Home and Pics!

We arrived home last night at about 7:30pm. The entire trip took us just over 12 hours and we were all very excited to be home and streth our legs, especially Oslo!

Oslo has earned himself a number of days off now and some galloping in the field when I do get back on him. At the moment he is enjoying the green grass and letting loose in the field!

Here are some of the pictures I promised of the show grounds and the trip. Enjoy!

Mt. Hood, Oregon

The beautiful barn

The indoor arena

The main competition ring where Oslo and I showed

Alberta Bound!

We just passed over the border into the mother country and are well on our way home. We left DevonWood Sunday afternoon after my ride and made it to Spokane after picking up our friend and her horses on the side of the interstate. She was also headed to Spokane for the night from the show when her horse trailer tire blew and flew off, taking the fender with it. Her poor horses were stranded in the trailer for over an hour in 40 degree heat while road side assistance came and put her spare on. So we stopped and dad helped her out and then once we got her back on the road we convoyed together to Spokane for the night. We hope she is able to get a new spare today and finish her trip back to Montana today!

Oslo and I rode the I1 test late Sunday mowning. He was definitely tired but we to see on the suppleness and we had some great stuff! The trot work was especially good and it showed on the marks since we consistently got 7s instead of 6s on the trot tour. The canter was fairly god but I think this is where we both started to show our tiredness. Oslo missed the flying change aid after the extended and then I got caught up with the focus on sills was and was a late on Mt first change aid in our two tempis so I rode a three to begin with. I was definitely mad at myself for that because Oslo would has been there for me if I would have just asked on time!! But I was very happy with the rest of it and Oslo's rideability over the entire weekend. Mistakes will be made and I was just so happy to have kept Oslo so supple through the entir test! Our final score was just over 65% which put us in 3rd place - very respectable considering the level of competition at the international level.

I definitely want to come back next year. It is such qn amazing facility and the show is run really well. Maybe next year we can have a big entourage of Albertans make the trip down!

Back to navigating now! I will try and post pics once we get home too!


Linds and Oslo

QUALIFIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today started off amazing!!! Oslo and I had a great stretchy ride first thing in the morning. Oslo was supple, in front of the leg and energetic. I was focused, relaxed and prepared. The combination allowed us to ride one of the more brilliant PSG tests we have ever ridden! Since we had a great stretchy ride in the morning, we had about a ten minute warm-up before our actual test. Yes, this did freak me out a bit, but Oslo felt so ready and we wanted to conserve his energy. No point riding the movements over and over again in the warm-up and tuckering both of us out. So we went in a little early (the ride before us was a scratch) and we went in with energy and cadence! The trot work was steady and fairly supple (could always still be more supple!) and he had considerable more cadence today. The canter work was forward and was the most supple gait. The only mistake was the first walk pirouette and that was mainly a rider error and lack of communication. Otherwise, it was a great ride and Oslo felt spectacular! Leaving the arena afterwards, we were just to come out of the gate and our biggest fan, Ruurd Dykstra, stood up and whistled and clapped, completely catching Oslo off guard! Oslo wheeled around and jumped over the side of the gate back into the arena! He seems to be terrified of the benches at the end of the arena now where Ruurd was sitting! No worries though, we still love our fans!!!

Since we had such a great ride we won the PSG class with a 68.68% which means we have all four of ou qualifying scores for the Pan Am Selection Trials!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were all so ecstatic and it feels so amazing to have accomplished the goal we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. We have had some tough times, but our ride this morning made up for those!

We then left Oslo to nap in his stall for a few hours while we drove out to the Oregon coast. It was very cold and windy! Definitely a shock for us since it was about 85 degrees Fahrenheit today at the show grounds and then we get to the coast and we almost get blown away and had to put sweaters on. I guess that was alright though since we couldn't stay long. We wanted to get back early in the afternoon to get Oslo out of his stall and let him graze for a good couple of hours. Having just Oslo at this show I have had lots of time to hang out with Oslo on the grazing patch and watch the other rides. Some good quality time with my best friend!

We had a super short warm-up for the freestyle as well. Oslo came out quite supple and with a fair amount of energy. We were the last ride and I felt him start to tire near the end of our warm-up. Additionally, as we entered the ring, Oslo noticed the crowd and came up in front. I had to ride the once around in posting trot since he was very looky and braced in front. I knew suppleness would be an issue, but I could feel him getting tired so I had to try and be strategic. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite tactful enough and couldn't get him as supple as he needed to be. We still had a good ride without any errors, but overall he was too braced in front and against the hand. Our score was 67.9% and it placed us 5th in the FEI Freestyle class (behind some VERY fancy horses). Overall I was happy with it, but I realise now that I need to be better at getting Oslo more supple in the trot work while we are actually in the test! I need to be more tactful and quicker to prevent him from getting braced in front. Yet another element I need to get better at!

Overall, it was a great day and I am very happy with Oslo. Days like today make me realize how lucky I am to have such a great teammate!!!! Tomorrow's focus will be suppleness (again!!), and I will especially try to make it a focus while we are in the ring.

Cheers to our last qualifying score and to Oslo being amazing!!!



Linds

Rough Day

It was a rough go today =( Oslo felt a little stiff in our stretchy ride this morning but still felt really relaxed and in front of the leg. Our actual warm-up for our test felt great and he was so on the aids. Oslo was in perfect shape and so ready. Unfortunately, my mental game was not there today. I almost felt like I psyched myself up too much and thought through the whole test instead of just riding what felt good in each moment. I went into the ring thinking of every little thing Markus and I had gone over to make that PSG test perfect. I did all those things, but forgot to work together with Oslo. I feel like I let Oslo down in that test. We had such great energy and Oslo was there for me, but I never supported him with the appropriate half-halt or guided him properly into the movements. Our energy was great, but I didn’t balance it. I solely focused on riding that darn test and totally forgot about the most important element: teamwork! Sorry Oslo.

Therefore, we were nowhere near our needed qualifying score and only received a 64%. I am so bummed and angry at myself. Especially since Oslo gave it his all and I didn’t utilise that. The scores do seem a bit low at this show – the panel of judges are definitely not giving away any marks.

Looking on the bright side: we were able to sneak into another PSG test tomorrow! Now I have a chance to redeem myself. We ride at 10:42 am tomorrow so hopefully that will still leave Oslo with some jam for our freestyle in the late evening. I would prefer not to do two tests at that level in one day on Oslo, but I feel I need to ride that PSG for myself and see if I can keep the great energy and ride a balanced and brilliant test! Still so much learning to do in this sport! It is never ending!

I should be heading to bed. I need to make sure Oslo is settled in the morning and take him out for a light stretchy ride before the PSG.

Tomorrow is another day......

Linds and Oslo

Beautiful Oregon

Good morning! We arrived at the DevonWood Equestrian Centre yesterday early afternoon. It was about a 6 1/2 hour drive from Spokane, where we stopped the night before. Oslo seemed fairly tired when we arrived and he has spent most of the time sleeping in his stall. At one point he was sleeping on his nose against the stall door! He seems to be a little more sedate than usual, but I am not going to even start talking about that since I know he can change his temperament in less than a few minutes! We did go for a trail ride around the beautiful facility yesterday evening and he still seemed fairly alert, so I am hoping he just needs some good rest. We will do a stretchy ride today to see how he is feeling and get used to the footing in the show ring.

DevonWood facility is absolutely amazing! Everything is so well maintained and the barn is out of a European magazine. The lawns are perfect and there is a separate grazing area for the horses with lots of clover (Oslo's second favourite to dandelions!). Oslo is stabled in the brandnew stalls up by the spectacular barn. Thick rubber mats and a large stall that has never been used! The people and owners are very nice and super friendly. Another great thing about the facility is that the main competition ring has exactly the same footing as the warm-up ring. There are two other show rings along with warm-ups for those rings as well. It is located about 20 minutes from Portland and is set on a lush, green hill with a variety of large trees. It is very picturesque! It is slightly chilly here this morning though and overcast. I guess that is better than 40 degrees though!

Angie Golley, Courteany Fraser, Joni Lynn Peters, and a bunch of other B.C. rides are here as well. It is nice to have some fellow Canadians to chat and hang out with! We are camping right beside Angie Golley, Jennifer Peers, and Ruurd and Wieke from Central Alberta. It is awesome to have such fun neighbours to sit and chat with in the evenings!

There are over 250 entries at this show and I think things are going to get very busy, very quickly! There is supposed to be 500-1000 people at the Freestyles Saturday night and there is a special area for several tents of vendors. I am not usually a big shopper, but there are NO taxes of any kind here in Oregon, so we might have to purchase a few things!!!

That is all I have to report for now. Jennifer has kindly donated her internet stick to us for the weekend, so I am hoping to update the blog regularly.




Linds

Quick Update

We are currently on hwy 22, nearing the Crowsnest Pass. It is almost 25 degrees and sunny. The scenery has been spectacular ever since we turned off hwy 2. Perhaps we might be moving to Southern Alberta......

Cool news: the Canadian Pan Am Games leader board has been updated and Oslo and I are currently in 14th position!!!! Crossing our fingers that we get our last score in Oregon and we will remain top 15!

Oslo and I also want to send a big thank you out to Gwen, Oslo's massage therapist! We both feel such an amazing difference after her visits and it keeps Oslo healthy and fit for competitions. So, thank you very much Gwen.

We are about ready for a rest stop now!


Linds and Oslo

One More Sleep

I think I have almost everything packed now. It seems like I don't have nearly enough stuff, but I have to remind myself that we are only taking Oslo!

Today we had a good ride and we rode later in the morning to get some of the heat, but not roast! We figured we should be working in at least a little heat since it is supposed to be warm down there. We rode the I1 test and overall it went quite well. The changes were a bit tight, so we schooled some lines of changes after the test and worked on me using more half-halt (yet again!!!) and letting him be more free in front. After some work and focus on the half-halt, we had the bigger jump with a more free and longer neck, making the changes much more expressive.

We will be leaving tomorrow morning around 7:00am. Calgary rush hour is preventing us from leaving any earlier. Since we are headed to the Crowsnest Pass, we will be going right through Calgary and there is construction on Deerfoot bridge, so we really want to avoid rush hour! The border crossing we are using is Kingsgate, in B.C., and it is open 24 hours a day, therefore we thought it was alright to leave at 7:00am rather than 4:00am!

I actually phoned Telus today and ordered the correct text messaging plan for the US. Unlike last time, when I went to California and ordered the wrong plan off the horribly confusing Telus website and had a $300 cell phone bill waiting for me when I got home. Thankfully, Telus seemed to understand my situation and credited me as if I had actually purchased the correct plan!

Tomorrow evening at this time we will hopefully be all settled in at Spokane Sport Horses. Mom is very excited for the drive - it is supposed to be beautiful and it looks like we should get some good weather. I am personally a little worried about the pass. Last time I did that pass in the Prius and those mountains seemed huge!!! Might be some slow truckin' at times.

Oslo will have the back two stalls in the trailer to hopefully relax in on the journey. The first two stalls are full of extra shavings, hay, and bikes.

Some last minute laundry and tack cleaning and then off to bed!


Linds

Nearing Departure!

Today Oslo and I got to practice our freestyle in our outdoor ring! It was finally dry enough with it being 28 degrees Celsius out! Oslo and I found it a bit hot and we didn't quite have the energy and cadence we have had the past couple of weeks. I then got a bit frantic in the trot since I was looking for the extra energy. Lesson learned today: Ride for the big energy, but have enough half-halt to control that energy! Therefore, we need to make sure I don't get the trot too frantic in the freestyle (mom thinks the music gets me a little wired!). Energy: YES, Half-halt: DEFINITELY! That will be the focus for tomorrow's ride, along with getting Oslo just that bit more in front of the leg and therefore supple. We will do a "show warm-up" and then ride the I1 test since we haven't ridden that for a while. I have been so focused on the PSG since that is where I need the score of 67% to qualify, but I need to make sure we can still get the good quality gaits in all the movements in the I1 test as well.

I finally started do laundry and packing today for our week long trip. With us just taking Oslo and only being gone for one week, the trip seems minor compared to our California adventures with three horses. Tomorrow will be the big packing day and even though I may not be bringing as much stuff this time, I need to make sure I am organized and completely prepared for show day!

Unfortunately, Lientje (the dog) will not be coming along on this trip since the DevonWood Equestrian Centre does not allow dogs on the show grounds. I tried to make the argument that no one could say no to the extremely cute dachshund face, but we didn't want to bring her along and have her have to sit in the truck all day. Dad is definitely sad - I think he was looking forward to a horse show where he had time to spend walking (or carrying) Lientje around.

My ride times for the show are:
Friday, PSG, 3:04pm
Saturday, I1 Freestyle, 8:23pm (we are the last freestyle of the evening!)
Sunday, I1, 11:26am

Fairly good times. I am not always a fan of riding later in the evenings, but it is supposed to be 29 degrees on Saturday, so I am sure Oslo and I will be quite happy riding at 8:23pm that day!

The excitement is building!!!!!



Linds

5 Days Until Our Departure For Oregon

I hope everyone is surviving the rain! We have had so much rain and unfortunately have had to ride inside our small indoor for the last couple of weeks. Therefore, we haven't been able to ride our tests but we have been riding the movements to the best of our ability in our 40 metre ring! We cannot ride the full half-passes or line of changes, but we are modifying things to get the same effect.
Our half-passes in the trot are considerably better now that we are not allowed to ride any collected trot half-heartedly anymore! Every step of collected trot has to have cadence, energy, and suppleness! It is much harder work of course and very physically demanding for both of us. So we work really hard for a good 10 or 15 minutes and practice some movements and then take a break. And repeat! Quality not quantity!!! We know we can do everything, now we just need to add that extra brilliance to everything! I feel so focused now in getting the best trot possible along with the biggest, exuberant canter every ride. It has been a great couple of weeks since being whipped into shape at the Markus clinic! Consequently, I feel Oslo and I are very strong right now and are ready to bring it all to the show!

Oslo, dad, mom, and I will depart first thing on Tuesday morning. We will head south to the Crowsnest Pass and cross the border into Washington. Spokane will be our stop for the night and then after driving for about 6 more hours on Wednesday we should arrive in Sherwood, Oregon at DevonWood Equestrian Center. We are leaving Cashew at home to have a good week off. She has been going so well lately and since she is only four I do not want to push her too much or make her ring sour. Our next big outing will be the Dutch Warmblood Keuring in September. Skippy will get most of the week off as well, with Suzanne, who works at the barn, riding him a couple of times to keep his cardio up!

Hoping for sunshine so we can practice our freestyle at least once before we leave!



Linds

Markus Gribbe Clinic

Oslo and I attended the Markus Gribbe Clinic July 1^st and 2^nd. Markus is the Pan Am Team and Dressage High Performance Coach. It was quite the honour to ride in his clinic. Markus has amazing attention to detail and taught me so much regarding how to ride that “perfect test”. He had suggestions and comments on every movement and for the time between movements as well.  I have never taken as many written notes as I did from this clinic. He helped Oslo and I show off our best items in the test such as our extended canter, half-passes, pirouettes, and voltes. On the other hand, he showed us how to camouflage our less strong suits, such as our walk work. Markus was also very demanding and was exactly what I needed at this point in time. I have a tendency to not ride as brave in the show ring or at clinics as I do at home, but Markus brought me to a new level when riding away from home. It really was the perfect clinic and clinician for us at this time.

Exactly two weeks until we leave for Oregon now. Oslo and I will be practicing that PSG test making sure to include all of Markus’ tips. I also am going to be hacking and taking Oslo out in the field quite a bit over the next little while. I feel he has been to a lot of shows and done a lot of travelling these past few months, so I want to make sure he stays fresh and mentally healthy. Yesterday I took him for a gallop in the field and it was so nice to be able to just relax and go crazy forward with no boundaries!!! I also think the field has its place in dressage training since we can get a more exuberant canter and we can work on the expression in the changes. Also, hills are great for Oslo’s walk!!