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Canadian Para-Dressage Team Departs for Paralympic Games in Hong Kong

August 27, 2025

Ottawa, Ontario—Para-Equestrian Canada is pleased to announce that the team members, horses, coaches and support staff who will be representing Canada at the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, will arrive in Hong Kong August 27, 2008.

The team members include
Rider, hometown Horse Owner
Lauren Barwick, Aldergrove, BC Maile, 1994 Dutch warmblood Jack & Linda Parelli and
Christine Murphy Ksionek
Karen Brain, Saanichton, BC VDL Odette, 1996 Dutch warmblood Rider
Ashley Gowanlock, Vancouver, BC Donnymaskell, 1999 Hanoverian Alexander Mitchell
Eleonore Elstone, Langley, BC Lutke, 2001 Freisian Terry Bianco
Jennifer McKenzie,Maple Ridge, BC Valentine II, 1995 Canadian warmblood Rider

The team has been training in California during pre-quarantine export with the national team coach and Grand Prix rider Andrea Taylor of Langley, BC.

“We are sending a very strong team to the Games, and I am confident that they will be very competitive” remarked Elizabeth Quigg-Robinson, Chef d’équipe for the Canadian Para-Dressage Team.

The XIIIth Paralympic Summer Games will be held in Beijing, China, from September 6–17, 2008. The equestrian events will take place in Hong Kong from September 7–11, 2008, with nine nations contesting top honours in the team competition and riders from 30 countries vying for medals in the five grades of individual competition. Canadian Karen Brain will be trying to defend the two individual bronze medals that she won at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games.

“In the brief twelve years since Equine Canada first fielded a team to the Paralympic Games, our Para-Equestrians have emerged as some of our most successful athletes, ” remarked Equine Canada CEO, Akaash Maharaj. “With multiple medals at the last Olympiad, they set an inspirational example for the entire Canadian Equestrian Team, and we have high hopes for these Summer Games.”

For Canadian athlete biographies, venue information and competition dates, please visit the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games section of the Equine Canada website.

About the Para-Equestrian Discipline
In Para-Equestrian, each rider is classified according to his or her functional ability. They are assessed by trained physiotherapists and doctors who evaluate either muscle strength, coordination, or a combination thereof throughout the athlete’s body. The rider is then given a functional profile that indicates the grade in which they can compete. There are five grades of competitions in dressage, with Grade IA representing the more severely impaired riders, and Grade IV representing the least severely impaired riders. The competition within each grade is judged on the functional skill of the rider, and not the level of disability.

About Para-Equestrian Canada
Para-Equestrian Canada is the discipline committee of Equine Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing programs on behalf of the Para-Equestrian community and administrating the high performance program for dressage riders with a disability. For additional information regarding Para Equestrian Canada please visit www.equinecanada.ca/para-equestrian.

Written by Julie Cull · Filed Under Canada, Julie Cull, Olympics 2008 
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