Austria Nations Cup

It was a rainy cold day at the Lamprechtshausen show in Austria, but that didn't stop anyone from showing in today's nations cup.  There were five teams in the Young Rider Nations Cup: Germany, Italy, Austria, U.S. and Switzerland.  After the first round, with Catherine putting up a score of 4, Ricky with 1 time fault, and Jessie and Reed with fault free rounds, the U.S. team was tied for first with Switzerland with just 1 fault each.  When the second round began, the rain had been pouring down for quite some time, and the footing began to get a bit slippery. Our first, Catherine, jumped clear.  Ricky's horse had a little trouble with the footing and refused one jump but finished the course.  Reed once again jumped clear, so we had two clear and a 15 fault round in the second round.  Switzerland, too had scores of 0, 11, and 0, so it all came down to the anchor riders.  Our anchor, Jessica went first, and had one unlucky rail down.  As we all watched, biting our nails, the final rider for Switzerland had 9 faults, two rails down and a time fault. So, that meant the U.S. won! Everyone was so excited because it was the first Nations Cup this tour that we hadn't been second, we finally won! Ceremonies followed, and the National Anthem was played.  Everyone was very proud, and now we are all confident heading in to our Grand Prix day on Monday, but more importantly as we head to Hagen in Germany, probably the biggest show of the tour.  

 

Michelle, our Chef for the final weeks of the tour, is clearly just as excited as all our riders!!!  Awesome Job Everyone

Some Pictures of Austria

Austria

Tuesday was our big road trip to Austria.  It was about an 8 hour drive for all of us, and we arrived late afternoon, and moved the horses in Tuesday night.  We seem to all have a pretty good system down and the moving in and unloading has gone pretty smoothly. The drive here was absolutely gorgeous, with the Alps off in the distance behind stretches of open green farms.  The town we are staying in looks like a candy land town, with pastel colored buildings and cobblestone roads.  All the horses successfully passed the jog on Thursday, and showing began Thursday afternoon.  All the horses went well, jumped great, and we were all a little more conservative with our speed so the horses got a smooth, confident round.  Now we can all start to be more competitive.  Last night was the opening ceremonies for all the countries competing.  This is the first show so far that has held such an event.  There are so many countries represented here, which is also a little different than the past two shows.  There are countries like Serbia, Czech Republic, even Australia has a rider here.  The usual countries are also here like Germany, Italy, and of course Austria is here.  Nations cup isn't until Saturday this week, and the Grand Prix's run on Monday.  So, we have a nicely spread out week of showing which will help save our horses a little bit for the final show in Germany.

Photos from Show in St. Gallen, Switzerland

Nations Cup Course

Charlie Jayne and Athena

Christine McCrea and Romantovich Take One 

Philip Richter and Flexible

Margie Engle and Indigo

The Week Off

This week has been our week off.  We are laying over in Liége, Belgium at Henk Nooren's farm which is absolutely beautiful.  During the beginning of the week, on tuesday-thursday, we had the opportunity to take lessons with Mr. Barnabas Mandi, an international dressage judge who taught us flat work to help stretch and balance out the muscle development of our horses.   Everyone had a great experience with Mr. Barnabas. Personally, it was a very different type of flatwork than I am used to, but I was so impressed by how relaxed my horse became, and how light and supple she got with a very low, stretching frame.  I felt like it was flat work that really made my horse feel better.  She's always struggled with really relaxing through her neck and back, which results with her struggle to break over all the time.  But from Mr. Barnabas' training, she's already learning to stretch more and becoming much more comfortable with her topline.  I really loved the lessons, and I think everyone else did too.

On Thursday, after we all rode, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Switzerland.  We were going to watch the big team ride in the Nations Cup in St. Gallen.  After landing, and driving around for a while, a bit lost, we found our hotel.  Friday began with another breakfast together, and we were off to the show by 9:30, to watch the first speed 1.50 class.  The show grounds were beautiful, the weather was perfect, it was a great day to watch a horse show.  We had the chance to walk the 1.50 course with George Morris, which was such a privilege and an amazing opportunity.  He always introduced us to the other riders as the next generation, which was also exciting to hear from George.  

We also got to walk the nations cup course, which was very impressive.  For this walk, we were with our Chef Michelle Grubb, because obviously George needed to be with the team and focussed.  The first round went really well, we were tied for 2nd with just 4 faults.  Margie Engle and Charlie Jayne both had 4, Christine McCrea and Philip Richter were both clear! The second round proved to be a little bit tougher, as it usually does because the horses know what to expect and anticipate a bit.  Charlie Jayne had 12, Christine McCrea was again clear, Philip Richter had 4, and Margie Engle had 8.  The team ended the day with a four place finish, behind the winning team of The Netherlands, silver was Great Britain, and bronze was Switzerland.  It was an amazing show to watch and we saw so many amazing horses and riders jump.  Truly inspirational for us younger riders to see what the big time is like.

Reims Day 3

Today was Nations Cup Day!
The U.S. team rode great... The course was a fair size, quite technical, but the most difficult was the tight time allowed.  Hardly any rider could manage to jump within the time allowed.  In the first round, Reed Kessler was one of the only to find her way around with a clear round and no time faults.  Both Karen and Jessie had no jumping faults, but just one on the clock.  We were leading by only one fault at the end of the round.  Right behind was the Netherlands, then France.  Obviously, pressure was on in the second round.  Again, everyone was awesome.  Catherine Pasmore had 2 down, Karen just one time fault, Reed another clear! and Jessie had five faults (one rail and one time fault).  Unfortunately, this put us just behind the Netherlands, who had two clear and two rounds with just one time fault, a pretty stellar round for them.  But everyone was happy.

Katie was talking to all of us after, and was reviewing the calculations of the faults, and she figured out that if we had gone with no time faults, that we would have won.  The lesson here was how important it is to be within the time, no matter how tight.  As we've all heard before, Katie repeated, time faults lose championships.  It is something we all realize we need to work on, really committing to a forward pace with efficient turns and slick tracks.    

Today, we saw some amazing riders and horses, with all different styles.  We got a taste of true competition with another country.  It was a great day, and another amazing experience here.

Reims Day 2

Today was the first day of showing in Reims, France.  The field was beautifully set, and the weather was gorgeous.  The entire team got on at 7:45 for a morning flat, followed by a 9 am start time for the Young Rider class.  All of the horses jumped great, and U.S. placed first, second and third, with Catherine Pasmore, Karen Polle, and Jessica Springsteen.  As for the juniors, both Meg and I had one down in the 2 phase class, but no worries, we are just warming up!

This is such a big change from the last show. This show is not only on a huge grass field with open water, but also it is quite a bit larger with much more going on around the ring.  There are shops, a champagne bar, and bunches of little children running around on school trips and what not throughout the park.  It's really a cool experience here to be a part of the public park, and to be part of an event that is being watched by all types of people.

Tonight, we had a team dinner at the hotel, where we heard stories from Anne and Katie about past team and international horse show experiences.  More seriously, we talked about who the real competition would be at this show, and of course how we all want to win!  The Nations Cup will take place tomorrow at 1 o'clock.  I'm really excited to watch, because unlike the last show in Bonheiden, there are a few more countries being represented, like France and Germany.  Both of which are very competitive and have different styles than what we've seen so far.  So, wish us luck!

Reims Day 1

Today was our first full day at the Reims horse show.  We moved in yesterday, which went pretty smoothly aside from the fact that there were no shavings or hay here... We got shavings within a few hours, but still waiting on the hay.... Apparently we are supposed to bring our own hay until the show starts.  This was news to all of us.

Today, Wednesday, was the horse inspection and jog.  Similar to last weeks show, we all met for a team breakfast, had a practice jog in the morning, and flatted our horses after that.  1 o'clock was the jog, and all the horses passed again.    At the jog, the vet had this really cool device that checked if the horses had a chip in them.  I didn't even know they put chips in horses, but apparently they have started to in Europe, which was just something I thought was really interesting.

So, off to a good start.  Now, the property where the show here in Reims is held is amazing.  Its in the middle of a public park.  So while people are jogging, picnicking, or playing soccer, we are riding on one of the many open fields.  The park seems large from what where we've ventured to so far.  It's such a cool idea, like having a horse show in Central Park, NY.  This just shows how widely followed the sport of show jumping is in Europe.

The field where our competitions will take place is beautiful.  It is a huge field in the park, and surrounded by tents for vip's and possibly shops.  This event, unlike Bonheiden, has an open water built in.  We are anticipating this show to be a bit more challenging with bigger, more technical tracks.

In the afternoon, we all were treated to a tour of the champagne caves, which was such a cool experience.  As a team, we are all having an amazing time and hope to have another successful week in Reims...showing will start tomorrow.

Some Jumping Photos

Reed Kessler

Jessica Springsteen

Karen Polle

Bonheiden Showing

Friday in Bonheiden:
It was another successful day.  The star of the day was Karen Polle, winning both classes she entered on her two horses.  The 1.30 on With Wings, and the 1.40 on Whatever.  She really brought it on Friday, and no one could catch her fast times.  We were all very proud of her.  In the Jr. class, Meg O'Mara was second on her horse Sinatra in the 1.35 speed. Overall it was a great day, everyone's horses jumped well, and we all anticipated the following two days with the most important classes, the Nations Cup Saturday and the Grand Prix's on sunday.

Saturday:
The team was to show in the Nations Cup on Saturday night.  Our team consisted of Catherine Pasmore, Jessica Springsteen, Ricky Neal, and Reed Kessler.  Everyone rode really well.  There were a few unpredictable mistakes but everyone came back well from a possibly disappointing first round. After figuring drop scores, and everyone riding extremely well in the second round, we ended up second to Great Britain, a very competitive team.  We were all thrilled with this finish, and now we are ready to only get better from here next week.

Sunday:
This was Grand Prix day.  For the Juniors, I ended up second on Little Lady D'Elle.  I was first to jump off, which isn't the most desirable place to be in jumping off, but still there were only five in the jump off so I went for a clear, fast but not lightning speed time.  My horse jumped phenomenally, so I was very excited to be second.  Our streak of second places continued in the Young Rider Grand Prix for Catherine Pasmore.  Another great ride for her and her horse, with a fast jump off time and just one rail.  Jessica Springsteen ended up sixth, and Ricky Neal 8th.

Courses were difficult and well built at this show.  I was impressed by the quality of all the horses that showed, and the number of talented riders.  Everyone was competitive from every country.  It's been a long time since we have all shown against a completely new group of kids, from all over Europe, with spectacular horses and all different styles.  Some of the Belgian and British riders were truly impressive with their strength and precision.

Another really cool thing about showing here is that it's much more widely followed.  All kinds of people showed up daily, whether they knew someone showing or not, to watch the jumping.  It was like a sporting event almost, everyone had their meals and drinks out by the side of the ring and watched the horses... It actually got really busy!

Our horses are back at Henk Nooren's farm until Tuesday morning.  Today, Monday, the horses get their day off, hopefully able to turn out in the paddock and relax.  Tomorrow morning we will all ride together before the horses ship out to France!

Bonheiden Day 1 of Showing

Today was the first day of showing at the Bonheiden show...
For the Juniors, Meg O'Mara won the 1.35 jump off class with a double clear round, I was 7th with just a rail in the jump off but a fast time.  For the young riders, Reed Kessler won with a very fast clear in their jump off class, Catherine Pasmore was second, and Jessica Springsteen was fifth.  So, it was a very good day for the U.S. riders.  Our national anthem was played twice, which were proud moments for all of us.

So far, showing in Europe seemed so different.  All the rules are still the same; one rail is four faults, two refusals and your eliminated, etc,.  But there are little things that make the experience a lot different.  The schooling area was way more hectic than anything I'm used to.  Everyone is jumping the same two jumps, and there are so many horses in the ring schooling at once.  It seemed near impossible to maneuver your way around to jump.  Also, because of this, you get far less warm up in.  I think I jumped maybe six schooling jumps before going in, most of which I didn't pick up the canter until I was straight with the jump.  But my horse, Lady, handled it extremely well so that made life easier.  Another difference over here is the preloading.  How it works is that when you are two out, you are pretty much entering the ring, just as that rider two ahead of you is finishing their course.  Then, while the person in front of you is showing over their course, you are in the ring hacking around, staying out of the way.  This to me was crazy, and I was more nervous that I was going to get in the way than I was to actually show! But, again, we had to figure it out and we all did fine, some of us having shown over here before knew to expect this.

A successful day by far.  All the horses were behaved and jumped well, our team is strong, and we are all eager for the upcoming events this weekend!

Photos from Bonheiden

Beginning of Bonheiden

Today is Wednesday and the team is together in Bonheiden, Belgium.  On tuesday at Henks, we packed up all our equipment and moved it into a cargo truck, loaded the horses on the trailer, and headed on our way to Bonheiden, just a two hour drive away.  Once we arrived, the unpacking began.  Everyone helped so everything was in order within a couple hours.  Some of us rode our horses and got a feel for the grounds.  The show is in a very welcoming town with restaurants and shops all around.  I learned that this is actually a young rider event only, so there won't be any other competitors or horses besides those competing in the young and junior rider events, which is very unique compared to the usual shows we go to in the states.  Even though the show is small, everything is taken very seriously, and the grounds are excellent for jumping.  But that won't start until tomorrow.

Tuesday night we had a team dinner, with all the riders, our chef d'equipe Katie Prudent, Lizzie Chesson, Anne Kursinksi, and the team vet Sarah Cohen. Clearly, we are in good company here.  Everyone was pretty tired and definitely hungry after the long day... We talked about what it means to represent your country, and the expectations we have of ourselves.

Now today, Wednesday, was the jog for soundness.  We all had a team breakfast in the morning and went out for a practice jog at 9am.  This was to see how the horses came out of their stalls just cold.  Obviously, some horses are stiffer than others, but all the horses looked pretty good.  We all rode our horses after, and then we had a lot of time to kill before the jog at 2pm.  So we went to lunch, cleaned boots, organized more, etc,.

At 1:30 we took our horses out to hand-walk before the jog to make sure they were nice and loose.  The show vets showed up right at 2, and the jog began, starting with the U.S. Each horse must have a passport to present, then the jog for the vet.  Every horses successfully passed which is always good news.  So now, we get ready for tomorrow, the first day of showing.

Arrival of the Horses

The horses flying over from the U.S. arrived Saturday afternoon in Amsterdam.  My mother and I had arrived a couple days earlier, so we met our horse and groom, Kate, at the animal hotel at the Amsterdam Airport.  The horses are shipped in box stalls right on the big planes we often fly on as passengers.  From what Kate told me, the horses were fairly well behaved, only slightly uneasy at take off and landing which is understandable.  Once in Amsterdam, the horses had to go through customs, just like people do, and then be checked by a vet before being cleared to leave.  After a few hours of waiting for this process to go through, we loaded all our equipment and the horses onto a large trailer, and headed on our way to Henk Nooren's farm in Belgium.  He has been kind enough to accommodate the entire Young Rider team when we need someplace to layover between shows and on our off week.

Once we arrived at Henk's farm Saturday night, we unloaded the horses, the equipment, and ended the day with feeding and blanketing the horses.  We didn't get finished in the barn until around 10:30 at night, but interestingly, it doesn't get dark here until very late so it really didn't feel like 10:30 at all.  Today, Sunday, we started riding.  So far, it is just myself, Meg O'Mara and Ricky Neal here at the farm for riders.  The others will meet us at the first show in Bonheiden. The horses were all great today, a little fresh after their trip but feeling good.  The next couple days we will continue riding and schooling the horses in preparation for Bonheiden.

Senior Project

As a student at Pingree School in South Hamilton, MA, I have chosen to fulfill my senior project requirements learning about European show jumping.  What better way to learn about this topic than being immersed into the show jumping world for five weeks on the Junior/Young Rider Tour.  Seven riders, including myself, and their horses, grooms, parents and coaches will be traveling to four shows in Belgium, France, Austria, and Germany. (We have one rest week between France and Austria).  We will have exposure to a world of show jumping that I anticipate to be completely different than the sport in the United States.  There will be different riding styles, care techniques, rules, show schedules, etc,.  There is an endless amount to learn.  So, I plan to take in as much as possible during the five week tour and keep this online journal of our trip.