Now that the season has ended for me, I have a little time to do an update. First thing, I had a blast at Boekelo, especially since Tom was able to make time in his busy schedule to come with me. I had forgotten how inspiring it is to go to events in Europe. Tom and I arrived Thursday morning. It took forever to get from the airport to the event, and it was windy and rainy from Thursday through Saturday, but that didn’t dampen our spirits. We got there in enough time to see all our U.S. Team members’ (Caroline Martin, Katherine Coleman and Liz Halliday-Sharp) dressage. I was pleased with all of them.
Leslie Law, there as our Chef and Coach, invited us to go on the course walk. To my delight, Rob and Chris Desino, who help support Liz’s horse Deniro Z, were there to watch; I hadn’t seen them for a really long time so that was fun. The cross-country course was great, and I thought it was one of the those courses that I would love Urrem to do for her first three-star. I felt the combination ABC of corners was quite difficult, and found the narrow tracks intimidating, but I also thought it looked like a blast to ride.
Having not been to Boekelo before, I found it so nice that riders either stay in their lorries on-grounds or at a hotel, named Bad Boekelo, which is only two miles away. Everything is quite convenient, plus they have the Grolsch factory right there so Tom and I went for a tour and a taste. In spite of the rain the footing held better than I thought it would, and made for a great day of cross-country watching. Unfortunately, Katherine’s mare needed to have a little better communication with her rider, but certainly Liz and Caroline had great rounds. The show jumping on Sunday was fun to watch and the day was beautiful and sunny. I loved Tim Price’s mare and they had a classy round to win. After the event, Tom and I spent the night in Amsterdam and had a fun time and a great dinner.
I think it’s important that the U.S. get involved in sending teams for every possible Nations Cup. Watching the final, you realize the advantage of practicing in a team situation—for the riders, coaches and support staff. They’re able to develop a system and perfect how things are run. Every nation had a huge group there with them, strategizing how to win the Team competition. It was great that we had three riders there, but I feel we need to try and make the team competitions a priority for the U.S.
I also went to Fair Hill to walk courses Friday and to watch Sunday, which was a great day of sport. I didn’t see Selena’s round but the highlight of my day was watching Will Coleman’s round on Tight Lines, it was complete class. Certainly, my congrats to Selena for her big win and for being the first Canadian to win Fair Hill, though I did have my money on Will.
Leslie Law, there as our Chef and Coach, invited us to go on the course walk. To my delight, Rob and Chris Desino, who help support Liz’s horse Deniro Z, were there to watch; I hadn’t seen them for a really long time so that was fun. The cross-country course was great, and I thought it was one of the those courses that I would love Urrem to do for her first three-star. I felt the combination ABC of corners was quite difficult, and found the narrow tracks intimidating, but I also thought it looked like a blast to ride.
Having not been to Boekelo before, I found it so nice that riders either stay in their lorries on-grounds or at a hotel, named Bad Boekelo, which is only two miles away. Everything is quite convenient, plus they have the Grolsch factory right there so Tom and I went for a tour and a taste. In spite of the rain the footing held better than I thought it would, and made for a great day of cross-country watching. Unfortunately, Katherine’s mare needed to have a little better communication with her rider, but certainly Liz and Caroline had great rounds. The show jumping on Sunday was fun to watch and the day was beautiful and sunny. I loved Tim Price’s mare and they had a classy round to win. After the event, Tom and I spent the night in Amsterdam and had a fun time and a great dinner.
I think it’s important that the U.S. get involved in sending teams for every possible Nations Cup. Watching the final, you realize the advantage of practicing in a team situation—for the riders, coaches and support staff. They’re able to develop a system and perfect how things are run. Every nation had a huge group there with them, strategizing how to win the Team competition. It was great that we had three riders there, but I feel we need to try and make the team competitions a priority for the U.S.
I also went to Fair Hill to walk courses Friday and to watch Sunday, which was a great day of sport. I didn’t see Selena’s round but the highlight of my day was watching Will Coleman’s round on Tight Lines, it was complete class. Certainly, my congrats to Selena for her big win and for being the first Canadian to win Fair Hill, though I did have my money on Will.
All the watching inspired me for my one-star with Volcan at Virginia. He was good in the dressage, not ready to win yet but getting better and better. He was a bit curled in the long and low circle in trot and broke in the counter canter.
On cross-country he was fast and it was easy for him. I would say he was strong at the end of the course, and it’s amazing how mature he’s become. Then he had a beautiful show jump round but I had three time faults and I know just where I lost it. It’s a good idea to always trust your gut and your plan, which is sometimes easier said than done! We ended up finishing 11th.
I also rode Nora (Dashwood) and she was awesome. She was a little tense in dressage, which is unlike her, but she had to go in the big, scary Coliseum! She put in a beautiful show jump round and then went cross-country in the pouring rain. She finished her season well and now we’ll work on marketing her as a Training level packer or one-star prospect.
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