Day 7 and competition day 5

Day 7 and competition day 5

   Today was a bittersweet as it is our last full day in Germany. This morning we packed our up and then met for breakfast. We were very fortunate that the front desk let us leave all of our luggage with them while we went to watch the last of the Grand Prix freestyle!

    My favorite freestyle today was ridden by Severo Jesus Lopez on his incredible horse Lorenzo, competing for Spain. Although they did not win the freestyle, they had such a crowd pleasing ride that everyone in the stands gave them a standing ovation! It was a ride that gave you goosebumps! This horse is only ten years old and received an 83.350%! The horse has a piaffe and passage that would make anyone's jaw drop and the partnership between horse and rider is so harmonious! I can't wait to see how this pair develops!

     After freestyles ended we grabbed a taxi and headed to pick up our suitcases then off to the train station! We had a little over an hour train ride to the airport where we checked into our hotel for the night.

     We ended our night over a wonderful dinner with talk about how this trip has inspired us and how we are going to use it in our futures! Both Charlotte and Jen offered to let us to call them at any point! It is truly so wonderful to have the support of the two of them behind us! We have all made friends that will last us a lifetime! Tomorrow we leave in the morning back to the United States. We will take everything we have learned back with us to share with anyone interested in learning about our adventures and experiences!

       I am very excited to be taking everything I have learned back to my horses tomorrow! Thank you so much to the Dressage Foundation for making this journey possible and to everyone that has followed our journey!

       Cannot wait to be back in the saddle again!

Day 6 and competition day 4

Day 6 and competition day 4

    Today for me started a little bit more difficultly than any of my other mornings here in Germany. I woke up to a message from my boss/friend that one of my favorite young horses had died last night. Pantsa Fire HU had a world of personality and I'm going to miss walking into the barn and seeing Pantsa first thing.

      Otherwise today started of normally. We met for breakfast at 8:00AM and then promptly headed to the show to watch a very full day of competition. We watched the the Grand Prix Special, Under 25 Grand Prix freestyles, Intermediare, and the Grand Prix freestyle. Busy day! 

  In the Intermediare something shocking happened. Isabel Werth went off course. It is important to realize that even the best have mistakes. After Isabel's mistake she ended up making a second mistake while trying to get back to the correct line, which resulted in elimination. Isabel had such a positive attitude that she finished off her test and ended her test laughing! This is such an amazing role model for this sport!

     Very exciting that overall today the United States of America ended up second in the Nations cup! It was super to being here cheering them on! At the end of the class we got to talk to Laura Graves, Alison Brock, and Kasey Perry. The three of them along with Stephan Peter make up the USA dressage team for the Rio Olympics. All three of them are absolutely a pleasure to talk to! They talked to us about there day to day preparing for the Olympics. All three of them have same plan of action, they are not drilling anything, they are simply working on making their transitions perfect! As we all know, when you have a good transition you have everything!

      We also had the privilege of talking to Bo Jena, team coach for Sweden!  He talked to us about long lining.  He said that bridle fitting is very important, especially if you are using long lining to start a young horse. You may even put latex on the bit to make it more comfortable for the young or sensitive horse. Long lining helps remind the rider what is going on behind them. 

     Really looking forward to learning so much tomorrow on our last day here at Aachen!

Day 5 and competition day 3

Day 5 and competition day 3

    Today, like this whole week, was amazing! This morning we got up a little earlier than we needed to, just so we could go for a little walk around downtown Aachen and just be tourists. I pretty much begged Jen and Charlotte to let us go to the burial site of Charlemagne. Unfortunately we arrived at the cathedral and it didn't open until 10:45. We still got to walk around and enjoy the beautiful Aachen city center!

     This morning, with the dressage competition not starting until 3:30, we snuck in a little eventing dressage and watched team USA rider Philip Dutton put in a very steady test!

     Later we had the privilege of talking to USA dressage team vet Dr. Rick Mitchell. Dr. Mitchell knows so much with all his years of experience, it was just so educational to talk to him! He spent his time explaining to us about what he does to look after the team horses. He doesn't just ensure the horses are sound, he also wants to make sure their nutritional needs are being met while they are in such an intensive program. Furthermore, he guides the riders in general horse care. Dr. Mitchell says he loves the sport of dressage because of the connection horse and riders have.

            We were fortunate to meet Uwe Mechlum, one of the most respected German judges (he will be on the supervisory panel for  judges at the Olympics in Rio). Mr. Mechlum had wonderful things to say about how American dressage has improved! He said that he was very impressed with how theAmericans are riding!

    Mikala Munter Gunderson, of Wellington FL, had just a few minutes to tell us about her horse, this is their last chance to qualify for the Danish Olympic team. She also discussed the importance of coming here to Europe to train. She highly recommended that if we wanted to do that we should first come over without a horse.

  The competition today was the Under 25 Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special. Before the competition we purchased a little ear piece so we could hear commentary done by our friend who we met yesterday, Christoph Hess. He had wonderful commentary for everyone's ride. At the end of the Grand Prix Special we were actually able to talk to Christoph about the class! Christoph made all of us come up with comments about each horse and rider to. It really made us think about what we were watching. My favorite to watch today was Hubertus Schmidt. He and his horses are always so harmonious and the picture always looks exceptional!

     Have I mentioned how incredibly inspirational being here is? I am so excited to go back to Horses Unlimited and bring everything I have learned here home to the phenomenal horses I get to ride there! I'm so thankful to ride the horses I ride and will continue to do my best to learn as much as I can to bring to them up the levels and help them develop!

  Looking forward to tomorrow and the surprises the competition holds!

Day 4 and competition day 2

Day 4 and competition day 2

  Another day chocked full of learning! We started our day again at 8am meeting for a wonderful German breakfast, yum.

   Since today was the first day of team competition many of the people we would have liked to talk with were busy competing. However, a highlight for me has been the crowds here in Aachen, they are amazing. They are so focused on what is going on in the arena that you will actually hear the whole stadium make the low "oh too bad" when a rider that is having a really nice test has a mistake. That is so cool that the crowds understand the sport well enough to react like this.

     We still had a very packed day with Charlotte and Jen consistently testing us, asking what we saw with each horses and rider combination. Our brains certainly worked hard today! With each horse we had to pick something to say about the ride, weather it was that the poll was too low or the horse got wide in medium trot, there is always something to keep us focused and learning!

      Charlotte was super helpful today and I made a huge mental breakthrough in understanding how to prepare for the canter zig zags! I know that many of us struggle with getting the right count and the correct bend. I could never figure out the count correctly, and it was always super frustrating. Today Charlotte told me that the flying change counts as the first stride. I'm sure many people have told me this before but somehow today watching all of these top riders do this it finally clicked.

   We had the pleasure of meeting Christoph Hess and the opportunity to chat with him. Not only is Mr. Hess a top judge he is also a well respected trainer. He emphasized to us that to become really good rider you have to have a passion and love for the sport and to pay attention to detail. When asked how he would start a horse in Piaffe, he told us that from the very first time he sits on a horse they must have a very good clear two beat rhythm. That the trot to walk stay very active behind in the spirit of piaffe. 

     A truly incredible experience for me was rooting for team USA! Today after the first day of team completion the US issitting in second! Stephan Peters, of course, had a truly beautiful and harmonious ride, 77.257%. What wonderful memories we will take from this all  made possible by the Dressage Foundation!

    Looking forward to tomorrow and what new things I will learn in day two of the team tests!

Day 3 and competition day 1

Day 3 and competition day 1

  What a phenomenal learning experience for all of us! Again today we got to talk to many of the top people in our sport. With competition starting at 3PM we had all morning to watch training sessions, walk around, and talk to these super knowledgable horsemen.

     This morning we met in the hotel breakfast area at eightand had a lovely little breakfast. We then took a quick ten minute walk through part of downtown Aachen! Then we were off to the show grounds!

   The first person we got to talk to today was Betsy Juliano. What an incredible person she is! She has helped support dressage in America in so many fabulous ways! She is not only a huge support to the American Team but also to Laura Graves and other top riders in America. One of the biggest pieces of advice she gave to us was to tell us about how she met Laura and how over time got to know Laura and see how hard she works and how she handles herself in difficult situations. Betsy says this is what she is looking for when she thinks about sponsoring a rider. Betsy also brought Andy Thomas over to the American Team to help the riders!

       Next we spoke with Andy Thomas, he formerly worked with the British Team riders and has recently started helping with the American Team thanks to Betsy! Andy is essentially a physical therapist. He helps our riders with their symmetry on a horse. He will give the riders exercises they can do off the horse to help them improve how their horse goes by changing how they sit. Andy is very big into making sure the saddle fits correctly so you aren't fighting against yourself. (how lucky am I to ride in a County that I have complete confidence fits my horses and me correctly!) Andy says the biggest problem he sees in dressage riders is the lack of hip mobility.

   We then got to talk to two of the worlds best judges! Stephan Clarke from Great Britain and Gary Rockwell from the United States. Both had exceptionally good advice for us! Stephan explained to us how judging is a challenge and how he loves a challenge. Stephan explained how he believes oneof the biggest places riders lose points is in their accuracy. Stephan says half a point here and half a point there can bring your score down drastically. Gary believes that the centerline is somewhere to really distinguish yourself. He said many people loose points on the accuracy of the centerline.  I believe we need to start working more on our accuracy if we ever want to compete successfully at shows such as Aachen!

  Emile Faurie a rider and trainer from Great Britain was just lovely to speak to! Not only is he a fabulous rider but a fantastic person! Emile started a charity in Great Britain that helps teenage youth at risk by getting them into a barn where they focus on horses. He has had great success changing many teenagers' lives! What a fantastic human being!

        We also got to spoke to the American Team riders who are competing this weekend! Tunny Page who as always was a delight! Her biggest words of advice were "stay focussed on the process do not to worry about what just went wrong but what is happening now and what is happening next." Katherine Batson Chandler's advice to us was regardingpeople skills; people respect you more when you are truly interested in them.

        A lovely day that I have not even begun to realize how amazing it was! My absolute favorite ride and rider of the entire day today was Hubertus Schmidt! He and his horse were just amazing to watch, the harmony between horse and rider was just absolutely incredible. 

  Looking forward to tomorrow's competition!