As it turns out Orion and I ended up being the ‘reserve’ rider for the 2013 World Cup. This was a very rich learning experience for me, because this was not the first time I ended up in the reserve position. ( I was also the reserve rider for the 2012 Olympic team). Most importantly, I would like to highlight the fact that I am very thankful to have made it so far and even more thankful that Orion has taken me to a level of international competition that I have always dreamed of. The reserve position is always tough, because you have to prepare like you are going to be competing because there is still always that small chance that you could be called in and when you are so close to achieving your goals and your dreams the bitter sweet reality is that the feeling of disappointment is unavoidable. But that doesn’t mean it should slow you down, and I can honestly say that this entire experience has only fueled my perseverance. We all know nothing worth while was ever easy and its a long hard road to success. One of the most important lessons I learned while being the reserve rider in London is “chin up and get on with it”. There will always be another championships and olympics and the next step for me was to start focusing on my next goals. Another one of my favorite quotes that is very fitting is:
“Smooth Seas Never Made A Skillful Sailor”
So instead of heading up to Sweden for the World Cup Finals, we packed up the lorry and Heike and I headed with 5 horses to Poland for the CDI Competition in Radzionkow. I personally took two horses with me, my Orion, and my mare Fabella.
Training Day!
We had extreme weather conditions over the weekend with torrential rain the first two days, so we had to get our lorry pulled out of the slum!
This was Fabella’s absolute first international competition and I was so proud of how Fabella rose up the the challenge and demonstration that she really is a “pearl of potential”. I haven’t had Fabella for very long and we are still working through the getting to know each other phase, but what I have learned to really appreciate in Fabella, is her character. Although she is very different to Orion, in movement, type and build, both horses have a work ethic which is the perfect balance of fire and honesty. It takes a special horse to be internationally competitive and I have great faith in Fabella’s potential.
On the thursday and friday we competed in the PSG and then the Int. 1 and placed 4th in both classes. We had a couple of mistakes in both tests and there is still a lot of fine tuning that we need to do, but what made me most excited was Fabella’s willingness to shine. And shine she did on the sunday were we danced to my “Lemon Tree” Int. 1 Freestyle music and we ended up placing 2nd!
Above is a picture of Heike on her horse "Rock My Soul" and I am on the right with my "Fabella"
Orion and I rode through our Grand Prix test on friday and due to the torrential down pour of rain that they had the first two days of the competition, they had to move everything into the indoor ring last minute. But now that we have seen so much as a result of the many different type of competitions we have been through together Orion was able to adjust to the new environment pretty quickly and we scored 68% and placed 3rd overall in the Grand Prix. On the Sunday Orion and I danced to our new freestyle for the first time. The music is a collection of Elton John hits and the choreography is much more difficult than our previous Usher and Rhianna freestyle, and Orion rose to the challenge like the warrior he is, and we truly just had a blast dancing together. We scored 71% and placed 2nd :-)
Here I am in the freestyle presentations collecting Fabella's second place, two thumbs up for Fabella!
This presentation was for Orion's second place in the Grand Prix Freestyle :-)
Thumbs up for both Orion and Fabella!
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