Uxbridge rider wins Winter Fair event

Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Uxbridge resident Kendal Lahari beat out some highly regarded competition to win the $20,000 Mad Barn Indoor Eventing Challenge at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

Uxbridge equestrienne Kendal Lahari, astride ‘Audacious’, wins the Mad Barn Indoor Eventing Challenge at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.  Submitted photo

Lahari, 37, rode her horse, Audacious, to a clear round to defeat four-time American eventing Olympian Boyd Martin and Canadian Olympian Jessica Phoenix, another Uxbridge native. Only four of the 10 riders in the event cleared the course with no faults and Lahari posted the fastest time. There also was celebrity in the course itself: it was designed by Capt. Mark Phillips, Princess Anne’s first husband.

Eventing is a combination of dressage, show jumping and cross-country, but since the Royal competition was held indoors, the course was a combination of show jumping and cross-country obstacles.

Although the event was called a $20,000 challenge, Lahari said her winner's slice of the prize money only amounted to $6,000.

Over a cup of coffee in a viewing room overlooking the indoor ring at their farm, Lahari was full of praise for Audacious, an 11-year-old male standing 16 hands three inches tall. She has been riding him and training him for eight years and says he loves to perform in front of crowds.

Despite the fact that it was her first-ever title in the Mad Barn event, Lahari has an impressive resumé. To start with, all the riders in the Mad Barn event were there by invitation, based on their past records. Lahari has been riding competitively since she was 11 years old and has represented Canada at various equestrian meets. She was a member of the Canadian team at the Nations Cup last year. She said she has been invited to the event for 12 years, adding that only high performance riders get invited. Currently, she is working to make the Canadian team for the World Equestrian Games in 2026.

"You have to meet the qualifications, but also show consistency in results," she said.

The event at the Royal was her last competition of the year. She starts up again in January, with competitions on most weekends through to October. She spends the first four months of the year riding the circuit in Florida.

When she is not riding competitively, Lahari trains both horses and young riders. She is well suited for the role, having started riding when she was just five years old.

For Lahari, eventing was almost a foregone conclusion: her mother, Gwen, represented Canada in eventing years ago and has been her coach.