By Tania Millen, BSc, MJ

Working Equitation Canada (WECan) has selected four riders and one alternate for Canada’s first team to compete at a working equitation world championship. They are:

• Ilona Berbekar from Calgary, Alberta 
• Kerry Marit from Cochrane, Alberta
• Pam Esteves from Oro Medonte, Ontario
• Susanne Zimmerman from Kelowna, BC
• Sarah Bradley (alternate) from Roberts Creek, BC

The team will compete at the 7th Working Equitation World Championships to be held in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain on September 8 to 13, 2026.

“It’s really exciting because this is the first time that Canadian riders are going to an international event for this sport,” says Darcy Henckel, the president of WECan and chef d’equipe for the team.

By June 2026, 22 nations had submitted entries, and 74 horse-rider combinations are slated to compete — the largest world equitation (WE) world championships to date. The championships are hosted by the World Association for Working Equitation (WAWE), which generally follows Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) sporting rules, although working equitation is not an FEI sport.

“The high level of competition in Europe is challenging for our riders,” says Henckel. “So, we’re sending our best four riders, and we’ll do the best that we can.”

Related: Navigating the Gate with Your Horse

“This is the moment I realized that I had qualified for the 2026 World Championships, while competing at the International Qualifier in Jerez de la Frontera Spain in September 2025.” — Ilona Berbekar. Photo: MJ Photographia

Aside from Berbekar, whose horse is based in Portugal, all the riders will be competing on leased horses, which they’ve sourced in Europe.

“There’s no money from WECan for the riders — we’re a not-for-profit organization,” explains Henckel. “The riders have to pay for all their training and expenses. It’s a huge financial commitment.”

Working equitation is a relatively new sport in Canada. WECan was formed in 2017 and has been affiliated with WAWE since 2024. It’s not affiliated with Equestrian Canada.

The sport was developed by France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain in 1997 to reflect the traditional riding and cattle-handling techniques of those countries. It includes the traditions of:

• France’s gardians, who still manage semi-wild cattle in the Camargue;
• Italy’s butteri, who keep traditions alive riding Maremma horses to manage cattle in Tuscany;
• Portuguese riders on Lusitano horses; and
• Spanish vaqueros (cowboys) herding cattle on vast estates.

The aim of the sport is to preserve the cattle herding and riding styles of these traditional horsemen through tests which reflect everyday tasks. Additionally, the sport aims to honour participating nations’ unique equestrian heritage.

Ilona Berbekar

For the past four years, Berbekar has been splitting her time between Calgary, Alberta and Portugal where her horse is located. She is the only Canadian rider who will be competing on her own horse.

“I purchased Juncal da Caniceiro in Portugal in October 2022 with the plan of developing him into a Masters-level horse,” says Berbekar. “It was part of a four-year plan to go where the best working equitation riders and trainers in the world were, so that I could maximize my training.”

A WE competition has four trials: Dressage, Ease of Handling, Speed, and Cow, although at lower levels the Cow phase is not always offered by show organizers.

Related: Equitation Essentials - The Hows and Whys of a Winning Riding Position

Ilona Berbekar galloping to the finish line during the speed test at a National Competition in Vimeiro Portugal in April 2026 (above).

Switch-a-cup obstacle in Ease of Handling at a National Competition in Vimeiro Portugal in April 2026 (below). Photos: Catarina EK Photography

The Dressage trial is a typical dressage test; Ease of Handling is a set course of obstacles where riders are judged subjectively according to how they complete each obstacle; Speed is an Ease of Handling course which is judged subjectively plus timed; and the Cow trial is where a team of three or four riders sort and pen cows.

“A lot happens quickly so your horse has to be very rideable to execute these courses well,” says Berbekar. “Doing the advanced maneuvers using one hand is very difficult and really tests your riding skills. You can’t escape your mistakes. The judges see everything.”

Last year, Berbekar competed in Jerez, where the world championships will be held.

“The level of riding there is completely different from here,” says Berbekar. “It’s the centre of excellence for this sport so it’s really been an honour to be part of it.”

Kerry Marit

Marit started working equitation in 2016 and qualified on her eight-year-old imported Lusitano, Obama. She has a boarding and training stable in Cochrane, Alberta.

“Working equitation is based on immediacy to immobility,” says Marit. “Your horse has to stand still but then immediately gallop, change leads, or do canter pirouettes.

“The speed round is a bucket of fun,” says Marit. “But I’m scared of cows, so I find that part challenging.”

Kerry Marit riding Obama. Photo: Brooke Louise Creative

Competitors are encouraged to compete in the traditional dress and saddlery of their country’s cattle-working riders or the attire of their selected discipline. This means that American cowboy-style Western riders compete alongside dressage riders, traditionally-dressed Portuguese and Spanish riders, American hunter seat riders, and riders representing Australian stockmen.

However, riders can’t “cross-dress” such as wearing dressage clothes while riding in a Western saddle. They also must use the same attire and tack for all four trials.

“I planned to take Obama but we’ve run into a few issues and it’s $50,000 to fly [a horse] there and back,” says Marit. “So, I’m leasing a horse. I’ll probably go 10 days before [the championship] to train.”

Each rider has made their own lease arrangements, but Marit says that it will cost $10,000 to 15,000 for the two to three weeks that she’ll be in Europe.

“It’s not a cheap endeavour but we’re the first Canadian team and that’s a big deal,” she says. 

Related: Sidepass and Backing Obstacles: Benefits Beyond the Show Ring

Pam Esteves

Esteves runs a breeding, training, and coaching operation near Barrie, Ontario with her husband. She qualified on Poison CM, a seven-year-old Lusitano stallion that she imported from Portugal two years ago. She switched from dressage to working equitation in 2022.

“I remember going to my first working equitation show and just feeling at home with the welcoming atmosphere,” says Esteves.

“We’d all do the course walk together, talk about strategy, then sit around in the evenings and congratulate each other on our successes and failures.”

“We were considering taking Poison but it’s a lot for a young stallion,” says Esteves. “So, I’ve decided to lease a horse. I’ll go over about three weeks ahead of time.”

Pam Esteves riding Poison CM at the WAWE World Qualifier at the Royal Riding Academy in Newmarket, ON (above/below). Photos: Katie Witheridge Photography

There are multiple competition levels competing at the world championships, with Masters being the highest level. Riders at this level must compete one-handed and are expected to canter most of the obstacles.

“It’s challenging to rev them up and then quiet them down,” says Esteves. “You have to get the three tempi [flying lead] changes for the single slalom or seven tempi changes for the double slalom, then you go to your next obstacle, then halt and the horse has to stand still and look relaxed like you could write your grocery list from them all day long.”

But it’s her mindset that Esteves is working on.

“If my mind’s not ready for that centre line, anybody can get centre line amnesia.”

Susanne Zimmerman

Zimmermann is from Kelowna, BC and first tried working equitation in 2017 in Portugal. She qualified riding Instinto, her 13-year-old imported Iberian (three-quarters Lusitano and one-quarter Arabian) gelding.

“I rode with Buck Brannaman for 20 years and fell in love with the vaquero style of riding,” says Zimmerman. “Working equitation is not that far off. It’s a bit more stylized and uses a few more of the dressage aspects.”

Susanne Zimmerman, riding Instinto, spearing the ring of the bull (above). Photo: Brooke Louise Creative

Susanne Zimmerman with Instinto (above/below). Photos: Bee Varga Photography

Each WE horse-and-rider competitor completes, and is scored in, all four trials. The horse-rider combination with the highest combined ranking overall after all four trials, wins.

“I did not come from an experienced dressage background with lots of lots of mileage in the show ring,” says Zimmerman. “I’d shown a few times but that was it. In the last year-and-a-half I’ve had to really step up to the plate. I think it shows that anybody can do it, because I was anybody.”

Related: Rediscovering Equestrian Sports from Long Ago

Sarah Bradley (alternate)

“My plan was to take my Canadian-bred mare but as the alternate rider, I’m not going to ship her,” says Bradley.

Bradley purchased Holly Golightly as a feral six-year-old. She’s a BC-born Zangersheide mare who’s now 17 and has a long resume: eventing, competing Intermediare 1 dressage, ligament surgery, a foal, and since 2023 has been competing in working equitation.

“From the minute I started doing obstacles, she was like — this is my jam!” says Bradley. “She’s like a border collie in a horse’s body.”

Sarah Bradley riding Holly Golightly. Photos: Robyn Cowan Photography

Bradley started doing working equitation in 2018 and says that the sport appeals to a lot of people.

“I have said for a long time that if we do not get more bums in saddles, the Canadian horse industry is dead,” says Bradley. “This discipline has the ability to do that because the tack doesn’t matter. The horse doesn’t matter. You can ride a Quarter Horse, an Andalusian, or somebody’s backyard pony.”

“Fundamentally [working equitation] is a working discipline,” she says. “Learning to read cows and then understanding that a particular obstacle is the way it is because that’s what you have to do when working cattle, is really cool.”

Bradley has leased a horse in Europe and will be training there so she’ll be ready to step in at a moment’s notice, if needed. 

At the time of writing, Bradley was Canada’s highest ranked Masters rider on the WAWE rider ranking list. She is ranked 30 by WAWE with 298.5 points while the four selected team riders are ranked 80 to 121 by WAWE with 107.5 to 166 points.

WECan’s selection criteria were posted over a year ago but beyond required qualifying scores, none of the criteria are quantifiable.

“As a professional coach and athlete and having been involved in other disciplines at an elite level for many years, I know that selection is always a challenge,” says Bradley. “However, the more objective you can make your selection criteria, the easier it is to rationalize the decision. Sport Canada has guidelines to assist all Canadian sport organizations with this. Olympic equestrian disciplines are required to follow, and have criteria approved, by Sport Canada.

“While I’m disappointed [not to be selected as a member of the team], my job now is to support the team,” says Bradley. “I’m going to be the very best representative of Canada in whatever capacity I am called upon to be.”

WE World Championships are held every four years in the same years that the FEI sports of dressage, show jumping, three-day-eventing, driving, vaulting, and para-dressage hold their world championships.

There are both team and individual medals. Countries can send up to four riders, and each rider competes as an individual plus as a member of their country’s team. If a country sends less than three riders, then those riders just compete as individuals. 

The team has booked a 10-bedroom castle as a base while the championship competition will be in the courtyard of the Spanish Riding School.

“As the chef d’equipe, I help promote a team atmosphere and am there to help them navigate something that none of them have ever experienced before,” says Henckel.

“I’m grateful to WECan for giving us this opportunity,” says Zimmerman. “It’s a volunteer organization — nobody gets paid. The board and officials have worked tirelessly in trying to make this happen.”

“It goes to show that if you’re serious about something, don’t give up,” says Berbekar. “Lean in and go for it.”

“I want to ride well and wave the flag because I’m really proud to be Canadian,” says Marit.

“I haven’t met the other riders of the team because they’re across the country,” says Esteves. “I’m really looking forward to spending time together as a team and what that camaraderie brings.”

“As a young nation in this and a young group in this, we probably will not stand a chance to be in the top tier,” Zimmerman explains. “We all know that, because European riders have been at this for a long time, and three of us are riding borrowed horses. This is not about winning. This is about participation in the best possible way.”

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Main Photo: Ilona Berbekar carrying the garrocha (traditional Spanish wooden pole) during a National Competition in Vimeiro Portugal in April 2026. Credit: Catarina EK Photography