About Liz
ELIZABETH BATES
Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario
Birthdate: March 18, 1989
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Occupation: Professional Athlete
Stable: Breakaway Equestrian
Coach: Self
Although Elizabeth “Liz” Bates was a city girl and didn’t grow up in a horsey family, she had always felt the pull of the barn and was drawn to horses. She began riding at the age of six and was soon competing on the Ontario Trillium circuit. In her mid-teens, she transitioned to the ‘A’ circuit where she competed in the hunter, jumper, and equitation divisions. A few short years later, Bates got her first taste of team competition at the 2010 North American Young Riders’ Championship in Lexington, KY, where she rode Marvelous 6.
After earning her honours Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto with a double major in psychology and political science, Bates moved south of the border to work with U.S. Olympic team gold and silver medalist, Leslie Howard, for a year. She then went out on her own and made headlines by winning the $35,000 Brookstreet Grand Prix at the 2015 Ottawa International show jumping tournament riding Wildfire, a horse her older sister had found as a one-year-old at an auction.
The following year, at the age of 27, Bates moved to Europe for the summer and based with Dietmar Gugler in Germany. Impressed by the well-rounded European system of producing horses, from breeding all the way to top level sport, Bates elected to stay. She selected Belgium as her new training base due to its central location and her ability to speak French, and this ideal set-up has allowed Bates to work locally while simultaneously participating in the sport at a global level.
Bates has approximately one dozen horses in training at her Breakaway Equestrian business including her own competition horses and a select number of sales prospects from clients and partners. She also enjoys managing a small breeding program, using quality mares she’s had in the sport to produce a few foals each year. While riding and competing at the highest level is her primary focus, developing and selling sport horses is integral to supporting that goal.
Having had her first taste of team competition at the Young Riders’ Championship, Bates was inspired to ride as a member of the Canadian Show Jumping Team. She met that goal in 2019 when she represented Canada in the €100,000 Nations’ Cup held at CSIO4*-W Rabat, Morocco, riding Chronos 31, a horse she subsequently sold to the U.S.
Her top horses currently include Heartbeat W, King of Kannan, and Coach 11, a Hanoverian gelding that she purchased as a six-year-old after seeing him on-line competing at a national show. All three horses were produced to the grand prix level by Bates herself. When she’s not in the saddle, Bates is scouting young jumper and hunter prospects that she can train and develop for the sales market. She prefers to buy horses with little experience so that she can do the training herself and thereby know the horses better when it comes to finding a suitable buyer.
As a passionate learner, Bates can often be found reading mystery novels or autobiographies and listening to educational podcasts. A former competitive gymnast, Bates now maintains her fitness through varying forms of physical activities and is almost never seen without her beloved dogs.
HORSES
Coach 11: 2012 bay Hanoverian gelding by Check In 2 x Ludwig von Bayern Owner: Breakaway Equestrian BVBA
Heartbeat W: 2012 bay Dutch Warmblood gelding by Baloubet du Rouet x Heartbreaker Owner: Breakaway Equestrian BVBA
Eros de l’Eldorado: 2014 bay Selle Francais gelding by Canturo x Vas Y Donc Longane Owner: Breakaway Equestrian BVBA & Partners
King of Kannan: 2015 bay Hanoverian gelding by Kannan x Continue Owner: Breakaway Equestrian BVBA
COMPETITION BACKGROUND
2023
Heartbeat W - 11th - €200,000 Longines World Cup Grand Prix, CSI5*-W La Coruna, ESP
Coach 11 - 10th - €26,200 1.45m Saturday, CSI5*-W Madrid, ESP
Heartbeat W - 6th - €26,200 1.45m Grand Prix, CSI2* Kronenberg, NED
Heartbeat W - 5th - €52,900 1.50m Grand Prix, CSI3* San Giovanni in Marignano, ITA
Heartbeat W - 5th - €56,300 1.50m Big Tour Grand Prix, CSI3* Gorla Minore, ITA
Heartbeat W - 9th - €26,400 1.45m Grand Prix, CSI2* Wuustwezel, BEL
Heartbeat W - 10th (tie) - €10,375 1.40m Saturday, CSI2* Lummen, BEL
2022
Heartbeat W - 8th - €25,500 1.45m Grand Prix, CSI2* Kronenberg, NED
Heartbeat W - 8th - €25,900 1.45m Sunday, CSI2* Bonheiden, BEL
2021
Coach 11 - 10th - €25,500 1.45m Grand Prix, CSI2* Vejer de la Frontera, ESP
Coach 11 - 5th - €25,800 Grand Prix, CSI2* Bonheiden, BEL
Chronos 31 - 9th - €26,000 Grand Prix, CSI2* Montefalco, ITA
2020
Chronos 31- 13th - €30,000 Nations’ Cup, CSIO3* Autumn Tour VI, ESP
Chronos 31 - 10th - €51,900 1.50m Grand Prix, CSI3* Valencia, ESP
Extra Special - 5th - €25,400 1.45m Friday, CSI2* Bonheiden, BEL
Vanille de Coquerie - 10th - €25,400 1.45m Grand Prix, CSI2* Eschweiler, GER
Vanille de Coquerie - 8th - €25,400 1.45m Grand Prix Qualifier, CSI2* Bonheiden, BEL
Chronos 31 - 9th - €25,120 1.45m Saturday, CSI3* Sunshine Tour IV, ESP
2019
Vanille de Coquerie - 9th - €25,000 1.45m Grand Prix, CSI2* Lier, BEL
Vanille de Coquerie - 5th - €10,180 1.45m Grand Prix Qualifier, CSI3* Opglabbeek, BEL
Vanille de Coquerie - 7th - €25,000 1.45m Grand Prix Qualifier, CSI2* Lier, BEL
Chronos 31 - 5th - €100,000 Nations’ Cup, CSIO4*-W Rabat, MAR
Chronos 31 - 3rd - €21,750 1.45m Grand Prix, CSI2* Ising Am Chiemsee, GER
Chronos 31 - 9th (tie) - €10,050 1.45m Winning Round, CSI2* Ising Am Chiemsee, GER
Coach 11 - 6th - $15,000 1.40m 7-Year-Old, CSI5* Spruce Meadows Pan American, AB
Coach 11 - 10th - $10,000 1.40m 7-Year-Old, CSI5* Spruce Meadows Pan American, AB
Chronos 31 - 8th - €55,300 1.50m Grand Prix, CSI3* Busto Arsizio, ITA
2018
Chronos 31 - 10th - €30,000 1.45m Grand Prix, CSI2* Oliva, Valencia, ESP
Chronos 31 - 9th - €24,700 1.45m Grand Prix Qualifier, CSI2* Gorla Minore, ITA
Chronos 31 - 4th - €92,100 1.60m Gran Premio Caixabank, CSI4* La Coruna, ESP
Vanille de Coquerie - 6th - €25,000 1.45m Trofeo Prosegur, CSI4* La Coruna, ESP
Vanille de Coquerie - 8th - €25,000 1.45m Grand Prix Qualifier, CSI4* La Coruna, ESP
Chronos 31 - 9th place - €25,000 1.45m Trofeo Dachser, CSI4* La Coruna, ESP
2017
Extra Special - 10th - €25,000 1.50m Sunday Grand Prix, CSI2* Lier, BEL
2015
Wildfire - 10th - $34,000 NationWide Grand Prix, CSI2* Angelstone Headwaters Cup, ON
Wildfire - 1st - $35,000 Brookstreet Grand Prix, Ottawa International, ON
Wildfire - 6th - $46,000 Grand Prix, CSI2* Angelstone Erin Welcome, ON
Wildfire - 10th - $10,000 Open Welcome, CSI2* Angelstone Erin Welcome, ON
2010
Marvelous 6 - 32nd - Individual, North American Young Riders’ Championship, Lexington, KY
Marvelous 6- 7th - Team, North American Young Riders’ Championship, Lexington, KY
ABOUT BREAKAWAY EQUESTRIAN
Breakaway is owned and operated by Liz Bates. A Toronto, Ontario native, Liz took school very seriously and was only able to focus on horses full time until after graduating from the University of Toronto in 2013 with an Honors Bachelor of Science, double major in Psychology and Political Science.
“Time management was crucial, I don’t know how I did it when I look back! I was studying for a double major full time at the university of Toronto, bar tending, and riding 6 days a week. I don’t know when I slept! I am grateful that I studied, I apply those skills every day – not the material I learned, but the art of being under so much pressure and being required to perform to a high standard anyway. It’s not always about what you learn, but that you learn.
Upon graduation, I wanted to get out of the circuit I was used to, so I went to the United States for one year to be in Leslie Howard’s barn. It was hugely rewarding because of how challenging it was, an approach I had never seen. The year went by fast, it was like a crash course!”
From 2014 to 2015, the focus was on young horses that were coming of age that through Breakaway’s breeding program and that needed to increase their training.
“One of them was a stallion that my sister found at an auction as a colt, called Wildfire or “Wifi”. I jumped his first double and he took me to my first grand prix win. That was pretty special for me, incredible to really feel the reward of such a process.
Of course breeding in general can be hit or miss, and I learned a lot in the early years the hard way, like most do. In the end, I had two fantastic sport mares, Gianina 0009 “Josie” and Marvelous 6 “Em”, who retired back then and who have gone on to produce some really special horses. The best ones I bred were the ones I knew the best in person, and I don’t think that is a coincidence."
Wildfire’s record was impressive. He was top three in many young horse finals while he was up and coming. In 2015, when wildfire was only 8, he placed in every grand prix he jumped that year, including a 2nd place finish in the Open Welcome at Ottawa Horse show and a win in the Grand Prix that same week.
“Wildfire was really special. What a record. At that time I had also sold all of the horses I had that were of age in North America, and I reinvested in one young horse with a partner that we left in Europe as she was only 6, and a mare one year older than Wifi called Carla Columna, to support him going to the better shows.”
So, in 2016, it was time to make a decision about how Liz would spend what she thought would just be the summer, and ended up being a full-time life move.
“I decided to take a big leap and go to Europe with my two older horses. I wanted the challenge and to see something new. Yann Candele was training me on Wifi and Carla, and he saw no better idea. So, I left by myself a few weeks later: just me with my two horses and my dog!"
Liz started in Germany at Dietmar Gugler’s stable.
“I had already been there as a working student for one month a few summers before during university, so I was a bit familiar with the town and the barn, and Dietmar really is very welcoming, and has since then become a close family friend. My summer there was challenging and eye-opening, as expected, but I really felt that Europe was for me.”
At the end of the summer, Liz moved to Belgium in order to establish the Breakaway Equestrian and independence she wanted to have, now in Europe.
“I really wanted to be on my own. I do think things take longer to happen when no one knows you, and you’re not part of a particular person’s team, but somehow things started happening. I am extremely proud of the horses that have come through my barn. Making a list for this website brings back a ton of memories, from finding them, to training them, to showing them. The challenges that come with horses are vast: as a rider and as a manager and simply as a horse person. However, I have no regrets, only a list of lessons learned – albeit some harder than others!”
What are the current goals?
“The goal has not changed, to be honest, and I cant fathom that they ever will: it has and will always remain team events. I am so proud to be Canadian. I will never forget my first time representing Canada at NAYJRC in 2010, with Marvelous 6. It is special and a privilege to ride for your country.”
Since then, Liz has been selected for 3 senior teams and was reserve at CSIO 5* La Baule.
Now, the current challenges posted are shared by most riders running a business anywhere.
“I have a great team of people around me and we keep improving, from investors and partners, to the staff and the horses themselves. Finding the balance between when to let the horses go and when to keep them for your own sport is hard. I am lucky that now I truly am in a position to say no to some offers in order to prioritize my sport, but it has taken me almost a decade to get to this point.”
