Lauren Barwick

Lauren Barwick (born 12 September 1977 at Langley, British Columbia) is a member of the Canadian Equestrian Team, in grade II Para-Dressage, who has competed in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games. She won three medals in those games. Barwick has featured in CBC's Heartland and has several awards.

Personal life

Lauren Barwick was born on 12 September 1977 in Langley, British Columbia. She worked at a place that supplied horses to movie shoots. Barwick became paralysed as a result of a ranch accident. In 2000, a 75 kg hay stack fell on her as she worked in the barn. She said, "It was an ordinary accident, but an accident that could have been prevented." After being rushed to the hospital, she was told her back was broken. Soon after, she was parasailing and riding horses again.

Lauren has 1 child named Viola.

Career

This was Barwick's second appearance at the Paralympics. Her first Paralympics was in 2004 in Athens and she did not make the podium. In 2008, she won two medals, a gold in the Individual Freestyle with a score of 72.7766% and a silver in the Individual Championships. These victories were both with the horse Maile. She said, "All my friends, family, team members, and sponsors have allowed me the opportunity to succeed...But most importantly, I have had the honour to ride a horse with a lot of heart."

In the 2012 Paralympics, Barwick did not win any. She got eighth at the Open Equestrian Competition on Off to Paris with her partner Ashley Gowanlock on Maile. The pair scored 72.095% leaving them with eighth place. She was very impressed with their results. "The ring had a lot of energy, but given the circumstances, my horse went really well today," she said.

In 2014, Barwick competed at the International FEI competition in Moorsele from April 25–27. She won the Grade II freestyle and individual tests with scores of 73.086% and 79.150% respectively. She was very pleased with the results saying "Today our better was our best! The saying 'less is more' was exactly what we did, and it paid off." At the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games, Barwick won a silver medal and a bronze medal in Individual para-dressage freestyle test grade II and Individual para-dressage championship test grade II respectively. She got a score of 76.250% for the silver and a score of 70.914% for the bronze.

Horses

Barwick currently has two horses, Off to Paris and Ferdonia 2. Equine Canada's Off to Paris is a 13-year-old Oldenburg mare. She also has her own mare, Ferdonia 2, a 15-year-old Oldenburg. Off to Paris is her horse to use in international competitions provided by Equine Canada.

Rankings

According to the Federation Equestre International (FEI), Barwick is ranked as the number one para-equestrian rider in the world as of 27 May 2014. The rankings were formed with results from 1 January – 30 April 2014

Achievements

Barwick has been awarded 4 awards: Equine Canada President's Award Equine Canada Annual Awards

She has also appointed Equine Canada’s official Spokesperson for Horse Week 2009. She has also been selected as a torchbearer for the 2010 Olympic Games.