In 2023, the Veteran Equestrian Pair of Roberta Foster and Chichic have clearly demonstrated that Barbados can consider itself a top performer at the International Level.
Following in the footsteps of the 2018 Eventing Team Bronze medalists--Monique Archer, Zoe Archer and Laura Smith, Roberta has now entered the history books as the first Individual Equestrian Medalist for Barbados following her Bronze-medal performance
at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) in Santo Domingo.
The upbeat Freestyle performance in the Dressage Finals, to the tunes of Barbados’ own music Diva Rhianna catapulted Roberta and her Dutch mare to their historic podium finish and a place at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Roberta, a veteran of international competition, first entered the Pan American Games some 24 years ago at the 1999 installment of these Games in Winnipeg, Canada, where she rode her German Gelding-Herbstcharmeur.
In total, she has to date, represented Barbados in three Pan American Games and three Central American and Caribbean Games.
In another equestrian discipline, the talented mother and daughter Eventing team of Monique Archer and Zoe Archer and their long time equine partners, Camross Diamond and Millridge Z II respectively, also performed exceptionally well at the 2023 CAC Games in Santo Domingo and finished in 11th and 4th place respectively in this most grueling of equestrian disciplines.
Zoe is now the highest placed Eventing Individual for Barbados and adds this to her historic records list, which includes two accolades she earned from the 2018 CAC Games as the youngest Eventing Competitor there at Sixteen Years old and one of the first equestrian medalist for Barbados when she took to the podium with her team.
Zoe’s top four performance at the CAC Games also won her a spot at the 2023 Pan American Games, but she has since declined this spot owing to her educational commitments in the UK. However, we expect big things from this 23 year old equestrian dynamo in the future.
Another name to watch for the future is that of Twenty- Two year old Mackenzie Manning, the fourth member of the Barbados Equestrian Team at the 2023 CAC Games. Mackenzie rode her stunning mare, Ruveyda at her first International Games event with the determination and grace of a much more experienced competitor.
Mackenzie, the second youngest Dressage competitor in Santo Domingo, produced a legendary top ten finish in the Combined Dressage Competition and it is evident that Barbados has not seen the last of this top young athlete.
Although 2023 was not to be a Games Year as expected for Barbados’ USA-based Show Jumper, Alexa Rodriguez, this young athlete, who represented Barbados at the 2018 CAC Games, has demonstrated her outstanding skill in the saddle and will definitely be a member of many future International Equestrian Teams.
Emily Kinch, Barbados’ Show Jumping representative at the 2014 CAC Games in Mexico and 2015 Pan American Games in Canada, will hopefully be back on the international circuit in the near future, along with up and coming local show jumping talent such as Heather Walker, Lena Tempro, and Paige Tryhane.
