In the News
Veterans Amy Millar, Mario Deslauriers named to Canada's Olympic equestrian jumping team
June, 2024
Source: The Canada Press, CBC
"Olympic veterans Amy Millar and Mario Deslauriers were named to Canada's equestrian jumping team for this summer's Paris Games.
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Millar, the daughter of legendary show jumper Ian Millar, and Deslauriers were part of the team that qualified Canada for the event with a silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
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They will be joined by Erynn Ballard, who is currently the second highest-ranked female show jumper in the world, on the team announced Wednesday by Equestrian Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee."
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Pictured is Amy Millar and Truman
Jumping legend Ian Millar is leading his country towards Paris...
May, 2024
Source: Katie Roebuck, FEI
"There’s a reason he is known as Captain Canada and why his retirement as an athlete exactly five years ago in May 2019 was marked as such a momentous moment for equestrian sport in his home nation."
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"Millar was a rider on the Canadian Jumping team for nearly five decades, appearing at a record-breaking 10 Olympic Games between 1972 and 2012, and twice winning the FEI Jumping World Cup™ with Big Ben in the 1980s. Over the course of his career, he competed around the world at all the top venues; he modestly says he watched and learned from other top riders along the way."
'I was fortunate to ride under and learn from some great Chef d'Equipes. I have taken all of these experiences and incorporated them into my philosophy for the role.' Millar said."
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Pictured is Ian Millar
Canada's show jumping team qualifies for Paris Olympics with Pan Am silver
November, 2023
Source: The Canadian Press, CBC
Canada will return to Olympic team show jumping next year in Paris.
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Canada's riders and horses earned the team silver medal Wednesday at the Pan American Games to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games.
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Mario Deslauriers (Emerson), Tiffany Foster (Figor), Amy Millar (Truman) and Beth Underhill (Nikka vd Bisschop) finished behind victor United States and ahead of bronze medallist Brazil.
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"This is a critical moment for our sport, for our program, for the people that invest in our horses and that invest in us," Millar told CBC Sports. "We get to ship forward and start planning for the next thing, which is going to be Paris."
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"This is something we've been working at for so long that it's just starting to settle in," Millar said. "I'm glowing on the inside."
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Pictured is Amy Millar and Truman
Cavalor FEI Best Groom - We look at the four nominees...
October, 2023
Source: Katie Roebuck, FEI
"Daniel, also known as Dan/Danny, has been with Millar Brooke Farm for 13 years, grooming for Olympic jumping athletes Ian Millar and Amy Millar. He has groomed at the Olympics, World Championships, Pan American Games, and many other Nations Cups as well as prestigious grand prix competitions around the world. Dan is much appreciated and admired for his knowledge, experience, willingness to help others, and for his organisational skills. Importantly, he goes above and beyond for his horses and the people that surround him - with his trademark sense of humour creating a positive environment in FEI stables wherever he goes. In addition to his international contributions, he has also been critical in mentoring younger grooms within Canada and Millar Brooke Farm, always creating a safe and professional environment that enables everyone to reach their full potential."
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Pictured is Danny Ingratta and Amy Millar by Kim Gaudry
Ian Millar named Chef d'Equip for the Canadian showjumping team
February, 2023
Source: World of Showjumping
"Canadian Olympic legend ‘Captain Canada’ is joining the team in a new role on the road to Paris 2024. Equestrian Canada (EC) is pleased to announce Ian Millar, CM as the new Technical Advisor (TA), Jumping for Canada’s national show jumping team. Well known beyond the equestrian world, Millar of Perth, ON is the most successful competitor in the history of Canadian show jumping. He is the twelve-time Canadian National Champion and has competed in more Olympic Games than any athlete in history."
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Pictured is Ian Millar
Wesley Clover Parks’ equestrian soirée in aid of Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation
July, 2019
Source: Ottawa Business Journal
"Organizers have really raised the bar with a creative new soirée that promotes the equestrian sport of show jumping, while also bringing in roughly $50,000 for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.
Spurs & Sparkles, presented by Ottawa Special Events, roped in an impressive crowd of 370 attendees to the first-time charity event, held at Wesley Clover Parks.
The fun three-part race, Get Up & Gallop, saw show-jumping riders and their horses partner up with corporate sponsors and celebrities to try and complete an obstacle course in the fastest time. The team effort involved show jumping, shooting a ball down the field with a hockey stick, and navigating a golf cart to the finish line.
Ten-time Olympian Ian Millar participated, as did his daughter Amy Millar, son Jonathon Millar, and daughter-in-law Kelly Soleau-Millar. The family lost its matriarch, Lynn Millar, to cancer in 2008. The family also donated to the live auction a day of private riding lessons at their Millar Brooke Farm in Perth."
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Pictured is Ian Millar & Linda Eagan, president and CEO of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.
Ian Millar's training philosophy in ten principles
January, 2019
Source: World of Showjumping
"1. The principle of providing a foundation The horse must have a solid physical and mental foundation upon which you can continue to develop their abilities. I ensure my horses have the strength, quickness, flexibility, confidence, endurance and soundness to handle the level of training and competition I am pursuing. For example, if you are training a horse at the 1.45 m level it must have the base level of education, strength and balance needed to control its’ body throughout the course. If there is a deficit between the foundation of a horse’s body or mind and what you ask of it in training, you risk injuring the horse or damaging its’ confidence."
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Pictured is Amy and Ian Millar
Amy Millar: The Mother Load
June, 2018
Source: Horse Network
"In 2016, Amy Millar was part of the four member team to jump off against the Germans for a podium finish at the Rio Olympics. (Canada finished fourth.) In 2017, she won the Canadian National Championship. And in 2018, she was on the road to the World Equestrian Games when a nine month detour took her off course. Amy Millar shares how her best laid plans went astray in the best possible way. As told to Carley Sparks."
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Pictured is Amy Millar
May, 2024
Source: Katie Roebuck, FEI