Once again I am far past due for an update, this year is flying by faster that I can blink! It feels just like yesterday when I started at my first international competition of the year at the beginning of March in Bremen with my cast on my broken arm and all the determination in my heart to make the 2012 Canadian Olympic Team. And now its already the end of July, the opening ceremonies were yesterday and the Olympics are in full swing! As most of you know, after the qualification period I ended up in the second reserve position for the Canadian Dressage Team. So on July 16th I traveled to England to join the rest of the Canadian's for training camp in preparation for the Olympics. Training Camp was held at the Allens' family farm, 'Edge Hill Stud', many thanks to the Allen's for their fabulous hospitably! The family welcomed us onto their property with open arms and these last two weeks have been an unforgettable experience. Below is a picture of the team, from right to left is David Markus, Diane Creech, myself, Jacquline Brooks and Ashley Holzer.
First and foremost I would like to say that is has been a dream come true to have made it on the team and to have the honour of representing my country at the highest possible level.
There are so many factors that all came together to have made it here, most importantly all of the people who have supported me both at each competition that I traveled to, in my home training and from a distance. I am so thankful for everyone who has joined me and helped my on my journey. And the ultimate thank you goes to my teammate "Orion" he has truly been and star :-)
During training camp each rider worked with their own personal trainer and everyone refined and tuned up themselves and their horses for the games. What was also very helpful was that our Canadian FEI judge, Lorranie Macdonald, joined us for 3 days and each of us were able to run through our tests. Lorraine added some very professional and helpful advice. We rode through our tests on two consecutive days and on the second day you could see a huge improvement in each of the 5 riders tests as a result of Lorraine's insight.
What was great about training camp is was the the strong sense of teamwork that was established, although everyone had their own trainers everyone worked together and watched one another's rides, offering support and encouragement when needed. This was one of my favourite parts of training camp because it gave me the chance to get to know Canada's top riders, trainers, grooms and support staff on a personal level. And because this is my first year on the senior team I was so very thankful for how welcoming and encouraging everyone was. Because I am the second reserve rider, it means that I will only compete if the other riders or horses are not fit to compete. And I must admit that the reserve position is an extremely difficult position to be in for any athlete! Because you have to prepare and be in the starting gate ready to compete, but unless your called up, you need to sit patiently and just make the best of it. So I have been determined to soak up as much knowledge and experience as I can so that I can be that much stronger of a competitor at the next team opportunity.
Now that training camp as come to an end and everyone is in top shape I would like to send out a HUGE "Good Luck" to all of my Canadian Team mates!
GO CANADA GO !!
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