Belinda Trussell of Stouffville, ON, was the first competitor into the stadium on the second day of Grand Prix. Under sunny skies she and Anton, a 16-year-old Sachsen-Anhaltiner gelding owned by Robyn Eames and Mark Trussell, had a lovely test, earning nines from several judges for her piaffe work.
“Anton was very good. He was very concentrated,” said Trussell after her test. “He was very relaxed. Often he can get a little bit more excited in the ring and in this ring he was just like it was another test. From that perspective, it was wonderful. He did everything that I asked him to do. There were a few little things I think I could spark up a bit for another few percentages, but to get a 72 ‒ which is just one percent lower than our personal best ‒ at the Olympics, I’m really happy.”
Not surprisingly, Trussell counted the piaffes as her stand-out moments today. “It’s just plain fun to ride his piaffe. I was really happy with the changes,too; when he’s a little bit more relaxed or different to ride I have to make the right decisions on how to ride them. He was super, so it was a relief that it all worked. Everything just felt like it just flowed nicely.”