The Calm Before the Storm

Good Morning Everyone! So today is Thursday, the day before everything starts and everyone is running around like a headless chicken. For those of you who wish to watch the Festival online (it will be streaming on USEF Network) the jog is tomorrow at 2:00 pm and the Grand Prix starts Saturday morning at 8:00 am.

In terms of riding I have seen a few horses go. Today I saw Steffen and Legolas go and they look superb. I have also had the pleasure to meet Legolas and he is a big dog J He loves to be scratched under his chin. I saw Steffen sitting in front of his stall yesterday evening and Legolas had his head in Steffen’s lap. Those two are two peas in a pod. I get the feeling that they have such a close bond.

 

I also had the chance to personally meet and talk to Adrienne Lyle and her toy aussie. Both are so incredibly sweet and very nice and of course she always looks superb on Wizard, the little bit of her ride that I saw.

I met Tina Konyok, who is very down to earth and I have seen her rides for the past two days and I must say, Calecto is looking very nice and consistent. He also is very dynamic.

The thing is, everyone’s scores are so close together coming into the Festival of Champions that it is going to be extremely hard to figure out who is going to London and who is not. Team USA should be looking strong this year nevertheless!

A garden has been erected in the breezeway!

I found out that we “stole” this fish from the show jumping course at the Beijing Olympics. Maybe it means good luck?

And I got the overall champion ribbon today! Who needs a horse? haha

Construction Tuesday

If the sun did not wake me up at 5 am, the noise certainly did. Today is the big setup day at HF, and boy is it ever crazy. Fortunately it seems like all of the horses are used to this. Last night I went to find a Barnes and Noble with one of the groom here, Lauren, and Gidget (my Garmin) led us to Barnes and Noble's company...not the bookstore! However we finally found a B&N bookstore and had a wonderful dinner at TGI Friday's. But you are not reading this to hear about what I ate for dinner and the crazy insane traffic; you are reading this for the horses. So here are the updates for today!

• Tina Konyot rode Calecto today and looked good. Fantastic Piaffe and Passage.
• Saw a bit of Steffen's ride and as usual looked amazing.
• Breanna and Kathleen are a super pair to watched, and looked like they had a good schooling session.
• Adrienne Lyle and Wizard were creating magic today and I had the pleasure to accidentally end up behind Debbie McDonald and Adrienne's groom, so I got to hear her coach a little which was very cool!

The Barnes and Noble Gidget found for Luaren and me!

The Champs Have Arrived

Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of watching a few of the dressage Olympic hopefuls school that morning and later that afternoon. Jan Ebeling with Rafalca, Adrienne Lyle walking around on Wizard. And I met Kathleen and a few more. Later that afternoon there was a social event that took place here at Hamilton Farm where donors and sponsors alike were invited to come and listen to a historian talk about the history of Hamilton Farm, to watch a freestyle by Sarah Schmidt, and to, most importantly, socialize. I sat in the back as the guests congregated in the breezeway and then listened as the historian spun the tale of Hamilton Farm to all around:

• Built in 1917 the 100th year anniversary will be in 2017.
• James Cox Brady built Hamilton Farms, originally 5,000 acres
• 3,000 acres under cultivation
• NO motorized vehicles allowed
• Mr. Brady's two sons were friends with Thomas Edison after father died in london at the age of 72

-During this part of the speech a horse from the stable called out when Barry mention that the land was being sold, to which Barry replied, "don't worry, you're not for sale." This earned a chuckle from the crowd.

• The architect of the stable was William Wisemberger, a German immigrant
• I had the pleasure of meeting his grandchildren, who for the first time since their father, have returned to Hamilton Farms
• Later William changed his last name to Whiteman to avoid anti-Germanic scrutiny during WWII
• In terms of the specifics of the building, fireproof brick was used, and the stable is designed in the letter "H"
• For special events the horses would be paraded under the glass rotunda on a red carpet for the spectators above.

After the presentation, everyone went outside to watch a fantastic freestyle preformed in the rain by Sarah Schmidt.

As much as I love socializing, if there are horses and riders around, you will probably find me somewhere near them. I left the party and went down to the indoor arena, and on the way down guess who was walking up with his horse? Steffen Peters walking Legolas. Now my mom and her wonderful mare Somerhall had been a demo rider for Scott Hassler's Trainer's Symposium with Steffen Peters, and so I was dubious that he would remember me. But I think he did! He said it was good to see me again and asked how everything was going. I was so happy! Then I watched him ride for a bit and went back to my room full of petrified bugs and no internet. It was a really good day.

My Motto

Just a quick tidbit about me: I strongly believe that watching someone ride is JUST as important as riding itself. Therefore I will be watching as much as I can while I am here.

Not So Sunny Monday

IT Training, showing me where everyone is (Currently developing my own personal 'stall chart' for the office) and lunch. That is essentially what my morning consisted of. Then, when I was on my way to lunch I spotted this lady walking Adrienne's cute little dog. I stopped to say hello to the pooch, and introduce myself to the lady and lo and behold it was none other than Debbie McDonald! She really is incredibly sweet and very nice. Take that mom! I met Debbie!



Now off to go see if I can watch Steffen ride since I spotted him in the barn :)

Olympic Intern Steffen Stalker signing off.







P.S. Just kidding about the stalker part.

Hello NJ!

8 hours and 37 minutes. Google maps and Gidget my Garmin. McDonalds. Dave Mathews. My Movies playlist. A pillow. My mom.

That is all that the drive from Winston-Salem, North Carolina to Gladstone New Jersey took. My name is Collier Wimmer. I am a college student from High Point University interning for five weeks at the United States Equestrian Federation. I will be here for the Dressage Festival of Champions and the Para-Olympic Trials and basically I will be running around helping everyone get things squared away for the Olympics. I am a dressage aficionado, and I will be posting pictures and posts daily for the five weeks I am here so that you, the reader, can be kept up to date and entertained. Enjoy!


Here is a picture of Wizard and Adrienne Lyle coming off the trailer. Welcome to Gladstone Adrienne!