A-Final Freestyles

Today was yet another great day in Frankfurt! I got up and went to the barn early. Nina and I had our morning snuggle while I mucked her and did her buckets etc. She likes her ears scratched while she rests her head on you. Later this morning, I had a really great school on Nina, and it was exciting to be schooling next to the horses and riders competing in the Prix St. George! I had a lot of fun and I think Nina also did. I love playing around on her because she really loves to work so much. Tomorrow, we are fourth in for the b-final freestyles. The class starts at 9:45am. It will be a really cool way to finish off young riders together riding in the Festhalle in Germany. We've come a long way since I got her as a four year old and didn't even know how to sit the trot on a warmblood - videos of that are pretty funny. Regardless of how it goes tomorrow, this experience has been a once in a lifetime opportunity and it is so awesome to have been a part of. The things Nina and I have got to see together since being in Germany, and the places she's taken me competing over the years have been incredible and I wouldn't want to experience this with anyone but her, my teammate. She really is awesome and tries her heart out for me so I think it is just so cool we get to do this competition and trip together. Our time here as flown by and I can't believe tomorrow is our last day here. I wish we could stay longer! Germany is so beautiful and the shear number of quality horses and riders you see here on a daily basis is such a great educational opportunity. Isabell Werth's ride today was inspiring! She doesn't give away a point. I could watch her, and a lot of others ride all day.

Also, big shout out to Meagan who did really well in this competition! She came seventh tonight in the A-final freestyles and rode really well! The ambiance in the ring tonight from the stands being packed was insane so unreal job Meagan!

After the young rider freestyles, there was a young horse class that was a ton of fun to watch. We don't have classes like this in Canada so it was great to see. The top 3 horses came back for tonight and rode around to music of their choice and showed off the horse. There were lots of extensions and tempis etc. The crowd was in to it clapping and everyone was hooting and hollering. The 3 horses were just stunning too. This was definitely more my dads type of class because he is loud by nature and is used to cheering my brother on in hockey. He doesn't like that you can't cheer loudly during a dressage test if something was really nice lol.

Anyways, what a great night. I love that I got to see some of the young riders go tonight because I haven't really been able to watch, just given that I was competing at the same time. Good job to everyone who rode tonight. The arena was pretty scary given that it was packed all the way up to the top levels, and everyone rode really well. When you come to an event like this, you realize how important having a routine is. Never having been to a venue like this, or having travelled by plane, it is really difficult for your horse to understand what is going on and settle into the swing of things. They don't know what the routine is and what to expect, and then you ask them to be brilliant and perform their best in a packed, scary arena, with music blasting. Not to mention the fact that there are horse topiaries with mouths open leaping out at you! Everyone tonight did a great job riding with the electric ambiance of the Festhalle.