Beth Underhill
Beth Underhill | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||
Discipline | Show jumping | ||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Georgetown, Ontario, Canada | 5 September 1962||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Elizabeth 'Beth' Underhill (born 5 September 1962), is a Canadian Equestrian Team athlete for show jumping. She owns and operates Beth Underhill Stables at Kingsgate in the community of Schomberg in King Township, Ontario.[1] She was a commentator for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during its coverage of the equestrian events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[2]
Early life
Underhill was born to Jack and Joan Underhill in Georgetown, a community in Halton Hills. Her father died of a heart attack[3] in 1980. In 2000, 20 years to the day of her father's death, her mother committed suicide.[3]
She started riding at a YMCA camp in Georgetown. In 1969, she was enrolled in the Toronto-North York Pony Club.[4] One year during her youth, she skipped school with a friend to attend the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, where she "took some straw from Branch County's stall as a souvenir" that she still possesses.[4]
She was enrolled in a music program at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), where she sang and played piano.[1][3] The RCM awarded her a silver medal for best Canadian vocalist in 1977.[5] She discontinued the program later that year[4] to focus on equestrianism,[3] but has said that her music training led her to have a "much more confident, stronger attitude, not just in riding but in life as well".[5]
Equestrian career
Underhill was added to the Canadian Equestrian Team in 1990, during which time she worked for and trained with Terrance 'Torchy' Millar.[6][4][1] She made her debut appearance with the national team at the FEI Nations Cup in Washington, D.C. riding Monopoly. She described wearing team Canada's red jacket for the first time as the "most thrilling moment" of her career.[7] In 1993, she became the first woman to win the Canadian World Cup qualifying league.[5] She won it again in 1999.[2]
She was part of the national jumping team at the 1998 FEI World Equestrian Games that finished in 10th place.[8] She was in 81st place in individual show jumping at the 1992 Summer Olympics.[9]
She was offered $1 million for her horse Altair, an offer she declined.[3] In 2001, Altair damaged a suspensory tendon at an event at Spruce Meadows.[3] Underhill has stated that Altair and Monopoly received fan mail.[10]
At the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in 2011, she was thrown from her horse Viggo and suffered a concussion, the second of her career but the first resulting in memory loss.[2]
In 1987, she established Beth Underhill Stables, now operated by five full-time employees on a 100 acres (40 ha) property in Schomberg. It has a barn for 20 horses, each with a 12-by-12-foot (3.7 m × 3.7 m) stall.[11] The facility provides training for riders and horses.[11]
Notes
- ^ a b c Hanes 2010.
- ^ a b c Smith 2011. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFSmith2011 (help)
- ^ a b c d e f Ulmer 2003.
- ^ a b c d Henning 2004.
- ^ a b c Wong 2012.
- ^ Chronicle of the Horse.
- ^ Five Questions with Beth Underhill.
- ^ FEI: WEG-S – Rome 1998.
- ^ FEI: Olympic Games-S – Barcelona 1992.
- ^ Underhill displays a Monopoly on class.
- ^ a b King Township Business Times, p. 5.
References
- Hanes, Tracy (December 2010). "Speed Control for Jumpers with Beth Underhill". Horse Canada, Horse Publications Group. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
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(help) - Henning, Sandi (2004). "Beth Underhill: Finding That Silver Lining". Time Flies Equine Photography. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
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(help) - Smith, Beverley (11 November 2011). "Olympic show jumper Beth Underhill diagnosed with concussion". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
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(help) - Ulmer, Mike (19 September 2003). "The Last Word". Toronto Sun. Canoe.ca. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
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(help) - Wong, Tony (4 August 2012). "London 2012: Many accomplished musicians among Olympians". Toronto Star. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
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(help) - "Underhill displays a Monopoly on class". Toronto Star. 9 April 1999. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
- Beth Underhill (31 August 2013). "Five Questions with Beth Underhill" (Interview). Angelstone Tournaments. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
- "Beth Underhill Stables" (PDF). King Township Business Times. The Township of King. December 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
- "Team Results: WEG-S – Rome (ITA) (01/10/1998 – 04/10/1998)". International Federation for Equestrian Sports. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
- "Team Results: Olympic Games-S – Barcelona (ESP) (25/07/1992 – 08/08/1992)". International Federation for Equestrian Sports. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
- Chronicle of the Horse. 54 (27–34). Chronicle of the Horse, Incorporated. 1991.
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External links
- Official website
- Beth Underhill, athlete performance at International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI)
- Smith, Beverley (17 November 2011). "Famed Canadian show jumping horse Monopoly dies". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
- 1962 births
- Animal sportspeople from Ontario
- Canadian equestrians
- Equestrians at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Equestrians at the 1991 Pan American Games
- Equestrians at the 1999 Pan American Games
- Living people
- Olympic equestrians of Canada
- Pan American Games competitors for Canada
- People from Halton Hills
- Sportspeople from King, Ontario
- Female equestrians