WHEN Bermuda international riders, MJ Tumbridge and Jillian Terceira, heard the news that Bermudians Peter Gray and Gary Roque had been chosen to represent Canada's three-day Olympic team last summer, they were shocked ? to put it mildly.

Roque flew the flag for Canada in Athens while Gray was chosen as an alternate rider for the team.

Both Tumbridge and Terceira, who travelled back to their training bases in Europe earlier this week after spending Christmas and New Year in Bermuda, said they could very well understand why Roque and Gray switched countries. But they never want to see it happen again.

Like Bermuda's 200 and 400 metre Olympic sprinter Troy Douglas, who changed his allegiance to Holland, both Roque and Gray saw far greater opportunities and sponsorship in Canada ? one of the world's better equestrian countries.

"For such a small country like Bermuda we have good riders and we cannot afford to lose them to countries like Canada. I understand why they are riding for Canada but Bermuda has money and we need to get it into equestrianism," said Terceira who is one of the island's best show jumpers and who has been based in Belgium for a number of years competing throughout Europe.

Tumbridge, who won the Pan Am gold medal in 1999 in the three-day event on mount Bermuda's Gold, said: "We have lost Peter Gray and Gary Roque to Canada's Olympic team. We have to start asking the question of 'why did they do it?'

"And the answer is 'because they struggled and struggled to get support and sponsorship in Bermuda'.

"Do you know how weird it is to see them standing on the other side? We are not in a situation to give away our riders especially since Canada is a very big equestrian country anyway."

Gray competed for Bermuda at the Los Angeles and Seoul Olympics and won a bronze medal at the 1987 Pan Am Games in Indianapolis. Roque competed for Bermuda at the World Championships before moving to Canada and riding under the Maple Leaf.

And both Tumbridge and Terceira said Bermuda must start digging deep in its pockets if the island's riders were to have have further success and not lose athletes to other countries. "People should not take it for granted that we have these great riders who are pretty well doing it on their own," said Tumbridge adding that she was excited that Bermuda may have the possibility of a show jumping team competing in the next Pan Am Games in Brazil.

"We are in a situation in that for the very first time we could have a show jumping team for the Pan Am Games. Let's not screw it up again. Let's help these people. I don't want to see any more equestrian athletes sitting on the other side of the fence. We have to dig deep to keep these people here. We have to make it aware to people that this is happening and will perhaps continue to happen. Let's look at Troy Douglas who was a great track athlete ? he ended up running for Holland because of the same thing. We in Bermuda like for our athletes to have success in competitions like the Pan Am Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics but many here do not realise how much it takes to get that success. It doesn't just happen. Obviously you have to work very, very hard...but you also need money ? it is as simply as that."

While Tumbridge said she, like other top athletes in Bermuda, gets money from the Bermuda Olympic Association's Elite Athlete Fund, she said it would be great if the private sector could be persuaded to pull out their chequebooks.

"I would love to see people, or companies, say 'I am going to support Jill Terceira's campaign', or 'I am going to support Patrick Nisbett's campaign', or I am going to support MJ Tumbridge's campaign'. We have a lot of good riders out there and for the first time Bermuda could have a show jumping team for the Pan Am Games. The thought excites me and I am a three-day event rider ? it should excite people in Bermuda."

Terceira said: "Perhaps if people here see that Bermuda has a team it may motivate them more to support us."

Tumbridge said: "The BOA's Elite Fund helps a lot and they have raised their game and I am very appreciative of that. I also have people who said 'if you can raise such and such I will match it'. It does make a big difference.

"But right now there is only one Bermuda business which is helping and that is Gosling's Black Seal. I have to give them credit. I think that perhaps businesses in Bermuda figure that if they give money to Government everything is OK. However I also think there is a problem of people not knowing how, or where to give money."

And with the dollar at such a low against the Euro and the pound, things are just getting harder and harder for those competing in Europe like Terceira, Tumbridge, Nisbett and Tim Collins who first came up with the idea of having a Bermuda show jumping team at the Pan Am Games.

"The equipment is expensive ? saddles cost 2,000 pounds a time and then there are so many other things that you must have. You have to pay for vets, chiropractors, physios. These horses have to be worked on all the time. They are top athletes ? very finely tuned. The only way they are going to give you 100 percent is to make sure their body is right all the time," said Tumbridge.

After getting back to their bases in Europe this week, both Terceira and Tumbridge have long-range plans to get to the World Championships and Beijing Olympics.

Terceira will travel to Spain for next month's Sunshine Tour where she will most likely meet up with fellow show jumper Patrick Nisbett who is based in England.

Tumbridge is planning an assault on the world's top eventing competition ? Badminton which she did last in the late 1990s on Bermuda's Gold which was forced to be put down after a horrific accident at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Terceira said she also hoped that Bermuda could put a show jumping team in for the Nations Cup. "We have to get the team training and competing together if we are going to try for the Pan Am Games in Brazil.

"Bermuda needs to look forward to what we are going to do. We need to start talking about what we can, and will do. We need a two or three-year plan. That is how other countries do it. If we start to compete as a team we can hopefully get everyone's support ? especially the support of the Bermuda public."

The Nations Cup, like the Pan Am Games and Olympics, involves a team of four riders with the top three scores to count. Bermuda has a number of riders who can compete at international show jumping ? people like Terceira, Nisbett, Collins, Rayman Butterfield and Dale Rochester ? the later two who compete in North America.

And Tumbridge said: "Although I am a three-day event rider I do have a horse which could do show jumping ? at the Pan Am level but I am not sure at the Olympic level. But if we had three show jumpers and a fourth was needed and I was doing OK, then why not?"

Terceira has been competing on a number of her horses over the past year with the stallion Navantus still being her main mount. In 2004 she competed in shows all across Europe including France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, England and Poland ? her best showing coming in England at the Towerlands show where her Classic Lady won the 1.35 metre class. Navantus meanwhile has been competing in classes as high as 1.60 metres. The Bermudian also has other mounts namely Curacao, Reinout, Sundance, Chaka and Nada Penny competing at different heights.

And Terceira and her vet husband are moving from Belgium this year across the border to Holland. "Basically it is a superb facility we found to rent. It is 20 stables, indoor and outdoor ring, turn-out paddocks and a galloping track and it is also near the woods for riding out horses which is really good for their mind," she said.

Of the Sunshine Tour, Terceira said: "It starts in the middle of February and last for six weeks. There are two different Sunshine Tours ? Portugal and Spain. I am going to Spain and I suggested that Patrick (Nisbett) also go to Spain. My husband (Michel Heybaert) has been there for a few years with clients and he said that Spain's Tour has a better quality ? it is a better show. It is a three star and Portugal is a one star. You also can get world ranking points.

"It is a winter circuit for outdoor shows and it is something great for young horses ? they learn a lot. Also there are riders from all over the world there."

Terceira will take five horses down for the competition. "There are seven or eight rings ? it is a bit like the winter tour in West Palm Beach ? different classes for different age groups. I will certainly be busy."

Tumbridge will start to get some show jumping clinics with fellow Bermudian Nisbett after arriving back in England.

"I am going to see Patrick when I get back and go to his place for five days and talk and breathe show jumping and then we will go to a show together.

"I want to improve my show jumping (for the three-day event). I have had help from Patrick before. He is very good and sees things from the ground which I obviously don't. We will video tape some things and discuss how I can improve. Basically it to just tidy things up a bit."

Tumbridge said that since the Olympics and nearly every other three-day event is going the way of the short format (missing out on the steeplechase and roads and tracks), the show jumping and dressage have become more and more important.

"It is sad in a way. But that is the way it is going to be. They want to keep the Olympics friendly so now the Olympics are going to be about how good your dressage is, how good is your show jumping and do you have a horse that can go around the cross country? I personally think they are selling the sport short. I think that it (three-day event) should be about your horse doing a good dressage, a brave cross country and having the endurance to keep going and also to come back the next day and keep the rails up (in the show jumping phase). Having said that I believe there is room for both sports (long and short formats)."

One event which will stick to the tougher long format, will be Badminton which Tumbridge plans to attack this year on her main mount Ginger May Killinghurst.

"At the moment Burghley and Badminton are going to keep the long format. They are the toughest events in the world (both are four star)," she said adding that Burghley last year was too hard with the hot conditions. A top English rider also died during the event which saw Tumbridge come in 26th place.

"It was a shame about Burgley ? it was hot and tough going and the officials were trying to make a point," she said.

By the end of 2004 Ginger May Killinghurst was ranked 28th in the world and Tumbridge was ranked 46th in the world.

"We are staying in there so I am very pleased with that," she said. Of Badminton, Tumbridge said she decided to do it this year because "it is not a championships year ? no Olympics, no Pan Am Games and no Worlds".

She added: "Badminton still has that name and people all over the world will come to watch ? it is a big deal. As long as Ginger May is doing well when the spring comes she will go to it.

"I don't really want to do it next year because it is a World Championship year and that will be my main goal. I want to keep raising my game in show jumping and dressage. That will be my focus."

Anyone wanting to financially help Tumbridge can contact her sister Irene Mello at 238-2577.