For veteran Canadian Equestrian Team member Chris Pratt, it all began with four goats. Having grown up in the city, Chris moved to a farm north of Toronto at the age of 10. There were sheep, chickens, and goats – every type of farm animal except horses. After Chris repeatedly asked for a pony, his father finally relented, trading four goats for what would kick-start a lifelong career for his son.
In 1994, Chris topped the Kanatek Talent Squad, a means of identifying future members of the Canadian Show Jumping Team. It would prove to be an accurate predictor of the future, as Chris soon scored his first grand prix victory in the $50,000 Audi Grand Prix at the 1997 Collingwood Horse Show riding Davos.
Having operated his own training business, Performance Horses Unlimited, in Terra Cotta, ON, for several years, Chris accepted a full-time position with the Grange family’s Lothlorien Farm in 2004. He was named to Nations’ Cup teams for the 2005 Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ tournament in Calgary, AB, followed by the 2006 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, where he jumped double clear riding Mustique to clinch an important victory for Canada. Chris made his major games debut riding Rivendell at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany.
In 2007, Chris again struck out on his own, forming Epic Stables and relocating to the southern California. Balancing coaching and quality horse sales with his own competitive pursuits, Chris won four grand prix events, including the $350,000 CSI5* Grand Prix, riding three different horses during the 2016 HITS Desert Circuit. He followed up by winning the $100,000 Grand Prix of Del Mar that spring with Concorde.
With the goal of pursuing the sport at its highest level, Chris spent 2018 and 2019 based in the Netherlands where he represented Canada at iconic events such as CSIO5* La Baule, France, and CSIO5* Rome, Italy. During this time, he coached members of the Japanese team, including Shota Ogomori who would go on to win a team bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was a formative time for Chris’s coaching career as he had the opportunity to work alongside the legendary Paul Schockemöhle, who was acting as chef d’equipe of the Japanese team in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Respected by his peers, Chris then took the reins on several of Eric Lamaze’s horses when the former Olympic champion stopped riding competitively, scoring an impressive win in the ultra-competitive 2020 Sparkassen Youngsters Cup in Aachen riding Newberry Balia NL. He then worked alongside Shane Sweetnam for two years, helping the Irish Olympian manage riding and coaching duties at his busy Sweet Oak Farm in 2022 and 2023. Clients had the opportunity to benefit from Chris’s vast knowledge and experience as he accompanied Kelly Arani to Spain and Portugal where she made her U.S. Nations’ Cup debut; coached Lacey Gilbertston at Major League Show Jumping stops in California and Mexico; and trained Ashley Vogel on a European tour.
In 2024, he began riding for Karen Dwight-Long and Glen Fleischer’s Take The High Road, LLC. The move put Chris back into the international spotlight as a member of both the Canadian Show Jumping Team and the Northern Lights team for Major League Show Jumping. After producing a double clear performance in the 2026 Wellington Nations’ Cup – just as he had done 20 years earlier – Chris is strongly favoured for a repeat appearance at the 2026 World Championships in Aachen this summer.
Chris operates Epic Stables with locations in Wellington and Lexington, Kentucky, where his world-class facilities offer the ideal training ground for ambitious competitors. Balancing riding with coaching duties comes naturally to Chris, and his expertise has proven invaluable in assisting both professionals and amateurs alike as they pursue their competitive goals at the highest levels of the sport.
Ideaal ES
2013 bay Dutch Warmblood gelding by Ukato x Conway
Owner: Take The High Road, LLC
Paulien Dwerse Hagen
2015 bay Belgian Warmblood mare by Cornet Obolensky x Casall ASK
Owner: Sweet Oak Farm and Voquest LLC
Lollypop
2016 grey Dutch Warmblood gelding by Cape Coral RBF Z x Lancelot
Owner: Take The High Road, LLC
Scarlett
2018 bay Belgian Warmblood mare by Comme Il Faut x Thunder vd Zuuthoeve
Owner: Chris Pratt and Take The High Road, LLC
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