Princeton Show Jumping 2013 Course Designer Bios

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Chris Brandt designs and builds hunter and jumper courses throughout North America including HITS Arizona Circuit in Tucson,  La Silla, Monterrey, Mexico, Thunderbird Show Park in British Columbia, the Vermont Summer Festival, the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, and Spruce Meadows.
 
Chris is currently the Chair of the Jump Canada Course Design Committee, responsible for the certification, behavior and continuing education of all licensed hunter - jumper course designers in Canada.

Building courses that encourage the development of a horse is one of Chris’ main goals in his own designs.

“I aim to design courses with nice track, that will be both fair and testing, and that hopefully will produce top quality sport and yet a pleasant experience for horses and riders.”

When he is not building courses he is out judging, also up to international level. Furthermore he has been a Technical Delegate for FEI at four European Championships. Avelino is based in Gijon where he is the Director of Sport.

 Alan Wade FEI 4* - Tipperary, Ireland
Alan Wade has course designed at some of the biggest shows in the world including the 2012 U.S. Olympic Selection Trials and U.S. Equestrian Federation Show Jumping National Championships, Gucci Masters, Royal Agricultral Fair, The Devon Horse Show, WEF, Lexington, Dublin Horse Show and the FEI World Jumping Challenge. Alan was a member of the 2012 Olympic Games Jumping course design team assisting Bob Ellis.

 Michel Vaillancourt, FEI 4* - Aiken, South Carolina          
St. Felix de Valois, QC native, Michel Vaillancourt, made history by becoming the first Canadian equestrian athlete to win an Individual Olympic medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Michel is a Level 4 Coach and served as chef d’equipe of the Canadian Show Jumping Team from 1994 to 1998. Vaillancourt was the course designer for such prestigious events as WEF, The Royal Winter Fair Horse Show in Toronto, ON, Horse Shows by the Bay.

“To be a good course designer, you have to be a good horseman first and foremost. “You have to truly understand the sport of show jumping.” Vaillancourt said it’s about making a course challenging enough to produce a good outcome.

Olaf Petersen Jr., FEI 3* - Munich, Germany
Olaf Petersen Jr. is one of the most sought after course designers in the world. He has designed 2004 Olympic Games in Athens as co-course designer, the 2005 South East Asian Games in Manila, the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, as well as courses in Wellington, Thermal, Valkenswaard and Mexico City, Del Mar and Los Angeles.

“I like free forward riding. A good rider, even on an unexperienced horse, should always have a chance, not just the best or most expensive horse with the most quality.”