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