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Olympic Intern
Monday, July 9, 2012
USA Equestrian Team Preview
Wheels Up
So everyone has left. They are on the road to London. The
horses shipped out last night, and flew out at 3 a.m. this morning. The riders
left yesterday afternoon, and the grooms just left. I hated saying goodbye to
everyone, but I have promises from the grooms that they will keep me up to
date. I apologize for not posting anything sooner, however I did not think you
all would be very interested in my day to day activities, because other than
helping out in the office there was really not that much going on. However I
have been taking pictures so here is what has been happening this past week:
Rafalca go a compression suit because of the whole Colbert thing. If you have not watched it, go and do so, it is hilarious! So Bloomberg News and NBC came out to see Jan and Rafalca
One of the photographers.
My workspace. It is great! Lots of room to blog, work on homework, answer phones, ect.
NBC interviewing Jan.
Alright! Now for last nights pictures!
Hi Rafalca!
Dawn (Steffen's groom) and Ravel
The horse trailer
From Left to Right: Me, Dawn, and Lauren (Tina's groom)
Me and Lauren
Rubin and Wizard getting ready to load
From this picture (sorry about the terrible quality) you can kind of see how huge this horse trailer was.
Paragon loadingMe and Jan.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
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!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
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!
Monday, June 18, 2012
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 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!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
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!
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