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
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