All I can say is it was amazing! First of all, I could have cried for Patrik Kittel – his Bronze medal is so-welled deserved. He has worked so hard for it. I have been watching his progress with Scandic over the last year and it’s been a long road for them, but well worth it. So a big congrats to them!
I didn’t get to watch all the freestyles, since Lindsey and I got very lost. My GPS had stopped working, and the city was also closed down for a NASCAR event, and the Queen was also at the Europeans, so it was very strict everywhere you went! But after a few screams of us yelling at the car we finally made it to the stadium.
All the rides were brilliant. Every horse and rider brings all they’ve got into the arena, and I mean you have to, but they really fought tooth and nail for their positions and it was spectacular. After all the freestyles were done, Hans-Peter Minderhoud retired his grand prix mare Nadine. She was awarded with big flowers and they played a tribute video on the big scene. Brought tears and smiles to everyone’s faces. Nadine just stood in the middle of the ring taking it all in and batting her eye lashes.
After all the rides, we all proceeded to the bar where the top three riders were again cheered and did small interviews and had champagne. It was like a race car event spraying champagne everywhere. I managed to catch up with fellow Canadians Chris Von Martels and his wife Lisa. It has been quite the Canadian contingency the last few months in Europe – it’s been really nice! It gives you a feeling of being home.
On another note, Vitall has been a rockstar, and I’m really happy with him. The pilaffe has improved a lot we are now finally able to make the transitions out. The 1 tempis are starting to feel like clockwork. We are preparing this week for another schooling show on Friday, where we will ride our second under 25 grand prix. I’m really excited to get back into the ring. I will have a full report next week of how our test went with pictures.
