Horse Illustrated Magazine

Things have gone quiet now in Toronto at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds on the waterfront of Lake Ontario after the previous bustling, festive 10 days of the 2024 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. The horses, alpacas, cows, goats, guinea pigs, hogs, rabbits, sheep and poultry have all gone back to their own cozy barns and coops. Hockey ice for the Toronto Maple Leafs has replaced the fluffy horse show footing in the Royal Coliseum.

Looking back, what an exciting and action-packed event it was! The 102^nd year of “The Royal” offered loyal and new visitors both expected and unexpected happenings over the ten-day run from Friday, November 1-Sunday, November 10. International and Canadian champions were named in the horse and agriculture shows. In addition to the those exhibitions, audiences were entertained with live music, cooking classes, high-flying aerial performances, Canadian Cowgirls mounted drill team appearances, a play and education area and petting zoo for the little ones, and a full agenda in the Animal Theatre. One-stop holiday gift shopping was easy-peasy and dining and beverage options were vast.

2024 Royal Horse Show Summary

For Horse Illustrated readers, the Royal Horse Show is undoubtedly the main point of interest. The Horse Show opened with the two-day Mad Barn Indoor Eventing Showcase, followed by Canadian Championship hunter and jumper classes, and a Royal Grand Prix Dressage CDI-3* Division (Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle classes) over the first five days. Then, four days of international jumper classes filled the coliseum with the Royal Rodeo capping things on the final Sunday.

On the last Saturday morning, the prestigious Governor General and Lieutenant Governor General Cup classes for 3-year-old Canadian-bred sport horses were contested with matching Royal Pony Cup classes for sport ponies. The “cup classes” are in-hand and under-saddle classes which are judged on conformation, movement and general impression for suitability to become a sport horse.

Throughout the Royal, breeding and performance classes were interspersed into the horse show schedule for draft horse breeds (Belgian, Clydesdale and Percheron), Hackney Horses and Ponies, Welsh Ponies and Cobs, Canadian Sport Horses, Standardbreds, and Thoroughbreds. It was gratifying to see many ex-racehorses in the Standardbred road horse and roadster performance classes. And, the Green Meadows antique coaches pulled by matching four-in-hand horses harkened to an earlier time when genuine horsepower was the method of public transportation.

Canadian Kendal Lehari topped the Indoor Eventing Showcase with the 11-year-old Canadian Sport Horse gelding Audacious, who she owns with her mother Gwen. American Boyd Martin riding Catarina for owner Nancy Hathaway took second in indoor eventing, and Canadian Olympic rider Jessica Phoenix guided Charlotte Schickedanz’s Trakehner Watson GS to third.

“It’s such a rush having that many people in there cheering you on, as well as my family and supporters,” said Lehari, 37, from Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada. “Everyone’s got your back and wants to see you do well. I think this is a really good showcase for our sport. Not a lot of people know much about eventing, so to be able to do it inside [in this environment] is so much fun.”

Martin, who last competed at The Royal in 2017, commented on course designer Captain Mark Phillips’ track, his experience at the Royal, and his fellow eventers after the competition, “I love this show. What a huge honor and privilege it is to ride here. It’s high-energy, nerve-wracking, and it happens fast. At a normal horse trial, we have a couple days to process how things are going to ride. I think Mark built a course that was horse-friendly, but still challenging enough. These Canadian girls sure are quick!”

The Royal Horse Show offered two hunter derby classes, as well as many divisions of hunter classes for adult and junior riders. Winner of the $15,000 Braeburn Farms Canadian Hunter Derby on Sunday, November 3, was Kelly Soleau-Millar (Wellington, Fla.) and Nitecap, owned by Jeff Brandmaier and Margaret Guthrie’s Knightwood Stables, who topped a field of 21 entries. Ashley Arnoldt (Langley, British Columbia, Canada) rode Light My Fire, a 12-year-old Hanoverian stallion owned by Jennifer Arnoldt, to win the $25,000 Knightwood Hunter Derby on Tuesday, November 5.

In addition to the Canadian Open Jumper Championship and international jumper classes, there were a number of amateur adult/junior jumper classes too. The $125,000 Henry Equestrian Canadian Show Jumping Championship was contested over the first two days with Olympian Amy Millar (daughter of famous rider and Olympian Ian “Captain Canada” Millar) taking top honors with Jelvinia MB, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by J Team. Mario Deslauriers (New York, NY), an FEI World Cup Champion and Olympian, was Reserve Canadian Champion riding Costa Quick PS, owned by Aram Ampagoumian, LLC. Three-time Olympian Tiffany Foster (Langley, British Columbia, Canada) finished third in the Canadian Championship riding Electrique, a horse she owns together with 5 Roosters.

Millar, 47, (Perth, Ontario, Canada) enthusiastically described her mount Jelvinia B after taking the Canadian Championship, “She is one of the nicest horses I’ve had the privilege of riding. I had been looking for [a horse like] her for a long time. When I tried her, I just knew. She is super careful and scopey, and has great technique. She has all of it.”

In the Royal Dressage CDI-3* Division Naima Moreira Laliberte (Outremont, Quebec, Canada) and her long-time partner Statesman won both the $15,000 Grand Prix Qualifier class on Monday, November 4, and then the $20,000 Grand Prix Freestyle class (75.745%) on Tuesday evening, November 5. Statesman is a 17-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Sandro Hit x Brentano II) owned by KML, Inc. and Guy Laliberte.

“We’ve been all over the world together,” said Laliberte of Statesman who carried her to two Pan American Games medals and two Olympic Games. “We were traveling reserves in Tokyo and competed in Paris, we did two Pan American Games, as well as [FEI competition in] Herning [Denmark], Doha [Qatar], Aachen [Germany], and a couple of Nations Cups in Florida. He’s always been a reliable partner and such a fun horse to travel with.”

Turning to the international jumper classes, the USA’s Aaron Vale and I.Adermie R4 captured the first major class of the Royal, the $43,860 McKee Family International Challenge on Wednesday, November 6. His countryman McLain Ward riding First Lady was runner-up and Ireland’s Daniel Coyle was third on Farrel.

Thursday afternoon, November 7, British rider Jessica Mendoza won the $43,860 Brickenden Trophy International Jumper class with I-Car CL Z. That evening, it was Richard Vogel’s (Germany) turn to top the $170,000 Mad Barn/Big Ben International Challenge with Levi Noesar (the class was named in honor of Ian Millar’s legendary jumper Big Ben). Vogel is now based in the USA part-time and trains with McLain Ward.

Vogel, 27, talked about his horse and the Royal after his win in the Big Ben. “Levi is an amazing horse, but he’s only eight which is why I had to compromise and not risk everything. He’s green, but with the way he performed in the jump-off tonight, you can see his abilities and his will to give everything in the ring. A lot of people told me that I was going to like this show, and it has exceeded all those expectations. It’s a unique show and you can feel the history.”

On the final Saturday of the Royal Horse Show, winners of the two afternoon international jumper classes were two brothers from Ireland. Daniel Coyle and Farrel, paired with Super Dog (dog agility) Doberman Zeus and his human handler, were victors in the K9-Equine Challenge class. Then, Jordan Coyle and Keep Me With You N.C. won the $50,000 CSI2* Grand Prix.

But, the biggest Royal international jumper accolades were garnered by 28-year-old Alex Matz who won three classes during the week and was named the Leading International Rider at the Royal at the end of the show. He and Cashew W won both the $43,860 Strength & Speed International Challenge on Wednesday, November 6, and the $85,680 Canadian Open/Centennial Cup on Friday, November 8. He is the son of Michael Matz, U.S. Show Jumping Hall of Fame member and trainer of Grade I Thoroughbred race horses, who had won top honors at the Royal 47 years earlier (in 1977).

In the $200,000 FEI World Cup Toronto, the final international jumper class of the show on Saturday night, November 9, Matz and his other mount, Ikigai, sailed around the course to top four other competitors in a jump-off for the win. Runner-up in the World Cup class was Canada’s Tiffany Foster on Electrique (who also won Leading Canadian Rider honors) and third was the USA’s McLain Ward on Ilex, his Paris 2024 Olympic mount.

This was Alex Matz’s first five-star World Cup qualifier win. He has been riding Ikigai, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood (Elvis Ter Putte x Iroko) stallion owned by 5 Star Partners, for three years. He talked about their triumph in the World Cup in the press conference after, “I’m honored to be in this position with two incredible riders behind me and so many good riders in the field. It’s for sure the biggest win of my career. I probably told everybody I know how good a horse he was, but a lot of people didn’t believe me until recently.”

The Leading Lady Rider award from the international jumper classes went to the USA’s Lillie Keenan. Incredible, owned by Ariel Grange of Lothlorien Farm (Cheltenham, Ontario, Canada) and ridden by Daniel Coyle, won the Leading Canadian Horse Award.

Find all of the results from the 2024 Royal Horse Show here.

Royal Fair Rewind 2024

The 2024 and 2023 Royal Horse Show international jumper classes, including the FEI World Cup Toronto, were livestreamed on ClipMyHorseTV. On-demand replays of that action are available on ClipMyHorse (subscription required, although a free test period may be available). You can watch those international jumper classes in Toronto, including the K9-Equine Challenge class, here.

Fans of the Royal Winter Fair may also enjoy 2024 highlights by going to the Royal’s Facebook photo gallery here and their YouTube Channel here.

Looking Ahead to Next Year

The 2025 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and Royal Horse Show runs November 7-16, 2025. For more information, visit the Royal Fair website.

This article about the 2024 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!