Mechelen - GP Special

63,5% was not quite what I've expected. Sini was totally fine and relaxed in the warm up and as we went in to the main arena he just freezed. We have had some problems in the last indoor shows and I have to say I'm disappointed to end the year this way. Now I just need to sleep over one night or many nights and try to figure this out.

I wish you all a happy new year and thank you for reading my blog!

Emma

Mechelen 2012

So the Gran Prix didn't go so well but it was still better than in Stuttgart. Sini was spooky and unfocused most of the test and that is why we got some mistakes. We got 66,83% and are allowed to ride the special tomorrow. It starts at 12:12 p.m and I'm the first rider. Let see if I can get Sini more focused on me this time!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

This year I had an unusual Christmas. I stayed in germany over Christmas days preparing Sini Spirit for a show in Mechelen. We left already today at noon and drove 370km to Mechelen in Belgian. It was good to drive. There were no trucks on the highway and also very little other traffic.
In the evening there was only the vet check which Sini passed. The riding I did already in morning at home. Our starting time tomorrow in the Gran Prix will be at 12:43. Wish me luck! :)

Jöllenbeck 23.-25.11.

Hi there! Sini got some holidays after Oldenburg and Stuttgart so I took my future hopes Sini Santos und Sini Solina and went to a show in Jöllenbeck. On Friday I rode Santos in Intermediare II. He went well, only the transitions from passage to piaffe and back were not good. Santos got 67,1% and qualified for the Gran Prix on Sunday. Sini Solina I rode on Saturday in M** class. She did a really nice trott part but got a bit hot in the end of the test and some changes were not so good. She got 67,64% and got placed. This class was also a qualification to a Prix St. Georges which was on Sunday morning. The Prix St. Georges were Solina's first one. I'm very pleased how she did. There was still some tension and that's why some small mistakes but also very good parts, like pirouettes and the trott part. In this class we got also placed with 66,49%. The day got even better. Santos did a very nice first Gran Prix test in his life and got 66,58% and he was fourth! He did good passages and piaffes and the canter movements were all scored with 7. There was one misunderstanding when we were supposed to do the right half-pass out of the corner and Santos cantered. Otherwise he did well. For Santos and Solina this was the last show in this year. Next time they will compete in January. I'm very looking forward to the future to see how my horses will develope!

Sunday Gran Prix Special

The last day. It has been again a long weekend. There was some good parts and some bad parts but I still go home with one great experience. Liebe was good again in the special. She was fourth with 68,7%. She got hotter and hotter during the test and then at the end we got some mistakes. I'm still very happy about her. Now we go home and both horses will have an easier week so they can recover from the long trip.

Saturday

The Gran Prix 4* started at 8 a.m and I was second on a startinglist with Liebe. She was really nice and relaxed in a warm up and I felt good to start our test. Liebe stayed relaxed and supple trough the test, only in one piaffe and in the one tempis there were mistakes. We got 68,2% which was enough for the fifht place in the competition. With Sini Spirit I rode the world cup freestyle later in the afternoon. In the morning I went with Sini to the main arena when there was free training. He was still a little bit tense and got nervous when another horses left the arena. The same we had in the test. Sini didn't feel happy to stay alone in front of the audience and our performance was not good. It is so difficult to know which places or arenas Sini likes or where he gets totally scared.

Gran Prix on friday

I had the GP with Sini today. I took him out in the morning and rode him 1/2 hour on the main arena. He was relax but more looking around than the day before. Our starting time was at 11:10. The warm up felt good and I was confident. Then it was our turn to move on to the main arena. The warm up arena is a totally different arena than the main arena and you have to go outside to change them. The way takes few minutes and goes next to a street where there is a lot of traffic. So as we got to the main arena Sini was already nervous. And the hole test went that way too. There were a lot of smaller mistakes and Sini didn't walk. We were the last ones with 66,85%. I'm very disappointed because the training and the preparations went better than in Oldenburg. I'm allowed to ride the freestyle tomorrow afternoon and then I ride the Gran Prix in the morning with Heimliche Liebe at 8:09 a.m.

World cup

My starting time with Sini Spirit today is at 11:10 a.m. Keep the thumbs up! :)

Stuttgart

Marieke took the horses Sini Spirit and Heimliche Liebe with her and drove on Tuesday to stuttgart. I rode them first at home and then she left. I drove afterwards on Wednesday morning to ride the horses there. I could train in the warm up arena during one dressage test. The first test for Sini is on Friday and for Liebe on Saturday. I wanted to take the horses to the show ground so early because Sini needs always more time to get to know to the new places.
Vet check was today at midday. It was placed in a small garage where could go only one horse at a time. There were only like 10 meters place to trot forward. So Sini couldn't stand still because he was alone and then he trotted really fast that he could get out of the garage quickly. Both horses passed the vet check.
Before all that we were allowed to train on the main arena. The arena is huge! The biggest indoor where I have ever ridden. Sini behaved very well and the training went good. I felt he was more confident and pleased now than the week before in Oldenburg. Let's see how it goes tomorrow! I'm very excited about our first world cup!

Oldenburg

Our trip on Wednesday didn't start very well. We got Sini and everything in the truck and we had past the half way already when my groom realized what she forgot. She had forget the keys to our tack trunk and that was the only key! And of course that tack trunk were locked. So as soon we got to the show ground and had put Sini in to his stable we needed to find somebody who can broke in to our tack trunk. Luckily we found a gay who did it and it was not so difficult. So we need to put extra keys and a new better lock to our list what we need to buy.
The next we made Sini ready for training. There was free training in the evening and that is also the reason why we travelled so early. I wanted to spent as much time as possible with Sini in the main arena so he would get use to it. This is our first show after the Olympics and also the first indoor show for a long time.
So as I was getting ready for riding and putting my boots on the zipper broke. I couldn't believe it! The zipper broke the hole way on my right boot so I couldn't close it! And of course this time I didn't take an extra pair of boots with me.... So I had no chose but put some black tape around my boot and try to ride.
The riding was good. Sini was relaxed, I didn't do so much, just got him calm and concentrated on me and then I finished. Now my only problem was how to fix my riding boot! I asked the show office if they now somebody who can help me. They found me an address from a shoemaker. It was already closed because it was so late but I planned to go there on a next day.
On thursday morning very early I rode Sini once in the warm up arena. It was a tent but a very small one. At first Sini was very nervous because there were no other horses but as soon two more horses came he felt much safer. After riding I called shuttle service and asked then if I can get a ride to the shoemaker. They drove me there and the shoemaker said he needs to put a totally new zipper and it will take a while. I said I need to have the boot back tomorrow by the noon because I have the horse show then. He said he will try. So the rest of the day and also Friday morning I was very nervous and anxious to get my riding boot back. And as we drove back to the shoemaker on Friday and I got my repaired boot back I felt so happy and relieved! Just in the!
The warm up was not as good as the days before and Sini was tense because of the small warm up and people and shops around it. The test went the same way. There were some good parts but also some movements like pirouettes didn't go so well. At the end we got 70,34% which was enough for the fourth place. It was a good start for the indoor season and I'm happy that we can ride the special tomorrow.

November comes

Hello, it's monday now and I'm looking forward to the next weeks. I will have a very busy november. There will be 3 shows where we are going and it meens also a lot of driving. This week we will go to Oldenburg with Sini Spirit. The week after is Stuttgart, also with Sini. And the week after that is Bielefeld, national show, for Sini Solina and Sini Santos. For Oldenburg we will leave on Wednesday. It will be for Sini the first show after London. We will see how it goes. I'm anyway excited! Emma

Helsinki UB Horse Show

Moi kaikki! Tänä viikonloppuna Suomen hevoskansa kokoontuu Hartwall areenalle jossa järjestetään jokavuotinen Helsinki UB Horse Show. Olen itse tulossa piipahtamaan areenalla sunnuntaina. Tällä kertaa ei kylläkään kilpailumielessä. Olen siellä iltapäivänäytöksen ajan. Tulkaa moikkaamaan!

Saturday

Today I rode Sini Santos and Rock'n Rose in young horse Gran Prix. Santos was first horse to go. He was much better than on Thursday. He did really nice passage and extensions in canter. We got 66,5% and in the end we got the 4th place! I'm really happy about him. He is learning so fast. During the show he also improved a lot. Also Rock'n Rose did well. She was also better than on the first day. She didn't do the piaff but the hole canter tour was really good and now mistakes. She got 65,98% and ended up for the 6th place. It was the first GP placing for both of them!

Donaueschingen

We came on wednesday with 3 horses: Sini Santos, Rock'n Rose and Fiaro Lacendos. Sini Spirit I had to leave home because of the slightly swollen leg. There is no need to take any risks and travel with him almost 600km to south Germany. Fiaro and Rock'n Rose in the lorry On tuesday I rode the Louisdor preis  which is a Gran Prix tour for 8-10 year old horses. Sini Santos and Rock'n Rose they both went Inter II for the first time in their life. I'm really pleased with them. Santos test didn't start so well. First he change the canter as we were entering and then after the salute he cantered instead of trotting. In the piaffe he stayed a little bit behind my leg and that is why the piaffe was not as good as Santos can do. The rest of the test was without no mistakes. Of course there is still a lot what we have to improve but for the very first time it was ok. Santos got 64% and Rock'n Rose just few points more. She had also a lot of mistakes and she didn't do the piaffe at all. I'm happy that I can ride them both again today. The class starts at 15:00. Yesterday I rode Fiaro Lacendos in the nürnberger burgpokal warm up class. The trott was really good about 75% but then in the canter we got many mistakes and the score dropped down to 64%. The qualification test for the Nürnberger Burgpokal is on Sunday. Santos&Marieke Fiaro

Training at home

Sini Spirit had some easier time after London and now he is step by step getting back to the work. Our next show will be in Donaueschingen 13.-16.9. Also my mare, Sini Solina, is developing. We are training now for the Prix St. Georges level but we have also started with the half steps.

Home

We are back home and everything became normal again. Sini got some easier time now, I still ride him 6 times a week but we go mostly hacking and do only light work. I'm working like usual but I got only 9 or 10 horses to ride. So it's not too stressful at the moment. I have one small show coming on 1st of September. I will ride Santos and Fiaro Lacendos in one s-class.

Photos - Ferry

Fotos from the Olympics - vet check

Travelling home

We left from the show ground after the freestyle on Thursday. We were brought to Kyra where my lorry were standing during the Olympics. We unload our staff and load them into my lorry. We wanted to leave early on Friday morning so we could drive before the morning traffic past London to the ferry. We left from Kyra at 5:00 am. and drove to Dover to the ferry. There were first a problem with our papers and it took us longer to get in to the ferry. It was 9:25 am when we finally got in to our ferry. We arrived in Caleis, France, around 11:00 and started our drive to Germany. We drove first to Retie in Belgium where we took Spirit out for a couple of hours and put him into a stall. He started to drink immediately. We let him walk and eat some gras before we continued driving. From Retie we still drove 4 hours until we reached home. Spirit was happy when he finally got out from the lorry and realised that we came home again. I think we all were happy to be home again and to be able to sleep in our own bed! I want to say thank you to my sponsor Sinituote Oy, Monica and Ilkka Brotherus, from the support they have given me and who made this all possible! I also want to thank my family and my boyfriend Thomas who always have been there for me. A BIG THANK YOU to my team: Marieke Oertel, Hubertus Schmidt, Tuula Pursiainen and Riitta Holopainen. And thank you all who kept the fingers crossed and cheered up for me!

Semifinals

I'm very happy about Tuesday. The all day was just wonderful. I got to wake up early that I could train Spirit once before the competition. He went really well! So I felt confident and relaxed before we started the warm up for our test. Spirit was doing well hole time and I had a good feeling to ride in to the arena. Through the hole test I was able to ride Spirit like in the training and now also the tempis were without mistakes. We got so far our best score from the GPS 71,889% and we were all very happy about that. Unfortunately it was not quite enough for the freestyle but anyway I'm very pleased about my first Olympic games and how they went for me. This was an amazing experience, my dream coming true and now I have to start dreaming of something new! :)

Weekend

Saturday and Sunday we had some time to see the city and do some shopping. I also invited my boyfriend and my parents to the olympic village to see who the life there is. It was nice to send some time together. I also rode Spirit in the morning and he still feels fresh and not tired at all. Tomorrow I'm going to take Spirit out two times just like on Tuesday when the test ist.

Gran Prix the second day

It was exciting for me up to the end. I had to wait the final results to see if I qualified or not. And I did! I can ride the Gran Prix special on Tuesday and I'm more than happy! :) On Friday I just jogged with Spirit and went for hacking so he could have a little time of. Today we start our training again. I have go trough my test with Hubertus just to see what the judges said and where we have to work more. For sure I need to work on the serial changes!

Gran Prix

Wow how amazing it was! Even if we got some mistakes in one and two tempis, I'm happy how Spirit was inside the arena. We had a good warm up and I tried to keep him focused on me and not on the audience and it worked! I'm really happy about the trot and passage tour and also the sicsac in canter and the pirouettes were good for us. The score 70,395% could have been better but with the mistakes I'm still happy that we got over 70%. Now we just need to hope that if that it is enough for the special.

The last day before the competition

Today we got to train on the main arena. We had specific times for each country and all the individuals were put together so they had groups of 4 riders. Each group had 30 minutes to ride inside the arena. First I made a warm up outside and then some movements. When our time came I concentrated to keep Spirit focused on me and work. I'm happy about the result: I could end and leave the arena when my horse was quiet and relaxed. I wanted to give him nice a nice end and good memory.
Tomorrow my starting time will be 14:01 GBT as a 18th horse.

Vet check

I trained Spirit today first in the morning. He was better than the days before. I could ride him now almost like at home. Let see how he is tomorrow when we can ride in the stadium. Today was also the most important day because of the vet check. And both finnish horses were clearly accepted. That means: Let the games begin!

Part 5

Hello hello,

Today we were allowed to ride in the stadium but only for 15 minutes! There were no white fences yet so there were a lot of space to ride around. The stadium was amazing and it is really big! I walked Spirit first and let him look around. Then I did only some posting trot and I was quite happy how he felt. He was not as nervous than yesterday and also more relaxed.
In the afternoon we had our second training time and that was in the warm up arena. There Spirit was also better Danny yesterday but I could still feel some tension in his body. I'm happy that we still have days left before our first start.
The gross-country was today. I walked the hole course and saw the fences. I'm happy that I chose dressage! The course was hard, a lot of up and downhills and some difficult fences. Later I watched the conpeticion and I was interesting to see how the riders manage to ride their horses wisely up till the end. I have to say: it's not easy.

Part 4

I slep today. I have had so less sleep in the last days so I needed to load my batteries. Marieke was taking care of Spirit. She went for a walk with him and then let him eat grass. Our training time was today with 2 other countries, one individual rider each so together there were always 4 riders. Spirit was trough the hole time a bit nervous and didn't relax. We had the arena with a roof but sides were open so the horses could see everything. It was quite windy and the roof made of plastic was making noises which scared him. It's good that we have few more days here before our first competicion that Spirit can get to use to the places and to the stadion.

Part 3

The last two days has been rough and I didn't have good Internet connections at all so that's why I'm late with the third part.
Anyway, on Friday morning YLE (the finnish tv channel) came to Kyra's place to make an interview from me and Mikaela Lindht. That took about 2 hours and after that we took horses out for jogging. I did only posting trot and some canter. I had to make with Spirit some streching after the long trip on day before. It took us 10 hours from Retie, Belgium to Coolham, England! Little bit longen than we thought but that was because of 2 accidents.
Then after our riding we packed our things and they had a car picking up us to the
Olympic village. There was a chance for us to be a part of the opening ceremony.
That night was unforgettable! As I walked in to the stadium with the Finnish team I couldn't be happier! It was a great moment and a wonderful experience for me and I will never forget it!
I got into my room 1:30 a.m and already at 6:30 a.m I needed to wake up again. We drove back to Kyra where I rode my horse lightly and then we started to prepare everything for the transport to the Greenwich Park. We started to load the horses at 3:00 p.m and arrived the equine staging facility just before 5:00 p.m where the truck and all the equipment were x-rased and horses had an health control.
Finally at 6:00 p.m we reached the stables. Spirit got in to his new temporary home and was first a bit nervous. When we had all our stuff and decorations done Spirit got more relax. My groom took him afterwards for a walk and tomorrow we'll start our normal training again.

Part 2

Everything's good so far. We are now on the ferry from Calais to Dover. I rode today in the morning. We did only some light work and then we started the engines again. We drove 260km to Caleis and now it will take 1,5 hours with the ferry to Dover. Then we still have about 2 hours drive to Coolham where Kyra has her stables.
It's a beautiful weather but too hot for the horses to travel. Yesterday it was over +30 when we left home and now it is almost as hot.

London part 1

Today it starts, our trip to London. We have everything ready and packed, I hope! We got feed, the capot, blankets, umbrellas :) and my riding outfit including new helmet! Specially made for the Olympics.
I trained Sini with Hubertus in the morning and he was good. I feel now confident and well prepared for our biggest event so far!
The plan is to leave our stables in the afternoon and drive to belgium where we stay over night. And tomorrow we will continue to Calais where we take the ferry to Dover and then drive to Kyra to wait the transfer to Greenwich park.

I do London!!!

I have been chosen to the finnish team in London! Unbeliavable! I still can't really believe it. All the traveling and competing all over Europe is now worth it. I was hoping so hart that this day would come and now im so happy that there is no words. My dream to represent Finland in Olympic Games is becoming true!

Gran Prix Special

I was the last rider to go in the Gran Prix Special on friday evening. It was a long day to wait. My groom went walking with Sini in the morning and I rode him lightly in the afternoon. I did my warm up like before Gran Prix. Sini felt again relaxed and didn't get tense even if the audience was cheering for the other riders before me. My starting time was 22:21 so it was already dark and the arena had bright lights everywhere. I was still feeling confident as my time to ride in came. The beginning of the test was very good. All the half-passes and passages were good and we got a lot of 8's. In the walk Sini wasn't as relaxed as I hoped and he wanted to look around a bit. The canter was ok, maybe not as good as Sini can do, but there were still some good parts. We got 71,244% and ended up to the 6th place. I'm very happy about the week in Aachen. Sini is getting better and he gets more self-confidence after every show. I'm relief that this time we got 2 equal results and in both tests Sini let me ride him.

Gran Prix

I'm very VERY happy about yesterday! Sini stayed calm as we trotted in to the arena and we had a nice test with one mistake in two tempis. I was very relief after the test and happy with Sini that he stayed focused trough the test. The audience was unbelievable! They were cheering and clapping their hands and it felt wonderful! Thank you all who were supporting me and keeping the thumps up for us! We ended up to the 8th place with 71,043% and so far that is my second best result from the Gran Prix. Today we have a day off and I went already walking with Sini this morning. Later today we will have a training with Hubertus. On Friday we ride the Gran Prix Special which starts at 9:00 pm.

The training with Sini went surprisingly well. First I warmed up on one of the training arenas and went after that to the main arena. There were always 30 minutes planned for each country and Finland was with Switzerland together. I was feeling much comfortable than in Rotterdam and I was able to ride him like at home. Our starting time will be at 7:15 pm. as 13th horse. Together there will be 22 horses.

CHIO Aachen

Hello, Sini Spirit and Marieke travelled already yesterday to Aachen and I came today in the morning with Martina (the groom from Hubertus). I went directly walking with Sini inside the main arena and he was ok. The vet check was after midday and it went also well. Later when Hubertus is also here I will train Sini on the main arena. The Gran Prix is tomorrow starting at 5 pm.

Home again

We came back home from Rotterdam on Sunday. Sini Spirit and Heimliche Liebe travelled well. There were no problems at all. On Monday Sini had a day off. He went walking outside with Marieke, my groom and he also got to eat a lot of gras. In the evening I took Sini out and we did some streching. On Tuesday I worked him light as well. We did a lot of transitions and streching and today we will start again with the collection. We need to get prepared because next week is Aachen and that is our next show. It will be my first time to ride in
Aachen. I'm already excited!

Rotterdam CHIO

Hello! We left from our stables on Tuesday morning. I had Sini Spirit, Heimliche Liebe and my groom with me. It took us 5 hours to get to Rotterdam. There was one accident between and that's why it took us longer to drive than we thought. On that day we had only the vet check for both of the horses and then I trained then in the main arena. At first Sini was fine there but suddenly somebody put the electric commercial on which was on two sides of the arena and it was blinking. Sini got so scared of that and totally panicked. We needed to get out from the arena quickly and went to another arena inside the woods to calm him down. It took me long before Sini got relaxed and we could end our training. I really hope that I don't have to ride the test on the next day because I'm not sure how Sini will react when we go in again.

Sini Spirit Gran Prix

I trained Sini in the morning when the main arena was open. He was unwilling to move as he can. He almost didn't canter at all. I stopped riding and we went back to the stables. Tuula Pursiainen with our vet was checking Sini and found out that he has pain in his stomack. They took care of him and he got better before the Gran Prix started later in the afternoon. My starting time was 17:10 and as we prepared Sini for the warm up, he looked and felt fine. The warm up went well. Sini was calm and concentrated. In the test he got first a bit tense but I was able to ride him trought the test and after the walk he got more relaxed. We got 70,4% and it was enough for the second place! I'm pleased and now I just hope that we can make a nice ride tommorrow in the special.

Donnelly Gran Prix

Today was the Gran Prix for freestyle. I started with Donnelly. It was his first show after our south European journey. He got a bit hot and tense when I rode in to the main arena. And in the first part of the test he cantered 4 times! He cantered after entering, he broke in to the canter in extended trot and also before the first trot half-pass. But the second part of the test was good. We had nice pirouettes and serial changes and also from the zikzac we got two times 8 from the judges. After all we still got 68,38% which was enough for the fourth place. Donnelly qualified for the freestyle on Sunday evening under floodlight. That is going to be exciting!

Wiesbaden

Moi!

Terveiset Wiesbadenista! Hevoset, Sini Spirit, tulivat hoitajani Marieken kanssa jo torstaina, jotta saimme hevosautolle sähköpaikan. Täällä on pieni parkkipaikka ongelma sillä tilaa ei ole tarpeeksi kaikille autoille ja jos tulee liian myöhään ei välttämättä saa enää sähköpaikkaa. Itse saavuin Hubertuksen kyydissä perjantaina puolelta päivin. Kahdelta oli vet check ja sen jälkeen treenasimme hevoset. Ratsastin ensin Sinin ja yllätyksekseni ensimmäinen treeni sujui ihmeen hyvin. Sini oli aika rauhallinen ja keskittyi hyvin tehtäviinsä. Sini menee vasta sunnuntaina ensimmäisen luokkansa, joka on karsinta specialiin.
Sinin jälkeen treenasin Donnellyn joka ensin oli vähän pinkeänä. Donnelly on nyt ensimmäistä kertaa kisoissa sitten Etelä-Euroopan reissumme.
Tänään kävin jo kävelemässä Donnellyn kanssa pääareenalla ja kohta lähden treenaamaan Sinillä. Gran Prix alkaa tänään klo 15:30 ja Donnellyllä starttini on klo 17:00. Luokassa on vain 14 lähtijää.
Olen ensimmäistä kertaa täällä Wiesbadenissa ja tämä on aivan uskomattoman hieno paikka! Eilen kun ratsastin ekaa kertaa verryttely kentälle ja näin kilpailuareenan jonka taustalla kohosi vaaleanpunainen linna, en meinannut uskoa silmiäni. Näkymä oli kuin suoraan sadusta! Lisäksi koko kilpailu alue on puistossa puiden ja ruohokenttien keskellä. Täällä on lisäksi myös kenttäratsastajat joiden kenttärata puikkelehtii joka puolella puistoa.
Ihanaa on myös se, että lisäkseni myös kolme muuta suomalaista on mukana kilpailemassa. Mikaela Lindht, Terhi Stegars ja Henri Ruoste. Viikonlopusta tulee suomalaisittain tosi jännä!

Freestyle

Our day started like yesterday. We were allowed to ride again in the main arena early in the morning. I took Sini out for training. It was colder than yesterday and more windy. Sini was a bit afraid of the V.I.P tent which was moving in the wind but otherwise he did his job well. The freestyle started at 12:15. My starting time was at 13:00. The warm up was not as good as yesterday. Sini was more unsteady on the bit and sometimes hurried. I took my time and he was better when they called us in. Unfortunately Sini got tense when we entered the arena. And it got worse when the audience started to applause. Our freestyle was not as good as I hoped for. There were a lot of mistakes caused by the tension. Half-passes and some passage was good but piaffe and pirouettes wasn't good. We got 70,825% and ended on the 14th place. Now we are home and Sini gets the next week off. Tomorrow we go to Düsseldorf where our physiotherapist checks him and then he gets some nice time jogging und hagging with my groom. I fly on Wednesday to Finland to meet my family. Our next show will be in Wiesbaden in four weeks.

Photos from Hagen

Saturday

I rode Sini already in the morning in the main arena. We were alloved to ride there from 6:45 till 8:15. Sini was much calmer than the days before and we had a good training. Hubertus was also there to help me. Finally I got lucky and got a good starting place. I was in the end of the class just before Totilas. In the warm up Sini was first a little bit unconcentrated and looking around to see everything. There were so many people and noise that I needed to keep him really occupied. Sini felt good when I rode in to the main arena. I was suprised that he stayed so focused despited of the people around the arena. The test went good but in one tempis we had a mistake. When I got to the end and looked up to the live screen and saw my actual procents I couldn't believe it! There was standing 72% and a bit more! I was so happy and later when I heard my score 73,25% I started to cry for a joy! Unbelievable! I did my new record in gran prix and ended to the 7th place in Hagen where there were so many good riders and horses. I'm so proud of Sini!! We also qualified for the freestyle which is tomorrow starting at 12:15.

Horses and dreams meet Great Britain

We arrived today in the afternoon to Hagen. I took 3 horses with me: Sini Spirit, Sini Santos and Fiaro Lacendos. Sini is going the big tour for the freestyle on Saturday, Fiaro goes small tour starting with the prix St. georges tomorrow morning and Santos is there for learning. Today was the vet check for Fiaro and also free training in the main arena. The weather was really unsteady, sometimes sunshine and then suddenly hard rain. I was training with Fiaro when it started to rain and we got so wet that there were water drops falling from my riding helmet in front of my eyes. With other horses I was more luckier and we stayed dry. Fiaro is going tomorrow morning in the beginning of the class.

Olympic games

So, it came out, the list of the riders who qualified as a individuel for Olympics. I'm 6th on the waiting list. It was so close... But still, our federation said that there is still a small chance that some of the countries don't sent their riders and then maybe, MAYBE I will be able to ride in London. But now we just have to keep our fingers crossed and wait till 15th of April. Meanwhile my horses, Sini Spirit and Donnelly, will do something else than dressage for a few weeks. They really earned it!

Vilamoura Portugal fotos

Sunshine Tour 2012 fotos