26 SIDELINES NOVEMBER 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
e
Canadian Connection
By Kim MacMillan
Watching the Blais Tetréault sisters, Mathilda and Laurence,
compete at the Adequan FEI North American Junior Young
Rider Championships (NAJYRC), your mind immediately jumps
to similar “sister acts” such as the Williams sisters, Venus and
Serena in the world of tennis … or perhaps the song “Sisters” from
the famous Christmas movie
Holiday Inn
(a.k.a.
White Christmas
).
This Canadian sister act has taken the dressage world by storm
and between them, Mathilda and Laurence have eight medals
(four gold, one silver and three bronze), two fourths, a fifth and a
sixth from NAJYRC competitions over the last three years.
The Blais Tetréault family is made up of Mathilda and Laurence,
mother Joane Tetréault and father Jean-Guy Blais. The girls ride
out of their mother’s 27-stall stable near Montréal, Quebec. Both
girls started to ride when they were about six-years-old as their
mother was riding seriously at the time and introduced them to
the sport of dressage. Their father doesn’t ride, but does help with
Sister Act:
Taking On The Dressage World
repairs and maintenance around the farm. “My mom rides ‘her’
horse sometimes when I let her! She is actually very good; she
has a very nice position and seat!” reports Mathilda.
Mathilda’s entire NAJYRC career has been with the same
horse, her 15-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding Michelangelo
(by Amiral, out of Thara by Utrillo). She also rides several other
horses including some of their boarders’ horses, as well as
several of the family’s horses. “My main ones are my 11-year-old
Hanoverian stallion named Embassy III (Escudo I – Silvio I); we
are currently training for the grand prix and I will show him on the
small tour in Florida in 2014. I also just bought a new horse that
I will show in Florida in the under 25 division. He is a 12-year-old
Hanoverian by Wolkenstein, out of a Weltmeyer mare. I also have
a seven-year-old PRE (Pura Raza Española or Pure Spanish-
bred) by Fandanguerro. I would really like to take him out a couple
of times in Prix St. Georges this winter if he is ready. He’s my
mom’s horse.”
Mathilda Blais Tetréault, 21, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, riding
her 15-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding Michelangelo. They
have partnered at the NAJYRC for the past three years in the
Young Rider division, taking home three medals and placing in
the top six seven times.
Photo by Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
Continued on page 28
Laurence Blais Tetréault, 16, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, and
her 13-year-old Trakehner gelding Lowelas show their fancy trot
work that earned them two gold medals in the Junior division
at the 2013 Adequan FEI North American Junior Young Rider
Championships.
Photo by Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
