March 19, 2014
February: Europe
We started out our first show of the year this last weekend in Opglabbeek, Belgium at Sentower Park. It’s a brand new facility with fantastic footing and great atmosphere. It was Daister’s (Danny) very first international show. On the first day he had one down but it was completely my fault. The second day he pulled off a fantastic clear round and was then clear in the final with one down in the jump off. Most of our practice shows in Europe are just for the day, so we always return home for the horses to sleep. So with the overnights and all the excitement, Danny was very tired!
Wender (Jack) did the 1.35m the last two days and was 7th the first day and 2nd in the final. He was extremely fast in the jump off, but unfortunately not fast enough to pull off the lead.
Abigail jumped the 1.40m on Thursday and was 6th, which qualified us for the grand prix. Since she only showed twice, she got a bit too nervous for her second class.
Warinde (Ella) was clear in the 1.40m on Friday and was 13th, which also qualified us for the grand prix. It is always a relief to not have all the pressure of qualifying for the grand prix. Ella did the grand prix on Sunday and jumped amazing, but in the triple combination I pushed her too much into it and she had the vertical in the middle of the combination down. It was an extremely difficult course though, so I was very happy with her.There were nine clear, so we still ended up getting 12th place.
Since I was only allowed to show three horses in the 2* show I gave Athena to Petronella Andersson, a Swedish girl who rides for Emile Hendrix. She was great in the 1.35m on Friday and clear. Then on Saturday night did the 1.45m ranking class and had a cheap rail at the second to last jumped but she jumped really well. All together I was thrilled with how the show went and am looking forward to our next show in two weeks in Lier, Belgium!