Brock is indeed a young man with a vision. He hopes to compete in the 2015 Pan Am Games as a para-equestrian. To reach the competitive level of skill necessary to participate in these games Brock needs to train with a coach and ride more than once a week. Competing in shows on an ongoing basis is essential since he has to make his way through a hierarchy of competitions, raising his skill lever ever higher as he does so.
Brock rode competitively for the first time in 2008, riding at the Ontario Parasport Games (OPSG), where he earned the Intermediate Level Silver Medal (PDF link). In 2009, after he had earned the same medal for the second time in a row at the OPSG (PDF link), Brock’s dream of riding in the Pan Am Games began to feel much more like a distinct possibility.
The next step he needs to take to continue along the path to those Games is to be internationally classified with the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) or in English, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports. This will be a designation based on his ability level as a disabled rider, and it is absolutely necessary for any rider such as Brock who hopes to compete in international games. Not ready to stop at the Pan Am Games, Brock currently dreams of representing Canada as a rider in the Paralympics. It might take him some time to reach that height of competition, but surely nothing can stop Bouncing Brock Bontje!