{{short description|Canadian equestrian}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox equestrian | name = Beth Underhill | image = Dynastie de Beaufour et Beth Underhill au Paris Eiffel Jumping 2023 01.jpg | caption = Beth Underhill at Paris Eiffel Jumping 2023 | full_name = Elizabeth Jane Underhill | nationality = {{CAN}} | discipline = Show jumping | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1962|9|5}} | birth_place = Georgetown, Ontario, Canada | height = | weight = | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Equestrian}} {{MedalCountry | {{CAN}} }} {{MedalCompetition|Pan American Games}} {{MedalSilver | {{nowrap|1991 Havana}} | Individual jumping}} {{MedalSilver | {{nowrap|1991 Havana}} | Team jumping}} {{MedalSilver|2023 Santiago|Team jumping}} {{MedalBronze| {{nowrap|1999 Winnipeg}} | Team jumping}} }}
'''Elizabeth Jane "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.{{sfn|Hanes|2010}} She was a commentator for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during its coverage of the equestrian events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.{{sfn|Smith|2011}}
==Early life== Underhill was born to Jack and Joan Underhill in Georgetown, a community in Halton Hills. Her father died of a heart attack{{sfn|Ulmer|2003}} in 1980. In 2000, 20 years to the day of her father's death, her mother committed suicide.{{sfn|Ulmer|2003}}
She started riding at a YMCA camp in Georgetown. In 1969, she was enrolled in the Toronto-North York Pony Club.{{sfn|Henning|2004}} 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.{{sfn|Henning|2004}}
She was enrolled in a music program at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), where she sang and played piano.{{sfn|Hanes|2010}}{{sfn|Ulmer|2003}} The RCM awarded her a silver medal for best Canadian vocalist in 1977.{{sfn|Wong|2012}} She discontinued the program later that year{{sfn|Henning|2004}} to focus on equestrianism,{{sfn|Ulmer|2003}} 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".{{sfn|Wong|2012}}
==Equestrian career== Underhill was added to the Canadian Equestrian Team in 1990, during which time she worked for and trained with Terrance 'Torchy' Millar.{{sfn|Chronicle of the Horse}}{{sfn|Henning|2004}}{{sfn|Hanes|2010}} 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.{{sfn|Five Questions with Beth Underhill}} In 1993, she became the first woman to win the Canadian World Cup qualifying league.{{sfn|Wong|2012}} She won it again in 1999.{{sfn|Smith|2011}}
She was part of the national jumping team at the 1998 FEI World Equestrian Games that finished in 10th place.{{sfn|FEI: WEG-S – Rome 1998}} She was in 81st place in individual show jumping at the 1992 Summer Olympics.{{sfn|FEI: Olympic Games-S – Barcelona 1992}}
She was offered $1 million for her horse Altair, an offer she declined.{{sfn|Ulmer|2003}} In 2001, Altair damaged a suspensory tendon at an event at Spruce Meadows.{{sfn|Ulmer|2003}} Underhill has stated that Altair and Monopoly received fan mail.{{sfn|Underhill displays a Monopoly on class}}
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.{{sfn|Smith|2011}}
In 1987, she established Beth Underhill Stables, now operated by five full-time employees on a {{convert|100|acre}} property in Schomberg. It has a barn for 20 horses, each with a {{convert|12|x|12|ft|adj=on}} stall.{{sfn|King Township Business Times|p=5}} The facility provides training for riders and horses.{{sfn|King Township Business Times|p=5}}
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.horse-canada.com/archives/speed-control-for-jumpers-with-beth-underhill/ |title=Speed Control for Jumpers with Beth Underhill |last=Hanes |first=Tracy |publisher=Horse Canada, Horse Publications Group |date=December 2010 |access-date=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110001219/http://www.horse-canada.com/archives/speed-control-for-jumpers-with-beth-underhill/ |archive-date=10 November 2013 }} * {{cite news |url=http://tymflys.wordpress.com/articles/beth-underhill-finding-that-silver-lining/ |title=Beth Underhill: Finding That Silver Lining |last=Henning |first=Sandi |newspaper=Time Flies Equine Photography |year=2004 |access-date=9 November 2013 }} * {{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/olympic-show-jumper-beth-underhill-diagnosed-with-concussion/article4250808/ |title=Olympic show jumper Beth Underhill diagnosed with concussion |last=Smith |first=Beverley |newspaper=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto |date=11 November 2011 |access-date=9 November 2013 }} * {{cite news |url=http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/HorseRacing/2003/09/19/197268.html |title=The Last Word |last=Ulmer |first=Mike |newspaper=Toronto Sun |publisher=Canoe.ca |date=19 September 2003 |access-date=9 November 2013 }}{{dead link|date=April 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} * {{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/life/2012/08/04/london_2012_many_accomplished_musicians_among_olympians.html |title=London 2012: Many accomplished musicians among Olympians |last=Wong |first=Tony |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=4 August 2012 |access-date=9 November 2013 }} * {{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/437917341 |title=Underhill displays a Monopoly on class |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=9 April 1999 |access-date=9 November 2013 |ref={{harvid|Underhill displays a Monopoly on class}} }} * {{cite interview |url=http://tournaments.angelstone.co/wp/index.php/2013/08/31/five-questions-with-beth-underhill/ |title=Five Questions with Beth Underhill |subject=Beth Underhill |publisher=Angelstone Tournaments |date=31 August 2013 |access-date=9 November 2013 |ref={{harvid|Five Questions with Beth Underhill}}|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109231435/http://tournaments.angelstone.co/wp/index.php/2013/08/31/five-questions-with-beth-underhill/|archive-date=9 November 2013|url-status=dead}} * {{cite journal |url=https://www.king.ca/Business/BusinessSectorProfiles/Equestrian/Documents/King%20Township%20Business%20Times%20December%202008.pdf |title=Beth Underhill Stables |journal=King Township Business Times |publisher=The Township of King |date=December 2008 |access-date=9 November 2013 |ref={{harvid|King Township Business Times}} |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109231434/https://www.king.ca/Business/BusinessSectorProfiles/Equestrian/Documents/King%20Township%20Business%20Times%20December%202008.pdf |archive-date=9 November 2013 }} * {{cite web |url=https://data.fei.org/Result/ResultList.aspx?p=740C1D5D4E00756EBD518BEC14A599BF63430125CF2C899FAC704F9FCA788DFA |title=Team Results: WEG-S – Rome (ITA) (01/10/1998 – 04/10/1998) |publisher=International Federation for Equestrian Sports |access-date=9 November 2013 |ref={{harvid|FEI: WEG-S – Rome 1998}} }} * {{cite web |url=https://data.fei.org/Result/ResultList.aspx?p=D4F0B3DE8A344EDDFDF53DCE0B83EC80BDE824BC5B8CE411931262CE6EB0283D85CA703CF95D562D86A621768D9E7146 |title=Team Results: Olympic Games-S – Barcelona (ESP) (25/07/1992 – 08/08/1992) |publisher=International Federation for Equestrian Sports |access-date=9 November 2013 |ref={{harvid|FEI: Olympic Games-S – Barcelona 1992}} }} * {{cite journal |journal=Chronicle of the Horse |volume=54 |issue=27–34 |author=Masters of Foxhounds Association of America |publisher=Chronicle of the Horse, Incorporated |year=1991 |ref={{harvid|Chronicle of the Horse}} }} {{Refend}}
==External links== * [http://www.bethunderhill.com/ Official website] * [https://data.fei.org/Person/Performance.aspx?p=965C863F98A4C8007F76FE8CEA22E09 Beth Underhill], athlete performance at International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) * {{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/famed-canadian-show-jumping-horse-monopoly-dies/article4184024/ |title=Famed Canadian show jumping horse Monopoly dies |last=Smith |first=Beverley |newspaper=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto |date=17 November 2011 |access-date=9 November 2013 |ref=none}} * {{COC profile|beth-underhill}} * {{Olympics.com|beth-underhill}} * {{SR/Olympics|un/beth-underhill-1|archive=20161204030631}} * {{Olympedia|11487}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Underhill, Beth}} Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian female equestrians Category:Olympic equestrians for Canada Category:Equestrians at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada in equestrian Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada in equestrian Category:Equestrians at the 1991 Pan American Games Category:Equestrians at the 1999 Pan American Games Category:Equestrians at the 2023 Pan American Games Category:Sportspeople from Halton Hills <!-- Georgetown --> Category:Sportspeople from King, Ontario Category:Equestrians from Ontario Category:Sportswomen from Ontario Category:Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Category:20th-century Canadian sportswomen Category:21st-century Canadian sportswomen