Slowly but Surely

I apologize for not being posting sooner, but there was nothing really to post this past weekend. Jan, Steffen, and Adrienne were out for the weekend so all the horses had time off.  

Here is Ravel all settled in!

This morning though, everyone was back on track, and I got up early to watch before work. It’s getting a bit chilly up here so all the horses are fresh and ready to go. Perfect riding weather!

So this morning I watched Ravel and Steffen. He only rode him for a short time and did no collection, only walk and trot on a very long rein. When I asked Steffen about preparing Ravel and Legolas for competition, he said that for Legolas, on the day of competition, he would take him out early in the morning and do some work with him, and then do a short warm up before the class. This is because Legolas can get very tense and so this helps him relax, and to be more supple. And when I asked about Ravel, Steffen just said he can do whatever with that guy. King Ravel J

In addition to Ravel, Jan Ebeling was back this morning and while I missed his ride on Rafalca, I did get to see a bit of him riding his stallion Breitan. He was riding him in a snaffle and doing some piaffe work. He is a very nice horse, and a sweetheart.

So that is all that I was able to see today but I will definitely try to get up a bit earlier and watch. So keep checking back!

Grilling Out with the Champs

With all the office work going on, I had a chance to slip away and was lucky enough to be invited to grill out with Steffen and the gang. It essentially happened like so:

Steffen: Do you guys want to grill out?

Collective response: yeah, sure. It’s a nice night, why not?

Steffen: Do we have a grill?

Eddie: umm no

Steffen: Then I will go and buy one. How does steak and chicken sound?

Collective response: Good!

An hour and a half later we were grilling out with steak, chicken, salad, chips, and cupcakes. Oh and lots of drinks. The Spanish love their drinks. With Steffen as master chef, Dawn as salad maker, and Eddie and Rubin making sure everyone had a drink in their hand, we were set to go.

Although it took a while to put everything together. When the guys pulled out the instructions, we knew it was bad. I then asked Eddie, purely out of curiosity, if he read the instructions in Spanish or English to which he promptly replied, "French."

And thus, the Olympic flame of Gladstone was lit. From left to right: Dawn, Steffen, Tom, Eddie, and Rubin.

And why waste beer when you can use it to cook? Our master chef hard at work. Go Steffen!



And Ravel came in yesterday, I am happy to say he is right at home here. Eddie even made him a sign for his arrival!

A Rainbow of Ribbons

Hello!
I apologize for the late post, but everything here has been super busy. I hope you all enjoyed the Festival of Champions, I know I certainly did! Now without further ado, here is your backside buzz from what went on this past weekend:

I had the wonderful chance to meet Ann Romney :)

Adrienne, Wizard, and me

Team Romney after the awards

Adrienne coming out of the ring. Debbie was standing behind me and by the end of the test she was crying and when Adrienne walked out, before she could get off, Steffen had lifted up Debbie to give Adrienne a big ole hug! This girl really worked hard for everything and I am so very proud of her.

Steffen and Legolas during their victory gallop

Tina Konyot and Calecto V during warm-up

Team Peters after Steffen's ride

Adrienne and Wizard going into the arena

Rafalca and Wizard during the awards ceremony

Steffen with a huge grin coming out of the arena after a very good ride.

Tina Konyot and Calecto V during their test

Team Peters looking on...and not breathing.

A mouth works as a third hand, right? Jan Ebeling and Rafalca with last minute checks before they go up.

The wonderful backside of the barn Sunday morning

Tina Konyot and Calecto V during the awards ceremony

Jan and Rafalca walking up to the arena

Another picture of Adrienne and Wizard as they make their way to the arena

Jan, Rafalca, and Sanna (Ralfalc's groom) as they get ready for the awards. Did you know that Sanna calls Raflaca "Girly"? :)

Legolas did not want to stand still for me!

Steffen trying to help my cause. Saying, "Smile Legolas, smile!"

Team Adrienne after her amazing ride....everybody was sobbing

Steffen and Legolas going into the arena.

Finally I got a decent picture of Legolas before awards!

Team Konyot after her ride.

A fellow North Carolinian and a good personal friend Jim Koford and Rhett. I was given the honor of putting on the Carolina blue ribbons for him. And I asked if I could take a picture to which Rhett promptly responded, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Congrats guys!

Sue Blinks and Robin Hood!

Raflaca and Jan after their amazing ride. Dressage is #1!

So now that the Festival is over, and most have left it would seem like things are beginning to quiet down, right? Nah. Team Steffen is staying and Ravel will be coming in tomorrow. Adrienne and Wizard are staying, as is Raflaca. Tina and Calecto left about an hour ago but they will return July 5th. Everyone fly's out the 9th to London! Never a dull moment and I will keep you as up to date as possible!

Small Tour Begins

Hello! So today was the kick off for the second and final weekend of the Festival of Champions, with only one class today (The Prix St. George) and the Grand Prix jog. I had the pleasure of running for Jane Weatherwax and I met Tom, Steffen Peters’ horse massage therapist.

               Tom has been with Steffen since 1996 and he has some incredible stories to tell and is a very down to earth and genuine person. Apparently Steffen is a HUGE techie! Ravel is extremely competitive and Tom had the pleasure of meeting Totilas at the WEG, and said that Totilas is a sweetheart.

               In terms of the competition today, Caroline Roffman on Pie came in first with Steffen Peters and Sundance 8 in second. I really was looking forward to seeing everyone go, but the horse that surprised me the most was David Blake’s ride, Royal Prinz. If he had not messed up with a flying change from counter canter he probably would have won the day. Or at least came in second. As it was, he ended up fourth which I believe he is fine with. He is a superb and tactful rider, and this pair is a real pleasure to watch. I really hope they do well here!

Jane Weatherwax is a wonderful judge who does not give points based on who the rider is and she even told us that she did not and will not watch the Grand Prix rides from last weekend because she does not want it to affect her judging. She asked about everyone, including me, the lowly intern with keen and genuine interest and her scoring was very fair. She was not afraid to use the whole range and she did! There were some 3.5’s and 4’s and some 8’s and 9’s. I truly enjoyed being able to sit by her and listen.

Well as usual here are the pictures from today!

Tina Konyot's horse, Calecto V has his best friend with him :)



Shawna Harding's wonderful groom Lauren working on her small tour horse Rigo



Shawna Harding getting ready to go into the arena! Go Rigo!



We had a slightly unwatned military helicopter fly-by from who knows where.



And David Blake and Royal Prinz look phenomenal!

Weekend One

Hello! Sorry I did not post this weekend, I was

Too enraptured in the Festival of champions to even think about my blog! But I am here now to give you the scoop. J

Saturday, Steffen had a wonderful ride with Legolas, however on the one tempi’s he lost his stirrup and missed two of them….still got a 7.5. Eddie (Steffen’s wonderful all-knowing groom) got asked for his autograph. A rider is nothing without his/her groom. Then there was this little girl that had a Ravel Breyer horse and a gold sharpie and was waiting for Steffen to come sign… so I went a found him for her. Steffen really is very nice and down to earth and it was the feel good moment of the day for me.

I won’t go really into rides as I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes here but I will suggest you go watch the videos from Saturday and Sunday and make the decisions for yourself. If you leave me a comment and specifically ask for my opinion on something then yes I will respond directly to that. Like I said, I am trying to be unbiased.

All horses looked good, each had its own mistakes and I tell you one thing, the Olympic Grand Prix Special is a ridiculous test! I guess only for the Olympics, right? Well here are the scores from the two days, each of the four days of competition (This past weekend and nest Saturday and Sunday) count for 25%. So here they are:

Saturday:

Top of Form

Ride Time	Entry #	Rider	Ctzn	Horse	Stat/Div	Term	Test	E %	Rk.	H %	Rk.	C %	Rk.	M %	Rk.	B %	Rk.	T %	Pl.	Verified
8:18:00 AM	39	Peters, Steffen	USA	Legolas	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	75.426%	1	74.681%	1	77.340%	1	77.766%	1	75.106%	1	76.064%	1	No
9:00:00 AM	36	Konyot, Tina	USA	Calecto V	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	73.617%	2	71.383%	2	72.021%	2	74.255%	2	72.660%	2	72.787%	2	No
8:00:00 AM	32	Ebeling, Jan	USA	Rafalca	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	71.915%	3	70.957%	5	71.809%	3	72.660%	3	70.319%	5	71.532%	3	No
9:36:00 AM	33	Flettrich, Todd	USA	Otto	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	71.702%	5	71.383%	2	70.745%	4	71.170%	4	70.745%	4	71.149%	4	No
10:36:00 AM	42	Seidel, Guenter	USA	Fandango	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	70.957%	6	70.532%	6	69.787%	6	70.213%	6	71.277%	3	70.553%	5	No
9:27:00 AM	37	Lyle, Adrienne	USA	Wizard	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	71.915%	3	71.277%	4	69.787%	6	70.851%	5	68.511%	9	70.468%	6	No
10:18:00 AM	34	Harding, Shawna	USA	Come On III	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	66.702%	9	66.915%	13	69.043%	9	68.298%	10	69.149%	7	68.021%	7	No
8:27:00 AM	31	Blitz, Heather	USA	Paragon	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	65.851%	11	69.043%	8	69.894%	5	69.149%	7	65.745%	15	67.936%	8	No
10:00:00 AM	30	Blinks, Susan	USA	Robin Hood	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	65.851%	12	67.979%	9	69.149%	8	68.511%	9	68.085%	10	67.915%	9	No
9:09:00 AM	43	St Jacques, Pierre	USA	Lucky Tiger	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	67.766%	7	69.681%	7	67.447%	13	67.128%	13	66.915%	14	67.787%	10	No
10:09:00 AM	35	Koford, Jim	USA	Rhett	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	67.021%	8	67.766%	10	67.553%	12	67.660%	11	67.234%	13	67.447%	11	No
8:09:00 AM	29	Bateson-Chandler, Katherine	USA	Nartan	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	63.085%	15	67.021%	12	68.404%	10	68.936%	8	69.362%	6	67.362%	12	No
8:36:00 AM	40	Raine, Kathleen	USA	Breanna	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	64.574%	13	66.702%	14	66.383%	14	67.447%	12	68.936%	8	66.809%	13	No
10:27:00 AM	38	Parra, Cesar	USA	Van the Man	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	66.277%	10	64.787%	15	68.404%	10	65.957%	15	67.872%	11	66.660%	14	No
9:18:00 AM	41	Sammis, Lauren	USA	Sagacious HF	No	No	FEI Grand Prix 2009	64.574%	13	67.766%	10	65.319%	15	66.596%	14	67.660%	12	66.383%	15	No

Bottom of Form

Ride Time	Entry #	Rider	Ctzn	Horse	Stat/Div	Term	Test	E %	Rk.	H %	Rk.	C %	Rk.	M %	Rk.	B %	Rk.	T %	Pl.	Verified
10:09:00 AM	39	Peters, Steffen	USA	Legolas	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	79.000%	1	78.444%	2	77.889%	1	78.556%	1	75.778%	1	77.933%	1	No
10:36:00 AM	36	Konyot, Tina	USA	Calecto V	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	76.111%	2	78.667%	1	75.889%	2	77.556%	2	75.111%	2	76.667%	2	No
10:27:00 AM	33	Flettrich, Todd	USA	Otto	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	71.222%	5	73.778%	3	75.556%	3	73.333%	3	71.444%	3	73.067%	3	No
10:00:00 AM	32	Ebeling, Jan	USA	Rafalca	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	71.111%	6	72.556%	5	74.000%	4	72.111%	4	70.444%	4	72.044%	4	No
9:27:00 AM	37	Lyle, Adrienne	USA	Wizard	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	72.667%	3	73.111%	4	70.778%	6	71.000%	5	70.333%	5	71.578%	5	No
10:18:00 AM	42	Seidel, Guenter	USA	Fandango	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	72.111%	4	68.222%	10	69.222%	10	71.000%	5	69.778%	6	70.067%	6	No
9:36:00 AM	31	Blitz, Heather	USA	Paragon	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	71.000%	7	71.000%	6	70.444%	8	68.889%	8	68.667%	8	70.000%	7	No
9:18:00 AM	43	St Jacques, Pierre	USA	Lucky Tiger	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	69.667%	8	69.111%	9	71.556%	5	70.889%	7	68.333%	10	69.911%	8	No
9:09:00 AM	34	Harding, Shawna	USA	Come On III	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	69.222%	9	70.111%	7	70.667%	7	68.667%	9	68.778%	7	69.489%	9	No
9:00:00 AM	30	Blinks, Susan	USA	Robin Hood	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	68.889%	10	68.222%	10	67.556%	12	66.889%	11	68.556%	9	68.022%	10	No
8:18:00 AM	40	Raine, Kathleen	USA	Breanna	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	66.889%	12	69.556%	8	69.556%	9	67.444%	70	66.000%	13	67.889%	11	No
8:00:00 AM	41	Sammis, Lauren	USA	Sagacious HF	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	67.000%	11	67.889%	13	68.667%	11	65.111%	14	65.111%	14	66.756%	12	No
8:27:00 AM	35	Koford, Jim	USA	Rhett	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	65.778%	14	68.111%	12	65.444%	14	66.000%	12	67.667%	11	66.600%	13	No
8:36:00 AM	29	Bateson-Chandler, Katherine	USA	Nartan	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	66.889%	12	67.556%	14	66.667%	13	65.222%	13	66.444%	12	66.556%	14	No
8:09:00 AM	38	Parra, Cesar	USA	Van the Man	No	No	Olympic Grand Prix Special	64.667%	15	62.333%	15	63.667%	15	62.556%	15	63.444%	15	63.333%	15	No

Bottom of Form

And for you visual people out there here are some photos I took from this past weekend J

Rafacla with Jan Ebeling, and Ann Rommney! Great first weekend for Team Rafalca!

Another Rafalca Pic, this time with her super amazing and wonderful groom Sanna (Yes, this is correct spelling of her name)

Rafalca getting iced down

Day one (Saturday) top 6 places from left to right: Jan Ebeling, Todd Flettrich, Guenter Seidel, Tina Konyot, Steffen Peters, and Adrienne Lyle

Apparently our top six were too lazy to actually bring the horses back out J