A lifelong passion for equine has translated to an Olympic dream realized for a DeWinton equestrian.
Twenty-seven-year-old Pia Fortmuller is one of 19 riders from Equine Canada named to the Canadian Olympic Team. The DeWinton-raised athlete will be a reserve in dressage at the Summer Games in London.
“I cannot say that this is something that I was expecting, because there are so many factors that come into play and there are so many things that must come into place,” said Fortmuller via email from England. “I am just so very thankful that it is all working out and my dream is actually becoming a reality.”
As the reserve rider for the Canadian dressage contingent in London, Fortmuller has to be prepared at all times to be called into action should a rider or horse be unfit to compete in both the team and individual dressage events.
“At this moment because I am the reserve rider my goal is to be a support to my team and take in this whole experience (as) a learning opportunity and preparations for the next Olympics,” she said.
Should Fortmuller and her three-year horse Orion get the call, she will not be fazed by the magnitude of Olympic competition.
“I always make sure I am mentally 100 per cent in the arena and with my horse. Basically I take a deep breath and get into the zone, then power through my test with all the zest and determination in my heart,” Fortmuller said.
Dressage is a judged event measuring the execution of prescribed tests through a series of movements and patterns in an arena.
The sport is celebrating its centennial at the Summer Olympics as dressage was first introduced at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm and has remained a fixture ever since.
For Fortmuller, her visions of competing at the Summer Games were cultivated at an early age.
“My mother is a dressage trainer, so I have been involved with horses my whole entire (life). I grew up with horses and they have been my passion of mine for as long as I can remember,” she said.
Fortmuller grew up in DeWinton, where her mother Dagmar operates the Aspen Creek Training Centre. She attended Millarville School until Grade 6 and graduated from the Masters Academy School in Calgary in 2003.
Her Olympic path fell into place in 2009 when she moved to Germany, after completing her bachelor’s degree at Simon Fraser University, to train with some of dressage’s most prolific athletes.
“I always can explain it best by using the example of hockey, in the same way that the roots and history of hockey are so embedded in the Canadian culture, so is the sport of Dressage embedded in the German,” Fortmuller said. “I am really enjoying living in Germany because it has given me the opportunity take my dressage career to the highest level.”
A major push to Fortmuller’s career occurred in 2010 when she began training with three-time Olympic medalist Heike Kemmer. The 50-year-old German is a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Germany in team dressage at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games and also picked up a bronze medal in individual dressage at the 2008 Games.
“Training with Heike Kemmer has been a very positive experience for me because she has, amongst many other achievements, won three Olympics medals and she has taken the time to pass on her insight and knowledge on to me,” Fortmuller said.
“Heike is not only an extremely knowledgeable trainer, but she has also helped me with the management of my dressage career.”
The Canadian Equine team has been acclimatizing to Great Britain at its training camp just outside of London since July 16. The team descends upon the Olympic city on July 28, the day after the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Games.
“The preparations for the games have been extremely intense, because we need to make sure that our horse in 100 per cent fit, prepared and ready to peak in their performance for exactly the time frame of the Olympic Games,” Fortmuller said. “And then we need to also make sure that we as the riders are both physically and mentally prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.”
The individual dressage events are scheduled for Aug. 2, 3 and 7 with the medal round slated for Aug. 9.
Team dressage is Aug. 2-3 and culminates in the medal round on Aug. 7.
To keep up-to-date with Fortmuller visit her personal blog at www.piavirginia.blogspot.ca or the Equine Canada official website at equinecanada.ca.
