all looking great,” noted Canadian Dressage Team chef d’equipe Gwynne Rooke of Stouffville, ON, a position she also held in 1988, when Canada claimed the Team Bronze Medal, and in 1992. “ Canada will be ninth out of ten teams in the order. Leslie will be our first rider out there and she is pumped and ready to go while Cindy has the moxie to be the final rider for Canada, which is not an easy position to be in. We have the strongest team that we have fielded in many years, and we are going for it!”

All four of the Canadian Olympic Dressage Team members have considerable experience competing at the international level. Among their numerous accomplishments, Ishoy and Holzer were members of the Bronze Medal Team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Riding Mark, Reid claimed Individual Gold and Team Silver Medals at the 2003 Pan American Games while Trussell most recently was Canada’s sole representative at the 2004 World Cup Final in Dusseldorf, Germany.

At the conclusion of the Grand Prix competition on Saturday, August 21, Team Medals will be awarded with scores calculated using the best three out of four performances. The top 25 horse-rider combinations, with a maximum of three per nation, move forward to the Grand Prix Speciale competition held Monday, August 23. The best 15 then advance to Wednesday’s Grand Prix Freestyle to Music, which will determine the Individual Medals.

Dressage is the second of three equestrian disciplines to take center stage at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Center located just outside of the city center. Eventing competition concluded Wednesday while Show Jumping competition, where eight-time Olympian Ian Millar of Perth, ON, will represent Canada, begins on Sunday, August 22.

For complete results, please visit www.athens2004.com.