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.