The black stallion

Let me introduce you to our new member in SINI-family: Tannenhof's Rousseau Noir. "Rousseau" is a 7-year-old hannoverian stallion. He has been 4 weeks now at our barn and we are getting along very well. He's just a sweet horse and I am very happy that we found him!

The book

I did a short trip to Finland yesterday. It was about publishing a new book which is telling the story of me and Sinituote. The story about how it all started, how I met Monica and Ilkka Brotherus, how our co-operation began and how we reached our goal, the Olympic Games in London. The writer is a finnish freelance journalist Margit Ticklen who also took most of the pictures in the book. Some of the photos were also taken by Ilkka Brotherus himself during our journey. I'm very touched and overwhelmed about this big suprise. I hope the book encourages other sponsors to get involded in riding because the long-term co-operation is possible, it is rewarding and worthwhile for all partners. I am very thankful that Sinituote made it all possible for me.

Sinin henki, Emman tahto

Tein eilen pikavisiitin koti-Suomeen uuden kirjani julkistamistilaisuuteen. Kirja Sinin henki, Emman tahto kertoo minun ja Sinituotteen yhteisestä matkasta, miten kaikki alkoi, mitä matkan varrella tapahtui ja kuinka pääsimme yhteiseen tavoitteeseemme Lontoon Olympialaisiin. Kirja on Margit Ticklenin kirjoittama sekä suurin osa kuvista ovat myös hänen ottamiaan. Lisäksi myös Ilkka Brotheruksen hienoja otoksia niin Lontoosta kuin muualtakin matkamme varrelta löytää kirjan sivuilta. Olen erittäin otettu siitä, että minun tarinastani on tehty kirja ja toivon kovasti, että se kannustaa muitakin yrittämään ja olemaan ahkeria sekä yltämään tavoitteisiinsa oli ne mitä tahansa. Toivottavasti kirja on esimerkkinä muillekin sponsoreille siinä, että tälläinen pitkäkestoinen yhteistyö on mahdollista, kannattavaa ja erittäin antoisaa kaikille osapuolille. Sinituote on mahdollistanut minulle paljon ja olen heille siitä ikuisesti kiitollinen.

We are finally back at home. It was a long trip and a lot of happened but now the horses are happily back in their own stall and feeling well.
We wanted to leave on Monday at 5.00 a.m. We got everything packed on the day before and we just wanted to load the horses and take off. It didn't quite work that way. The truck didn't want to co-operate and I could't start the motor. I called MAN emergency number and they called us help. We needed to unload the horses and then we waited for somebody to come to fix my truck. We waited 3 hours until a man came. He worked 4 hours before it was safe enough for us to start our way back home. We loaded the horses again and left and got stuck before we got out from the stable area. At least there were still men to get us out with their tractors so we could finally leave. And almost 8 hours later than what we have planned we were on our way. It took us 12 hours to get to Offenburg where we stayed over night. Next day we left at 9 a.m because it was late last night before we went to sleep and we only had 460km left. Unfortunately the nature got this time on our way. The winter came back and there was the biggest snow chaos in Germany. It took us again 12 hours before we reached Etteln! I'm so happy that we are safe and the horses are fine after the long trip. Now it's time to rest!

Sini suprise

Wow, I have to say! Sini Spirit surprised me really! He was ignoring the rain and wind and the warm up arena which was under the water. We made a nice Gran Prix with no big mistakes and got 70,83%. One judge gave us 67% which was much less what the other judges gave us. But anyway if you think about the last indoor shows I did with Sini I'm very reliefed and proud of him now. And we ended second after Carl Hester!
There was one day break for him and then today we did the Gran Prix Special. This was our first time to ride the old GPS again. It fits to Sini because there is a lot of passage and transitios in the beginning. We had a mistake in two tempis but despite of that the test was good! We got 72,27% and ended up again second after Carl Hester! This was a really good beginning for this season and I'm looking forward to ride Sini next time in Hagen in April.

Vidauban Wednesday

It's still raining.... I rode all the horses in the morning on the training arena which was totally under water. The last horse had the sand all over his body, also the bridle were covered by sand.
In the afternoon the rain stopped shortly and through the vet check we stayed dry. But as the last horse were ready and they opened the main arena, the rain started again. I wanted to walk with Sini and Dark Diamond still on the main arena even if I got wet once again.
Solina goes the Prix St. Georges at 10:19 tomorrow morning and with Sini I ride the Gran Prix at 16:54. Dark Diamond goes on Friday the second Gran Prix.

Vidauban

We left today early from Lyon where we stayed one night. It was 5 a.m when we load the horses and started our drive to vidauban. 5 hours later we reached our destination. It was sunny but very windy. We let the horses rest few ours before I took them out for a ride. I walked and jogged them a little and they all felt fresh and funky :) Of course a bit stif after a long trip but still they wanted to move.
Tomorrow we have the hole day time to rest and put all our stuff to their places in our tack box. And of course I will ride the horses and see how they are.

We have everything packed and ready for tomorrow. I will go sleep now so I can drive first. We have a long day ahead of us, over 900km to drive and hopefully no traffic! Tomorrow is sunday so at least there are no trucks on the highway. Let the journey begin!

The Latest News

So there is a lot to tell. We decided to go to Vidauban next week. It comes quickly but we got everything ready. I will take Sini Spirit, Sini Solina and Dark Diamond with me. We leave early on sunday morning and drive to hole day to Lyon where we stay over night. From there we continue to Vidauban on Monday. I'm very excited. Last year the show was wonderful and I have nice experiences from there. This year there are some other riders from Finland too so it's going to be fun to be there.

The days go on as always. I'm riding a lot and Marieke takes care of Sini Spirit, Sini Solina and Sini Santos. Sini Spirit has now a little break. I'm still riding him but mostly to keep him in condition. And we do some basic work, no movements but a lot of transitions and bendings. He is in a good mood. Sini Santos will have his next show soon. 24th of February we have a national show in Mönchengladbach and I will ride Santos in young horse gran prix. I'll take also another horse, Fürst Kasper, with me. He had a long break and this will be his first show for the long time. Sini Solina is starting to do some half steps. It seems that she is talented :

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.