The beginning of October the team headed down to Hungary for the 2012 Kaposvar CDI-W.
Here is a picture of Orion and Anited (the best travelling buddies ever ;-) Enjoying their dinner at the half way stop in Wein, Austria on our way to Hungary.
We arrived in Kaposvar on the wednesday which gave the horses enough time to rest up before the competition. Orion and I rode the Grand Prix on Saturday and other than a very small mistake in the two tempis I was extremely pleased with Orion, every time we ride down the centre line Orion continues to grow more confident and sure in himself. Heike has been encouraging Orion and I to only work on the basic thoroughness and suppleness (basics, basics, basics!!!) for the last two years this is literally ALL we do in our home training and it is really starting to pay off. The most exciting two marks were from both of the side judges (at B and at E) they each gave us both 70%- this is a big feat for Orion and I because we often get quickly criticized when Orion's neck gets a bit short (and the side judges have the best view of his overall frame). I am just so happy that our marks are improving here because the more strength Orion gets the more stabilized he is becoming in his top line and frame. Overall we scored 69.723% placing us third in the class and this gave us a good foundation for the freestyle the following day.
In the freestyle we scored a 72.75% and placed 3rd :-) The freestyle was so much fun to ride and was we came down the last centreline in passage (this is the part where Katy Perry is singing 'Livin a teenage dream') I had a huge line of shivers run down my spin, and I got a little too excited two seconds TOO early and halted before the song was finished. As a result Orion got confused and being the Mr. 'try hard' that he is, Orion started to piaffe and just wanted to keep on dancing! Really honest of him... But this means we did not execute a proper halt :-/ I got into a lot of trouble from Heike and from the judge at C for my unprofessional halt and believe me I learned a VERY important lesson. I cannot lose my concentration - ever- as the wise old saying goes "its not over until the fat lady sings"... it other words we need to fight right through to the very end!
Here is a picture of Orion and I with the trophy that we won, so exciting :-)
Last monday and tuesday (Oct. 29-30) Heike and I attended the 2012 Global Dressage Forum, and as always it has highly interesting two days. The main message that I took home with me, after listening to all the various presentations was 'hard work pays off!' this was most clearly demonstrated in Aledinde Corelissen's work out and intense training approach ... Her gymnastics coach summed up his system in four simply words: "Train hard or die" As intense as this sounds- I have really learned to appreciate this mind set. Aledinde's coach went on further to explain that when your training you must have a goal... and it all starts in how you stand and present you self, he explained that you must stand and train like a champion! This mind set was further demonstrated through the various presentations during the global dressage forum, whether it was Patrick Kittel, Tristan Tucker, and Jonny Hilberath and Helen Langehagenberg. Each and every rider and trainer has a system and a mind set that is dedicated to hard work and continuous improvement. Even David Stickland, emphasized the importance of hard work in his statistical analysis of the Olympics, he was able to prove just how much the level of competition has improved in the last four years since the 2008 Olympics in Hong Kong. After these two days I came back home more inspired than ever to keep on working (very hard) towards my next goals.
Lecoya and Fabella are looking ahead to see what the future will bring ;-)
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