Jonathon Millar took home the grand prize at Sunday’s CS13 $134,000 FEI Grand Prix in Ottawa, Ontario.

Twenty-seven riders participated in the international event that was rescheduled from Saturday, thanks to excessive heat. It was an incredible weekend for many reasons, not the least of which was the world class equestrian competitions filling Ottawa’s Wesley Clover Parks.

In fact, I couldn’t believe how easy – and economical – it was to get a ring-side view of the best show jumping in Canada. The event was incredible and prompted me to take a last-minute trip to the nation’s capital. Well, to Nepean specifically, 20-minutes west of downtown.

Free admission, parking by donation, and arena-side seats if you bring your own lawn chair – I couldn’t believe how close I got to some of Canada’s best riders including Amy Millar, Ian Miller (who announced his pending retirement this year), Beth Underhill and Hyde Moffat.

Plus, the park is dog-friendly, so my 14-year-old terrier Victor spent July 19, 20 and 21, 2019 at the park with me. Attending the event was surprisingly accessible, considering tickets to similar events like the Royal Winter Fair usually cost $50 and up.

Clearly, equestrian Show Jumping is an under-appreciated sport in Canada.

For three weeks in July 2019, various equestrian events kept Wesley Clover Parks jumping. Many amateur and junior jumping, hunter and equitation classes filled the weekday schedule, and some on weekends. It all culminated with an international Grand Prix event and a National Grand Prix – both on the event’s final day, thanks to weather rescheduling.

The Ottawa International II CS13 $134,000 FEI Grand Prix, sponsored by Brookstreet Hotel, resulted in the following:

1. Jonathon Millar and Daveau took home the $44,220 first prize.
2. Jordon Coyle on Picador was second with winning $26,800.
3. Beth Underhill on Count Me In took home third place and $20,100.
4. Karen Sparks on Calvin Klein was forth winning $13,400.
5. Hyde Moffat on Grafton was fifth winning $8,040.

My favourite Amy Millar rode twice, placing both eight riding Ericson and tenth riding Truman. Her father, Captain Canada Ian Millar placed ninth on Christano.

The International Grand Prix was immediately followed by the regularly scheduled $15,000 1.40M National Grand Prix … up next on horsetrotting.net.

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Travel Guide: Ottawa is an ideal city to visit (though not necessarily to drive) attracting travelers from around the world. Located near Parliament Hill and the Rideau Canal are the National Gallery of Canada and Byward Market.

The best way to learn history and appreciate architecture? Sign up for any Ottawa Haunted Walk Tours that walk you through the downtown core or inside historic prisons and gallows. (Check out our Haunted Walk Tours Toronto experience here).

I stayed at the sparkling new Sandman Hotel in Nepean, about 20-minutes from downtown Ottawa and the Wesley Clover Parks, a boutique dog-friendly hotel with uber-hip lobby art.

Staying outside the boundaries of heavy city traffic has the advantage of access to off-the-beaten path attractions such as the Canadian Agriculture and Food Museum – a working research farm – or the Diefenbunker Cold War Museum – an incredible insight into 50 years of Canadian history not many know about.