A total of 47 equine athletes and 98 horses from around the world will be in Calgary from Wednesday to Sunday for the 50th Spruce Meadows Masters.
This year, the equestrian facility launched its international stadium, and vice-president of sport and media for Spruce Meadows Ian Allison said the competition is well underway.
“We had winners from Ireland and Germany in two of our feature events today, the TELUS Cup and the Cardel Homes Cup,” he said. “We also opened the World Blacksmith Championships here at Spruce Meadows.”
Alongside their annual Equifare and Retail, the competition hosted a variety of entertainment packages, including the RCMP Musical Ride and the introduction and first performances by the Household Cavalry.
Duchess of Edinburgh to attend Masters
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh is scheduled to arrive at Spruce Meadows Friday morning.
During her time at the Masters, the Duchess will be involved with the Spruce Meadows Leg Up Foundation. She will also travel off-site to visit Calgary and area charities that align with her and are supported by the Leg Up Foundation.
“She’ll be at Spruce Meadows again on Saturday for the BMO Nations Cup,” Allison said. “After doing a couple of community events in the morning, she’ll make her way out to Spruce Meadows to join an afternoon of sport and the Nation’s Dinner, where we salute the teams that competed in the BMO Nations Cup and the riders that qualified for the $5 million Grand Prix.”
Allison said Spruce Meadows has a long history with the British, as they were the first international team to travel to the Masters when it first started.
Prior to this trip, the Duchess visited Spruce Meadows in 2006, alongside her husband Prince Edward.
“Of course, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has been to Spruce Meadows in the past, so I think it is something that has evolved over the generations,” Allison said. “We’re honored that the Duchess of Edinburgh has chosen Spruce Meadows for her patronage, and that she’ll be joining us for the Masters tournament.”
Mounties perform on horseback in the RCMP Musical Ride during the Spruce Meadows Masters near Calgary on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025.
Business class for horses
Although the sport officially started this week, Allison said preparation for the Masters commences over the weekend when chartered Boeing 747s arrive with the European-based horses.
Two loads flew into Calgary last Saturday and on Monday, which also carried cargo for the tournament.
“There was four tons of fresh Dutch flowers, all the materials that support the Rolex Grand Slam Pavilion that goes up for the Masters tournament, grooms and veterinarians on board that look after the load when they arrive, so it is a big logistics exercise,” Allison said.
All of the horses muster in Liège, Belgium, where they are inspected and undergo proper border procedures.
Compared to regular horses, Allison said they are high-performance sport horses.
“If you’ve ever gone into an NBA or CFL locker room and noticed how different the athletes look compared to normal people off the street, I would apply the same comparison to these horses,” Allison said.
Due to their larger size, they are required to fly in roomier containers during their trip to Spruce Meadows.
“Business class, if you will,” he said. “They travel quite comfortably.”
Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs rides Leone Jei in round one of the Telus Cup at the Spruce Meadows Masters near Calgary on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. Fuchs is a past champion of the Masters.
After a nine-and-a-half-hour flight to Calgary, the horses are met by representatives from Spruce Meadows, Canadian Border Services, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
“They confirm that the horses are the horses they say they are, that they’re all ready and set to compete, and then they settle in here for a couple of days,” he said. “Yesterday, we presented 150 horses to the International Veterinary Commission to make sure they’re all fit to compete, and they all came through with flying colours.
“So now, they’ve been in Calgary for a couple of days to adjust to the climate, altitude, new water, and that kind of stuff.”
Wildfire smoke poses no issues
Despite wildfire smoke entering the province, Allison said that aside from not seeing the sun, they have been incredibly mindful of the air quality.
“We have both a veterinary commission and a pretty sophisticated sports science group that’s related to Cavalry FC, so we have both four-legged and two-legged animals at Spruce Meadows, both training and exercising today,” he said.
They also measure particulates in the air through a different standard that is more sophisticated than the Air Quality Index.
“And 200 would be the level that we would deem unsafe to compete, and today we were tracking between 78 and 82, so well within the realm for both the satisfaction of the sports science and veterinary commission,” he said. “There’s been no feedback from athletes, the horses haven’t struggled at all, and the people in the grandstands didn’t seem to be impacted by it today.”
Ireland’s Jordan Coyle rides For Gold in round one of the Telus Cup at the Spruce Meadows Masters near Calgary on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025.
50 years of Spruce Meadows Masters
Looking back to its inception, Allison said the Masters has come a long way.
“I’ve got 50 under my belt, so I don’t think I’ll make the next 50, but what’s really encouraging is seeing the people that have come back in a sense of homecoming,” he said.
Over the last five decades, he said that Spruce Meadows has created a presence in Calgary and around the world.
In terms of the sporting stage, prize money may not be the be-all and end-all, but it shows how much they have grown.
“Our first Grand Prix in 1976 at Spruce Meadows was $10,000, and on Sunday they’ll be jumping for $5 million,” he said. “It’s the biggest single sporting prize ever awarded in Canada.
“People can talk about golf or tennis, but those are all kind of funded globally. This is all Canada, and not through something like the PGA, ATP, or all that, and that’s quite an accomplishment.”