February 10, 2022 
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a rider in possession of a good horse will go to great lengths to avoid the media. So we found a work around… Introducing Riders Interviewing Riders, the video series where the athletes do all the work. First up: Canadian team members Ben Asselin and Vanessa Mannix. These two go so far back, Ben has blocked out some of the memories. But don’t worry. Vanessa is here to remind him. And by “remind” we mean “embarrass”. Like a good friend should. Brought to you by Desert International Horse Park.
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VANESSA MANNIX: All right. Big deal, Ben. Here we are, the beautiful Desert Horse Park. Here for the winter. How are you feeling?
BEN ASSELIN: I feel great. I’m extremely happy and excited to be here.
MANNIX: Well, it’s good to see you healthy and in one piece. So you and I are both in a bit of a similar position. We were in Florida jumping in Wellington for years. We’ve both moved to the West. Would you agree? West Coast, best coast?
ASSELIN: West coast, best coast, hands down.
MANNIX: Hands down, hands down. So Ben, you and I really go way back. I used to ride with your dad. Ponies. I was his first pony student, which I don’t remember being enormously popular in Jonathan’s books, but I also had the illustrious job of driving you home from school.
ASSELIN: Yeah, yeah.
MANNIX: So tell me a little bit about what that was like for you.
ASSELIN: Yeah. So Vanessa has been a great friend of mine for a long time. Like she said, we grew up riding horses together, but Vanessa was also a few years older than me, and she would drive me home from school to the barn. All I can remember about that is it being minus 30 degrees outside and making me try to jump and get the trunk of the car closed, knowing full well that I was not tall enough nor athletic enough to actually close the trunk. You sitting in the front seat laughing at me and then asking me to give you my jacket while you rolled the windows down and drove in minus 30 weather to the barn .
MANNIX: That sounds like me. I remember that.
ASSELIN: Everyone knows Vanessa is a very charming and nice person, but she’s got a little a little tricky side to her as well.
MANNIX: I’d like to say I was toughening you up. It was aggressive. That’s not my kindness moment. Was it cool for me to drive you home?
ASSELIN: Of course it was cool. Vanessa was really like a almost like an older sister to me. Um, we’ve had great a great history together, both inside the sport and outside. We’re great friends outside the sport as well. And it’s nice to have that camaraderie with a fellow competitor, as we’re both trying to make our mark on the international stage.
MANNIX: I like that question. You go first, what do you admire about my riding?
ASSELIN: Vanessa, to me, has always been a very competitive rider. She has a you have a serious will to win, and she’s worked extremely hard over her career to get where she is. Not only that, she’s incredibly accomplished in the academic world, which is very, very admirable. And yeah, she’s got a great string of horses. She’s got a great team around her, and there’s no doubt in my mind that she’ll be very successful.
MANNIX: For me, Ben, I’ve been able to watch you grow since you literally first started riding Merci and walk, trot, canter around the barn at Attache. So it’s really cool to now be riding side by side in the Grand Prix. I think one thing I’ve really admired about your riding is you’re determined to find your own way. You often have a lot of advice around you, a lot of really expert horse people, but you’ve stayed really clear about what works for you. And I admire that. Like, I know you’re down here in the desert and obviously your sister Kelly, always a great supporter, but you’re really clear about what your plan is and what the horses are that work for you. And I admire that.
ASSELIN: That’s kind, thanks ‘Nessa.
MANNIX: So obviously, when you ride, sometimes you fall. But there’s been also some injuries along the way, too that weren’t horse related. I seem to recall some wheelie shoes. Can we hear more about that?
ASSELIN: Wheelie shoes? I don’t know. I think she’s going a little bit too far back for me to remember now.
MANNIX: Well, off your wheelie shoes and broke your arm?
ASSELIN: No, I never broke my arm.
MANNIX: You did break your arm. You were like eight.
ASSELIN: Maybe.
MANNIX: How do I remember your broken bones better than you did? I remember specifically, it was before you were even riding. You were like seven or eight at the barn and you fell off your wheelie shoes, which was really one of your more embarrassing broken bones stories.
ASSELIN: I think you might be right.
MANNIX: That happened.
ASSELIN: Yeah, it could have happened.
MANNIX: Ben’s most embarrassing moment. Nah, I don’t think we can talk about that.
ASSELIN: I’d say that my most embarrassing moment that I can recall right now is jumping at Spruce Meadows. They used to have an Nations Cup in Meadows on the Green, and that year I think it was the first time I’d ever ridden on a team at Spruce Meadows, for sure. I had a great horse in Makavoy and I actually got to ride on the team with my dad [Jonathan Asselin]. Anyways, the first round I was jumping clear and the horse was amazing. Thought that we had it in the bag. I came down to the water jump and my horse jumped so big over the water jump, he popped me out of the tack. And I slid across the grass for about 20 feet, so my horse galloped around the rest of the ring. And I have to say that was one of the most embarrassing moments in my career.
MANNIX: I remember that. That was unfortunate. You were going great until that.
ASSELIN: Yeah, thank you.
MANNIX: Mine was on not such an illustrious world stage. We were at the Brandon Manitoba Winter Fair. Love that show. And I was riding Mighty Mouse, my children’s jumper, in a team competition with one of our best friends, Jenna Thompson. Jenna was on a really sharp mare, Frosty. So the two of us being in the ring at the beginning wasn’t even a good thing to start. And I pop chipped so hard, I went flying. My horse galloped around the ring, nearly ran into Frosty and nearly got Jenna bucked off. And then the gate guys opened the gate and Mighty Mouse ran out of the ring. And I remember your dad wouldn’t even talk to me. He was so embarrassed. So that was a team embarrassing moment.
ASSELIN: The problem is they’re asking for the one most embarrassing moment in the sport, but I think there’s just so many. You just lose way more in the ring than you win.
