Dowling represents Canada at Kentucky Cup
WCVM professor Dr. Trish Dowling and her horse Mocha are competing as one of 12 Canadian horse and rider teams at the 2009 Kentucky Cup CEI3* in Lexington, Ky., on Wednesday, October 14 — a “pre-ride” for the 2010 World Equestrian Games endurance competition.
Dowling and Mocha were among the competitors announced on October 1 by Endurance Canada and Equine Canada. Six horse and rider teams are representing Canada East while another six horse and rider teams are representing Canada West.
The fourth test event for the 2010 World Equestrian Games, the Kentucky Cup consists of a 120-kilometre (75-mile) race, and a 160-km (100-mile) race. The 120 km race began today at 7:30 a.m., while the 160 km race began at 7:45 a.m. Competitors will complete a series of loops on and off the Kentucky Horse Park, frequently returning to the veterinary station on the Horse Park for required vet checks. Riders from more than 20 countries are expected to attend.
On October 12, Mocha — along with all of the other Canadian horses — passed the pre-veterinary check. Mocha passed another veterinary check on October 13 and was selected as one of four team horses. The Kentucky Cup began today at 7:00 a.m. (Wednesday, October 14).
Please click on the following YouTube videos for Dr. Trish Dowling’s Kentucky Cup reports:
- Kentucky Cup Report: October 13 posting (6:30 p.m.)
- Kentucky Cup Report: October 13 posting (4:00 p.m.)
- Kentucky Cup Report: October 13 posting (4:00 p.m.)
- Kentucky Cup Report: October 12 posting
Mocha, whose Arabian sire and Standardbred dam were part of a wound healing study at the WCVM in the mid-1990s, was purchased as a yearling by Dowling in 1998. The small but tough filly’s competitive career in endurance riding began when she was four years old and has taken off in the past few years under the guidance of Dowling, a veterinary pharmacologist and a seasoned competitor in endurance riding.
Next year, only six horse and rider teams from Canada will compete at the 2010 WEG endurance ride in Kentucky, and with some luck, Dowling hopes that she and Mocha will be among the country’s top six.
