By Tania Millen, BSc, MJ

Selecting athletes for any team is hard. Selecting athletes for the first Canadian team that a fledgling organization has ever sent to a World Championships is doubly difficult. However, using subjective selection criteria which results in the highest ranked rider being left off the team pretty much guarantees that sport enthusiasts will question the selection process, the organization, and whether they want to be involved in future.

This is the unpleasant position that Working Equitation Canada (WECan) finds itself in.

WECan has selected four riders and one alternate rider to represent Canada at the Working Equitation World Championships in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain on September 9 to 13, 2026. 

But the rider who was selected as the alternate — who will only compete on Canada’s team if another horse/rider combination is unable to — is the highest-ranked Canadian rider by the working equitation (WE) international body (World Association of Working Equitation or WAWE). She is ranked 30 by WAWE with 298.5 points while the four selected riders are ranked 80 to 121 by WAWE with 107.5 to 166 points. In other words, the rider who was not selected to ride for Canada has achieved more than double the points of some riders who were.

When riders are considered for Canada’s equestrian teams, it is standard practice that the best scores and highest international rankings are heavily weighted in the selection process. It only makes sense that riders who have already proven to be the most competitive would be the most likely to produce the highest scores in subsequent competition. Hence top ranked riders are typically selected first, while those with lower scores battle for the remaining spots.

However, aside from having to achieve qualifying scores, the WECan World Championship team selection criteria were entirely subjective. None of the criteria prioritized selecting horse-rider combinations with the highest competition scores. None of the criteria were measurable. As such, criteria were open to interpretation and selection depended on personal opinions, feelings, and individual biases — a surefire way to incite controversy. 

The criteria included:

i. Obtaining announced qualifying standards; 

ii. Aptitude for high level international sport performance; 

iii. Knowledge of the sport of Working Equitation; 

iv. Assesses potential for success in partnering with a borrowed horse internationally;

v. Coachability and rider assessments at team development events;  

vi. Capacity to operate within a collaborative and supportive team environment;

vii. Professionalism and trustworthiness as an ambassador of WECan while competing and appearing at international events.

The people on the three-person selection committee were not publicly announced until after the selection. However, this is not about them because their choices were approved by the WECan Board of Directors. Theoretically, if the Board did not like the selectors’ choices, they could determine the team members themselves. It’s unknown whether this occurred.

Regardless, the Board relayed the results to the riders, provided an opportunity for riders to discuss the decision with the selectors — which the alternate rider took them up on — and announced their decision online. Supporters upset with the decision subsequently took to social media and email to share their views. So far, WECan has refused to share their selection rationale.

What Now?

New information could arise any day, but for now, the WECan Board decision is final.

The team riders have accepted their assignments. The alternate rider has made clear that she has accepted WECan’s decision and her job is to be ready to ride, if the opportunity arises. There was a 72-hour opportunity for riders to dispute the results, but none pursued this option.

If WECan was affiliated with Equestrian Canada (EC), riders could appeal the decision — if they were so inclined — through the independent Sport Dispute Resolution of Canada board. Canada’s three-day event rider Jessica Phoenix successfully appealed her alternate position for the 2016 Rio Olympics through this process and was instated as a team rider. However, WECan is not affiliated with EC hence riders cannot pursue this option.

If the WECan Board decides they would like to substitute the alternate rider for one of the selected riders, they may be unable or unwilling to do so in fear of a lawsuit from the rider they ‘unselect.’ However, if one of the selected riders decided — for whatever reason — not to ride, then the Board could fill that spot with the alternate rider.

WECan could also decide to share their selection rationale. However, with no measurable criteria in place, that route is fraught with danger as the Board would need to explain how they quantified one rider’s “aptitude,” “knowledge,” “potential,” “coachability,” “capacity,” “professionalism,” and “trustworthiness” over another’s. A challenge which, in itself, emphasizes the point that subjective criteria do not belong in a selection process.

The fallout could be significant 

There’s no easy route forward.

Negative social pressure could become an overwhelming distraction to the riders involved, reducing their ability to concentrate on their team debut.

Sponsors do not like to be associated with controversy. They may pull their support and spend their funds elsewhere at a time when WECan is trying to raise funds for the team. 

A volunteer organization is only as strong as its members, who may decide to boycott WECan shows and clinics to illustrate their outrage. Others may feel that a new WECan Board would be preferable and work to elect new members. Some may decide they can do better and form a new organization. 

Regardless of whether the public outcry continues, it’s clear that organizations owe it to their riders, supporters, and members to have objective, rational selection criteria that all can understand. Riders who spend years perfecting their craft and tens of thousands of dollars need solid goalposts to aim for, not moveable sticks that depend on the whims of selectors.

Ultimately, this team selection may alter the landscape of working equitation in Canada; whether WECan survives is an open question. Hopefully, the selected riders thrive under pressure and can rise above the din during the most important rides of their lives. 

Related: Canada Sending Its First Working Equitation Team to World Championships 

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