A New Brunswick equestrian is representing Canada in a key qualifier for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Denielle Gallagher-Legriffon will compete in dressage at the FEI World Championship from Aug. 11 to 23 in Germany.
Originally from Hampton, she is the only New Brunswicker in the team.
In an email statement, Gallagher-Legriffon said it was an emotional moment when she heard she made the team.
“There are many years of hard work, setbacks, sacrifices, early mornings, financial challenges, and countless people who contribute behind the scenes that all come rushing back at once,” she said.
“My first thought wasn’t actually about myself — it was about my horse, Come Back de Masa, and everyone who believed in us.”
From Gallagher Ridge to the world stage
Gallagher-Legriffon has been riding horses for as long as she can remember. She said her passion for the sport was shaped by her parents, who both rode and trained horses professionally while running a boarding operation at Gallagher Ridge Stables in Norton, a former village in Kings County, which is now part of Valley Waters.
“Horses were always a part of my life, and from the moment I sat on one, I knew this was where I belonged,” she added.
She said her career and training started in Atlantic Canada, with weekly cross-country jumping and dressage lessons from her father and weekly dressage lessons from her mother.
She has now been professionally riding for more than 25 years and said her career has taken her all over North America and Europe.
Throughout that time, Gallagher-Legriffon has won several national and international victories and top placings at FEI competitions, but said representing Canada is one of the greatest honors of her career.
“It’s something I’ve worked toward for decades, and I don’t take that responsibility lightly. I feel incredibly grateful, proud, and humbled to have this opportunity,” she said.
“The world championship brings together the very best riders in the world, and simply earning a place on the Canadian team is something I’m immensely proud of.”
The FEI World Championships are the premier global competitions in equestrian sports, run every four years by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.
They feature elite athletes and horses competing for individual and team world titles across core disciplines including jumping, dressage, eventing, and driving.
World championship offers Olympic opportunity
Gallagher-Legriffon said it is also motivating to know a strong performance at the FEI World Championships could put her on the path towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
She said representing Canada at the Olympics has been her longtime dream.
“To have the opportunity to represent both Canada and New Brunswick on one of the biggest stages in sports would mean everything for me,” she said.
Gallagher-Legriffon said she hopes her participation also shows young riders from Atlantic Canada that it doesn’t matter where they come from.
“If you are willing to work hard, dream big, and stay committed, it’s possible to compete with the very best in the world,” she said.
New Brunswick Equestrian Association president Deanna Phelan said it would be “a big deal” for the province if Gallagher-Legriffon makes it to the Olympics.
“Our slogan is always grassroots to podium, and Denielle is a perfect example, where she started the riding sport in New Brunswick and has stayed with it for so long,” she said.
Phelan explained athletes from smaller provinces often move elsewhere in search of better training opportunities.
She said New Brunswick has a strong tradition of grassroots equestrian development and that the organization is proud to see athletes who started their careers in the province go on to compete on larger stages.
Phelan added that if Gallagher-Legriffon makes it to the Olympics, she would be the first New Brunswicker in more than 30 years to compete on the world’s biggest stage.
The last provincial athlete to join Team Canada in equestrian competition was Fredericton cardiologist Rob Stevenson, who competed in eventing at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Phelan said.
However, Gallagher-Legriffon said she is not looking too far ahead.
Her focus is on giving her horse the best performance possible, supporting her teammates and making Canada proud.
“If we do our job well each day, the bigger goals will take care of themselves,” she said.
