After a season of both triumph and tribulation in 2013, Fergus-area rider, instructor and stable operator Carly Campbell Cooper is looking forward to a swift return to top-level show jumping competition.
The Triple C Stables owner scored a major early-season win in Angelstone Tournaments’ Headwaters Cup and Hunter Spectacular last year, with her four-rider team taking the high-profile Nation’s Cup event.
However, at the first outdoor show she attended last summer, the horse she was riding tripped and fell in a fluke accident unrelated to competition, leaving Campbell Cooper with a dislocated jaw, broken in five places.
“So I was out for the majority of the summer. But we still had some good results by the end of the year,” she said, adding she spent much of the winter competing in Wellington, Florida.
“I sold a few horses down there which is always good for the business end of it,” she notes.
Campbell Cooper was unable to defend her title in the Nation’s Cup at this year’s Headwater’s event, as the horse she rode in last year’s victory had been sold.
However, her horse Gentle Tina finished third in the seven- to eight-year-old class with a double clear round, while another Triple C horse finished fifth in the same class and the stable’s new developing hunter, California, was the champion of the Baby Grain Hunter division.
In addition, one of Campbell Cooper’s riding students, Amy Masterson, was champion on her horse, Chanel, in the 1.3-metre class, adding to a successful trip to the Rockwood -area event.
So far this season, Campbell Cooper has been focusing on teaching a promising group of riders, including Masterson, Emma Medford and Meghan McDonald.
Another student Alexis Arubkell was on the Ontario team for the North American Young Riders championship in Lexington, Kentucky last year, finishing 11th individually.
“She was on the team to go again this year, but her horse was feeling a little under the weather,” notes Campbell Cooper.
“We definitely have a very good group of customers right now, who are very supportive and who have themselves been moving up the ranks. They’ve all gotten some new horses and are developing together. So I’d say this year we’re staying a little more locally.”
Campbell Cooper says she normally has between 16 and 20 students.
“Last year I got up to 24 and just found it was too many and I was also doing a lot of off-property teaching. So this year I’m really trying to focus on quality over quantity,” she explained.
“My barn’s mostly geared toward people that want to compete and are able to be on the road a little bit going to different shows.”
She says the smaller number of students allows for a more focused approach.
“We follow a program. We plan our shows months in advance and work toward those goals. We have a common goal and common focus and I would say most of the students I have here are quite competitive and determined.”
While she enjoys teaching and other elements of the business, it’s clear Campbell Cooper is really in her element when competing.
“I like the riding. That’s where my passion lies,” she explained.
“That being said, it is fun to see horse and rider come together through my students as well. I have some nice young horses developing up the ranks. So that’s kind of fun, working toward higher goals in the future.”
Currently, Campbell Cooper is putting together a group of investors and sponsors “to get myself some Grand Prix horses and horses for the bigger international classes again.”
Competitions at Spruce Meadows in Calgary and in Bromont, Quebec are among those on her radar and she notes that equestrian opportunities in Canada are on the rise.
Bromont, for example, has been awarded the 2018 World Equestrian Games and is enhancing its facilities.
“They’re starting to put a little more money into that. So it’s nice that in Canada we’re starting to get a few more world-class facilities,” said Campbell Cooper.
Caledon Equestrian Park is hosting the Can Am Games in 2015, “so they’ve put a lot of money and effort into that facility as well.”
Such high-profile events, says Campbell Cooper, are changing the perception that world-class competition, in terms of prize money and jump quality, can only be found outside the country.
“I’d say there’s been a drastic improvement within Canada of our facilities.”
Whether home or abroad, Campbell Cooper, who has competed across North America as well as in Europe and South America, is eager to be a part of the action.
“I want to get back in the Grand Prix ring. I miss being there,” she said.
