It's official: Canada's Erynn Ballard has taken over the reins of the 11-year-old BWP mare Nikka VD Bisschop, previously ridden by Beth Underhill. Underhill and Nikka recently represented Canada at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, where they finished 9th overall and were part of the silver medal-winning team.
Ballard, who has been riding a significant number of horses for Ilan Ferder since 2017, competed with Nikka in a couple of 1.45m classes at the ESP Spring 3 in Wellington, Florida, from April 17 to 21. In their first class together, they had a flawless round and finished 20th out of 63 entries.
"We went to watch Erynn jump her a few times, and it has us very excited about the possibilities for Paris," said Mark Rein.
Erynn is equally thrilled about the new partnership. "We jumped our first class yesterday, and I couldn't have asked for a better start! It's an honor to be Nikka's rider. We have a great team supporting us, and I'm really looking forward to the future with this mare. None of this would be possible without the support of Ilan Ferder and Nick Skelton. Thank you Mark, Tara, Cassidy, Nick, and Ilan!"
It's satisfying that this extraordinary mare will continue to be ridden by a Canadian and thus be eligible for this summer's Olympic Games. FEI rules stipulate that a horse can only participate in the 2024 Olympics with an athlete of the same nationality under which it is registered as of January 15, 2024; Nikka is registered with Canadian ownership.
Source: Horse Sport