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.