Stuttgart 2012

The weekend of Nov. 16-18 say Orion and I in Stuttgart at the CDI-W

The Grand Prix was on the friday and Orion felt absolutely super in the warm up and as we headed into the main arena Orion froze a bit in himself as we entered because this stadium seats over 8 000 and is HUGE, plus they had the jumbo trons lit up with advertisements. Everyone who knows Orion knows just how much he loves those things (in other words- he absolutely HATES them!!!) ... But I was so pleased because I was able to channel Orion's focus back to me and although he was intimidated he danced through his test like a pro and whenever he needed confidence I was able to sit just a little deeper and let him know it was all ok. This is such a rewarding feeling when the horse knows they can rely on you. We had a clean test a solid score and we qualified for the freestyle on saturday.

On saturday the stadium was absolutely sold out, so over 8 000 spectators and this time they had the jumbo tron's playing a live video of the freestyle not just a static advertisement, in other words, Orion was just a little bit (I exaggerating a lot here.. he was a little bit of a WHOLE lot more intimidated) then the day before. But I took a deep breathe and tried my best to give Orion the support he needed. But because I'm not perfect and neither is Orion, our stars just did not align for the freestyle. I wasn't able to get Orion's focus back on me so I could channel him the confidence he needed, and we had too many expensive mistakes. As I was walking out of my test with Orion I made sure to let him know it was all ok, just because we didn't perform to the best of our abilities it doesn't change the fact that I am so proud of this horse. The first thought that came to my mind was that, I know what its like to be nervous, because there are many situations that I've let my nerves get the best of me... so if anyone can sympathize with Orion it should be ME!! And the truth is we all have bad days and one of the biggest lessons I have learned this year is that "Life goes on" ... so chin up and get on with it ;-)

Although I know this, I still must admit that I was still mad at myself because I replayed the whole warm up before my freestyle 1000 times in my head and there are a couple things that I know I could have done differently which may have helped Orion have just a but more confidence in the ring... But I am slowly learning how to turn my disappointment into more productive energy, because its when things go wrong that you learn the most... And Heike has reminded me so often that is it only though getting out there and doing it (especially in the most difficult environments) that you learn what it takes to rise to all challenges. So now I just want to take everything I have learned and ride down that centre line again!! 

The next competition for Orion and I is going to be Frankfurt Festhalle (Dec.14-16). And I am really thankful that I have the opportunity to let Orion shine to the best of his abilities once more this 2012 show season :-)