92 SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
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Canadian Connection
By Kim MacMillan
Quebec’s Naima Moreira Laliberté has hauled home her
share of precious metal from her last two years competing at the
Adequan FEI North American Junior Young Rider Championships
(NAJYRC) in Kentucky. So far she has earned two Junior team
gold medals (2012 and 2013), an individual Junior silver medal
(2013) and a Junior freestyle medal (2013) in dressage. She’s
a tough competitor even though her easy smile and gentle,
sportsmanlike manner might lead you to think otherwise.
The oldest of the five children, Naima, 17, started riding at age
five taking lessons at a local Pony Club near her home city of
Montréal. Her sister Moani and stepsister Ina have also started
riding, but her brother Kami, stepbrother Noa and her parents are
not “horsey.” She currently is in the sport program at the National
Cirque School, a governmental secondary school.
Eventually dressage became her preferred sport and for a
number of years Naima has ridden at the barn owned by her
teammate Laurence Blais Tétreault’s family. “My home coach
is Albrecht Heidemann. He has been working on the Canadian
Junior-Young Rider scene for more than a decade and I feel very
fortunate that we have such regular access to his coaching,” said
Naima.
Tell us about the horses you have ridden at the NAJYRC.
Last year I rode a horse named Tolando, a 13-year-old Dutch
Warmblood gelding by Krack C, out of Narina by Rubenstein,
owned by Brittany Fraser. This year I competed with Windbreaker,
a 12-year-old Westphalian gelding [FEI name Windbreaker 3, by
Windspiel As, out of Flora by Feiner Graf, bred by Karin Storkamp,
Germany, and owned by Arnold Wintermuhle, Germany].
Windbreaker is 17.3 hands. He is a very powerful, very forward-
thinking horse. I really had to make an effort to figure out how to
hold him in balance, mainly by my seat. He is extremely friendly to
all other horses and greets them with a whinny. He loves to cuddle
and you can ride him around the property bareback with a halter.
I don’t think he has a favorite treat – he will gobble up any treat
you give him or even go checking your pockets for treats. I’ve only
been riding him since middle of April.
What does it feel like to represent Canada and win a medal at
the NAJYRC?
Of course it was an exciting feeling to realize that I won a medal
when I stood on that podium, but the true realization that ‘wow, we
had three medals!’ actually came a few days later.
Were you more or less nervous when competing at NAJYRC
this year than last year?
This year, I was much less nervous than last year, but I have to
admit that going down the ramp from the warm-up area to the main
stadium, I suddenly got quite nervous for a moment. Particularly
on the day of the individual competition, I remember having to pull
myself together as I was entering the ring.
I know you are good friends with Laurence and Mathilde Blais
Tétreault. Do you compete against them in shows at home?
I don’t compete against Mathilde because, for now, we are not
at the same level. Laurence and I are most of the time in the same
class at shows, often even back-to-back, so we barely ever get to
see each other’s rides. Personally, I don’t find it hard even though
it is an individual sport; both Laurence and I go down centerline
with the conviction to do our personal best.
What other horses do you ride?
I still have my first horse I got when I was ten years old, a
Lusitano gelding named Nao. I started dressage with him. He
is really more the family pet. He is 11-years-old now and a very
kind, but a sensitive, nervous horse. It’s my personal challenge
to show him at the Young Rider level one of these days, but just
on a national basis. My other competition horse is Diamond, a
12-year-old Hanoverian gelding. I also showed him at the junior
level this year and next year we will try our first season at Young
Rider level.
Tell us about your pets.
At my dad’s house we have two adopted dogs named Jack and
Soyuz. Soyuz is a blond dog adopted from the streets of Russia.
He is very trim and excited and I have no idea what breed he may
be. Let’s say he comes frommany generations of street dogs. Jack
is a black German Shepherd-Labrador cross who was adopted
from the SPCA in Montréal. He spends the whole winter season
with me in Florida. I honestly think he is the best dog. We also
have two cats who are sisters adopted from Russia. Their names
Friends, competitors and teammates after their medal-winning
rides in the junior dressage freestyle - Naima (left) with Laurence
Blais Tétreault.
Photo by Dee Kochensparger/MacMillan Photography
Continued on page 94
