Belinda Trussell

Biography

Belinda Trussell began to ride seriously after her family moved to the Philippines when she was 10. By 1988, she had won the Canadian National Dressage Championship and placed ninth individually at the North American Young Riders’ Championships. In 1994 Trussell became a Canadian citizen and in 2002 she was the youngest member of the Canadian Dressage Team at the World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain. She went on to compete at the 2003 European Dressage Championships in Hickstead, England and helped the Canadian Dressage Team earn a berth for Athens 2004 where she competed with Royan II. Trussell returned to the FEI World Equestrian Games in 2010 and 2014. At the latter she was Canada’s highest-placed individual in dressage, finishing in the top-25 aboard Anton. Anton and Trussell carried that success into the 2015 season, competing at the Pan Am Games in Toronto where they helped the Canadian Dressage Team win the silver medal and break the Canadian record for the highest team average score achieved at a major Games. The duo also came close to a podium finish in the individual event. Trussell continued to break records in 2016, kicking off the season at the prestigious Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida where she racked up wins and broke the Canadian record for the highest score in a Grand Prix Special with 75.529%. Twelve years after her Olympic debut, Trussell returned to the Games at Rio 2016 aboard Anton.

Getting to know…

Family: Has two children, Matthew and Sophie with her husband, Mark… Getting into the Sport: First became interested in horses at age 6 during a stay in Atlanta where there was a small barn in her neighborhood… She spent her riding and grooming her friend’s horse, Pixie… Outside Interests: Bachelor of Arts in Commerce from the University of Toronto… Went to George Brown College to study Culinary Arts; though she wanted to be a chef but realized she hated cooking… Odds and Ends: Spent her childhood living in exotic places such as Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines… Owns and operates Oakcrest Farms, a distinguished Canadian dressage facility, where she coaches a diverse group of clientele…