The freestyle brings excitement into the house!

Today was a fantastic day to be a proud Canadian!!! I watched my own team mate, Esmee claim the bronze medal in the freestyle and then a few hours later Jamie Holland was our golden girl for youngriders and then Megan Lane claimed the bronze there too!!! It was super exciting!!

I once again had a fantastic warm-up and I felt that Stentano and I were totally on and together. He was super going around the ring and the first few movements were great... and then he went a little looney in his mind. I think because the music is so overpowering and strong in that stadium that he started to feel a little bit too good! It also seemed like the more I collected him the more power he got which made him want to go even more! The in between stuff was super but taking off more than once and kicking in the changes doesn't help bring up the marks any! So we ended up with 63.9%
Anyways... it was kind of frustrating but I have to say I am so happy with how the warm-ups have been and I am picking out the great stuff that was in the test and learning from the rest! We ended up 12th in the class so I am thrilled that we made it that far and the potential that we have excites me even more for next year! It's all there we just have to work together and connect like we did in the team test and it will fall into place. I have learnt so much and I can't wait to share all of the stories with everyone back home!!

Monica and Stentano

Freestyles here we come!

Hello!

Well we made it on to the next round as the jumpers would put it!!
Today seemed like a long day of waiting to ride and then managing the show nerves as well! At 12:30pm I finally was getting ready to get on and head over to the warm-up ring! My warm-up was fantastic and Albrecht was thrilled with it! I felt a little bit more nervous today than Wednesday but I felt confident about the way things were going! When I got into my test Stentano was feeling great but he just seemed to have a little bit more oompapa than in the team test. I tried to use that to my advantage but in the canter he clearly expressed his excitement in the changes! We lost quite a few marks in that which really brought my score down but I could feel the potential in the ride today with how the energy and power will come to my advantage in the future! We ended up with 64.211% which just squeaked us into the freestyles as we tied for the 15th position and the top 15 move forward! WOW!! It was very exciting to see Esmee and Norseman in the top ten placing 5th and Sarah Lowen from Ontarion placing 10th!!! Congratulations to them and all of the other juniors today!
I am super excited tomorrow to show off my slumdog millionaire music put together by Karen Robinson! Tomorrow is a new day and we will take what we have learned thus far! My ride time is 2:08pm tomorrow so hopefully the heat may become useful in calming both Stentano and I!!
Sorry I have to make this one quick because I need to hit the bed soon and go over my music a few times tonight to begin the freestyle mindset!!

Monica and Stentano

Young Riders Inspire

Hello again!

I shall now update you on the events that happened today! So as I mentioned yesterday, today the juniors did not show and so just the young riders did their individual tests! This was very interesting to watch and the last few rides became very intense for us Canadians! Megan Lane was the last rider in the class so we were all sitting on the edge of our seats filled with nervous excitement for her!! I have to say it was so nice to see how all of the dressage Canadians came out to cheer eachother on! The class ended up with Jamie Holland from Ontario winning bronze and Megan Lane from Ontario as well winning silver!!! It was so inspiring to watch these medal winners ride and to see how focussed and connected they were to their horses - a great way to head into tomorrow!

The juniors had a schooling time later this afternoon so a few of us (who weren't giving our horses the day completely off) headed out to the schooling area for a short to the point ride. Stentano was not overly excited to get going today but I was expecting him to feel a little bit out of it in the beginning because of his visit in with the vet last night! Once he got his blood flowing he was right back and Albrecht was so helpful today by keeping us on track and through but keeping things easygoing as well. I am very happy with the ride today and I think we have prepared ourselves to the best we can for tomorrow! I am super excited and I am looking forward to getting back into the show ring! Tomorrow at 1:18pm we will be heading down that centreline! Mental note: remember stretch circle and ride just like I did in the team test!!

The weather was very humid today, but overcast and then mid afternoon the sun came out so it got rather toasty but we are all getting used to the heat! Tomorrow I believe it is supposed to be hot but not as humid so we will see... as well they gave permission for all riders tomorrow the option to put bonnets on their horses so I don't know if they are expecting bugs or what is up but all I know is that Stentano will not be wanting one on his head!! We shall see what tomorrow brings and most importantly just ride and enjoy the experience!

All the best!

Monica and Stentano

Much needed photo upate ;)

Hello All,

I have finally sat myself down and I am determined to share some photos with you all of over the past couple days no matter how long it takes for them to load!! Esmee and I are going to put a power point together when we get back home so that we can share the whole experience with you to its best! For now I hope these pictures can bring some excitement back home to you as it is overflowing here!

The Awards ceremonies as we just stepped up onto the Gold Medal position!

Team BC receiving our medals :)

Here is the view from the grand stands of the ring! Yesterday (team test day) there were two rings going (young riders and juniors) but today there was just one ring.

Stentano (the wounded soldier)! This is his new look now while he is in his stall unattended! As you can see he is still holding his head up high :-)

As well, for anyone who might be interested: I have heard that http://www.dressage-news.com/ and http://www.dressagedaily.com/ has posted up some articles from our press conference!

Monica and Stentano

Golden Girls

Well, well, well I don't quite know how to start this! I am still in shock and can't quite believe it but I do know that we were the team standing in the middle of the podium today with our anthem playing!! It was an unbelievable, breath-taking experience having that Gold medal placed around our necks by our very own Canadian FEI judge Joan McCartney!
Alright well now that the exciting news is out, let me walk you through the day!

So I was the first to ride for my team (made up of Esmee Ingham, Sylvie Fraser, and myself) at 9:07am. My warm-up was great and he really was on my airds and then we moved over to the 10 minute warm-up ring and then I felt myself getting into that nervous state. I tried super hard not to allow myself to go there and I managed to pull myself out of that and bring myself back into the focus, intuned mindset! Before I knew it, it was my turn to walk down into the stadium for SHOW TIME!! He stayed with me all the way around the ring and I felt that we were in a good frame of mind together! My trot work felt great and the walk work is improving and we managed to keep it together in the canter with no leaping or squealing flying changes!! The whole test felt so fluid and connected and I was so happy with him! The only major bobble was with the last center line where Stentano thought that we were really supposed to halt before X and not at X so he put the brakes on a little bit too early, but hey that is minor!!) When I looked up at the score board I couldn't believe what I saw!! My score was at 68.000%! I just stared at it because I was so in shock!! It was so amazing to see how happy my mom, Karen, and Albrecht were with Stentano and I!! So when everything became official my end score ended up at 67.351% which I was over the moon with!! The other exciting thing is that I ended up 3rd in the whole class of 32 riders, Esmee was 2nd and Sylvie was in the top 10 too! Today was only based on the team average so when everything was all added up we were #1!!
We proceeded to the awards ceremony and it was awesome to be in there doing our country proud!! After that we were quickly swept off to a press conference for a good hour with all of the top 3 placing teams at juniors and youngriders. That was a whole incredible experience in itself!! Everything seemed to happen so quickly that I think all 3 of us were shaking from excitement in there!! What a cool experience!!

When we got back from the the conference we quickly got ourselves in order for the opening ceremonies of NAJYRC where all competitors were present and the Championships were officially declared open!! We enjoyed the dinner that was put on by the show and once again watched a thunderstorm roll in and let loose!!

By the time this was all done we were all exhausted by the incredible overwhelming day so we tucked the horses in for bed and my mom and I headed up to the trailer... I was about to get an early start at blogging to you all but then my phone rang and it was Megan Lane... she was calling to let us know that we better come down to the barn because Stentano opened up his nose again!! We rushed down and he had a nice line of blood down his nose so thankfully the treating vet was still here and so she got him all fixed up with approval from the FEI vet to sedate him slightly in order to put some staples in his nose. So hopefully that should do the ticket and so now my mom and I are just leaving the barns after keeping an eye on him so that he didn't itch off the bandage. It is almost 12:00 here so my mom and I are ready to hit the sack!!

I am still getting over the fact that we won Gold!! I just cant get my mind wrapped around it!! WOW!! Tomorrow we have a day off (the youngriders do their individual test) so hopefull tomorrow I can get photos put up.. I was hoping to today but things took a turn so hang tight until tomorrow!

Thank you for all of the wonderful emails and facebook comments that I have been getting!! If I have not replied yet please do know that I appreciate everyone of them!

All the best!
Moni and Stentano

Onwards and Upwards We Go!

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I am going to have to make this quick... today was an absolutely crazy day but most of us all got through smiling :) The day started with a ride in the middle of a horrible thunder/lightning/rain storm - this ride didn't last long as everyone was pulled back into the barns! After that the in barn inspections happened and we were told by the FEI vet that Stentano could have his stitches removed by the treating vet on site. We followed up with that and they took them out with no problem! However we had some complications afterwards and long story short his nose wasn't quite healed enough and so he now has glue keeping the flap attached to his nose... I will explain further tomorrow when I have more time! Then we had our 30 minutes of riding time in the main stadium and it went amazingly! He was a super boy and Karen (and Albrecht) were so helpful! After that we then got ready for the jog.. that is a whole story in itself.. a severe storm was coming in so they suddenly made an announcement that whoever came first could jog and the order of go had been dropped.. it was slightly chaotic but my team made it out pronto and so we beat the storm! We were all accepted so that felt great to have that out of the way!!
Alright well it's late here and I ride first for my team at 9:07am so I better get to bed! Mental note: Number 1 breathe, Number 2 keep legs on, Number 3 ride half-halt to half-halt!! If I can keep this up I think amazing things can happen and I am very excited for tomorrow so HERE WE GO!!!
Monica and Stentano

We are set to go!

Hello Y'all!

Today was the last somewhat "easy going" day before things get started! We awoke to a suprisingly cooler morning ( 77 degrees F ) and the temperature peaked to only 85 degrees F today! This would have seemed hot to us a week ago but now I think it is safe to say that we are getting used to the mid 90's now!!!

I was able to watch Albrecht instruct some of the western riders this morning while I grazed Stentano beside the ring - this was a nice treat because normally I am getting ready to ride or I am riding when the others are riding too. Around 9:30am my mom and I left the horse park and we hit up Hagyard's (the vet clinic that is across from the horse park) to buy some stitches scissors. We were in luck! I must quickly mention that this vet clinic was extraordinary - we just saw it from the outside but it looked like they had everything there (including an MRI)! We then proceeded to head to the airport to pick up Karen! It was great to see her and catch up with her today! When we got back to the horse park I had a lesson with both Albrecht and Karen helping me... I wasn't sure what to expect and whether it would be too overwhelming with two voices but it worked amazingly! The intensity was still there but with Karen helping it kept me calmer and things just fell into place! I was so happy! We worked for about 30 minutes because you can't go much more than that in this weather without them overheating or simply just getting too tired.

This afternoon we hit up a tack shop with Karen... it was very strange but neat at the same time. The store was in a house so it was like Christmas almost.. you just kept walking and you would find another room with more things!! After that outing we came back to feed Stentano and the barns were slightly chaotic because the last minute arrivers were rolling in but it was nice to finally have all of the Canadian dressage riders at the park finally!

The evening ended with a dinner outing to a funky restaurant in downtown Lexington! We went out with the whole Western group (including Albrecht) so I think we had almost 20 people there! It was fun to squish in with everyone - I will put up some pictures tomorrow of the group!!

Alright well I better head off to bed because tomorrow is expected to be a crazy day with an early start! The jog is tomorrow so that marks the official beginning!!

Good night!
Monica and Stentano

And the countdown begins!

Hi Everyone!

Once again we had a pleasant day here in Lexington! We all sort of asked eachother a few times, "Today is Sunday? Already?" It seems like the past week that we have been here has blown by and all of a sudden things are just around the corner! The North American banners were hung up today around the park and the Breyer fest banners were brought down so it is all beginning to feel so real!

The morning started off with an early 7:30am lesson with Albrecht before the heat kicked in full blast! He was very happy with how things went today! Stentano is handling the atmosphere so well! Because the park is so big, we are only allowed to school in rings that are close to the barns and then hopefully by tomorrow we will be allowed to train in the dressage complex where the schooling takes place during the competition. On Tuesday we will be allowed to school in the main stadium where we will be showing so that will be great to get Stentano in there.

After the lessons were finished today our group of Canadians went out for breakfast/lunch to the Cracker Barrel! It was nice to hang out with everyone and to enjoy some country food... We now prepare ourselves for typical Kentucky line "Hi m'aam, how y'all doing?"

After "brunch" we checked back on the horses and made sure they were happy and then we all sort of went our separate ways.. some went into Lexington to go shopping, some went for a nap, meanwhile my mom and I went out to scout out some tack shops in hopes of finding some stitches scissors. However we were out of luck today because most stores were closed (of which included all the tack stores) because apparently Lexington is a "dry county" and so I guess a lot of them don't work on Sundays too. Tomorrow hopefully we will have more luck finding these scissors - my mom and I are going to try to remove the stitches tomorrow from Stentano's nose because we need them out before the jog. We were hoping that the vet would be able to remove them but then we realized that Stentano would never let the vet near him (he doesn't seem to understand that vets help him and not hurt him) so that would require some tranquilizer and that cannot be in his system this close to the competition due to drug testing so therefore my mom and I will attempt to gain his trust enough to remove them on our own! I'll let you know how that goes!

As well I must add this: remember when I mentioned a few days ago about that huge belgium that was beside Stentano in the paddock... well we found out yesterday that he was here for the Breyer Fest and he is holding the record for the TALLEST HORSE IN THE WORLD!! Here I am beside him so that you can see for yourself how tall he really is! Apparently he is just over 19 hands!

I have also included a picture of Esmee and I in downtown Lexington being "tourists!"

All the best!

Monica and Stentano

A Peaceful Day at the Park

Hi Everyone!

Things over here have been fairly easygoing the past couple days. Every so often a few more horses arrive but the big comotion of moving in won't start until Monday. Stentano is thoroughly enjoying his time out in his paddock in the evenings when it begins to slowly cool down too!

We are all getting settled into the park and the horses are feeling more and more comfortable everyday. The weather has been extremely hot here... well into the mid to high 90's and when you are in the sun it is even hotter! The water lines near the barns get so hot during the day that we have been adding almost half a bag of ice to cool the water down enough so the horses aren't drinking warm water! Stentano is also very much enjoying his fans that go 24/7 in his stall! Everyone keeps commenting to me about how funny he is with his fans because he loves to put his nose up to the fan and let the wind blow onto his face!

Albrecht Heideman arrived last night so I was able to get a lesson from him today! He was very pleased to see how well Stentano was going! He pushed us a little further today but Stentano and I both handled the pressure well and Albrecht made sure that he didn't work us harder than necessary because at 10am it was already very hot! Tomorrow I have another lesson with him and then Karen arrives on Monday so I am very excited to see her!

Yesterday Sylvie and Lindsay arrived so my team is all here now (Sylvie, Esmee and I) so that is a good feeling! We are all feeling very optimistic and excited about this coming week!

There is also a Breyer Fest going on right now at the park (I'm not entirely sure what all goes down at this but all I know is that I keep seeing people with bags full of breyer horses that they just bought)... there are also several mini ponies, donkey's, mules, carriage horses etc. that are a part of this so I snapped a quick picture of a cute little team yesterday!

Second Email - Thursday

Hello All,

I have retreated indoors to send you an update on the past couple days because we are just about to have a thunderstorm... which means a down poor of rain is about to start!! The day we moved Stentano over to the horse park (Wednesday) we all woke up to a massive thunderstorm!! I can't quite describe to you how unreal these storms are except with the description that it sounds like the sky is cracking in half! The lightning seems to continuously be going when a storm like this rolls in and when the rain starts you don't want to be outside let me tell you!!

So on wednesday my mom and I made sure that everything was ready (stall bedded, fans up, waters filled etc.) before bringing him over to the horse park. I rode him at the barn before we brought him over and then he had from about 2pm onwards to get himself adjusted to the venue. Luckily, Megan Lane (she was the gold medal rider last year at Junior's and now is doing young rider's from Ontario) had arrived on Tuesday night with her mare so when we brought Stentano over he had a buddy a few stalls down. Esmee and Erika's horses were supposed to arrive Wednesday too so Stentano would have had more friends but the transporter's truck broke down and a part had to be ordered so that delayed them 24 hours so we are hoping they should arrive at least by 12pm tonight (Thursday). Sylvie (from the interior of BC) and Lindsay (from Alberta) are arriving tomorrow too!

Today Megan and I rode at the same time which was nice for Stentano to have a pretty lady to follow behind! He was trying to act tough but I know deep down inside he was rather terrified about making his way to the ring! He was super today and I began working on more lateral work and collection. I rode around 10 am this morning and it was already in the 90's! By the time we were finished we both were rather hot and sweaty!! We have also been lucky to rent out a grass paddock for Stentano before the competition gets started so he has a place to move around and roll... it is pretty hard to use it during the day because it is too hot so after the dinner hour he is enjoying spending a couple hours out there! Yesterday evening he had a huge blgium in the paddock near him - Stentano wasn't quite sure what to make of him! His nose is beginning to look better and is less swollen each day!

Other regions are beginning to show up in order to get themselves set up before their horses arrive and the Mexican jumping team got in yesterday... we are staying far away from them because they seem like trouble! We also started to get out BC and Canadian spirit going as we began setting up flags and decorating today! I will send pictures once we are all set up!

We are enjoying are stay at the campground which is a good 20 minute walk up and down some good hills to the stabling where the horses are! We finally gave in into renting a golf cart to drive back and forth between the campsite and the stabling because the walk was rather overwhelming (never mind making that trip 3 to 5 times in one day!) We enjoyed cooling off in the pool today with Esmee, her mom, Erika, and Megan! Yes, I know it sure sounds like we're roughing it!! ;)

Alright well I better say goodbye for now because we are off to dinner to some Chinese restaurant in Lexington city so that ought to be interesting!!

Monica and Stentano

First Email - Tuesday

Hello from Kentucky!

Well after 3 very long days of driving we made it to Lexington! I have to say I thought I wouldn't have much to write about to you all about our drive except for the report on how Stentano faired the drive. However I was wrong! We had quite the journey... where should I start... the part about almost running out of fuel, or the blown tire, or the stitches that are now in Stentano's nose! Yes, it certainly has been an eventful past few days!!

Our drive down took us around 60 hours!! We were on the road most of the time except for about 3-4 hours each night where pulled into a rest aread to catch some sleep and give Stentano a break. We inched our way across 11 states and the temperature averaged around 90 degrees F the whole time and didn't drop much overnight either! The last day it was especially hard to keep Stentano cool but we tried out best to keep him happy. He travelled excellent and each day we took him out twice at various rest areas in order to allow him to stretch his legs and have his box stall cleaned out.

Okay now to the drama of it all!! The first day of driving went smoothly and things were on a good roll. However when the second day rolled around we found ourselves on a stretch of freeway in Idaho that seemed to be gas station less for way too long! Long story short by the time a gas station finally appeared we were at 0 miles of fuel range left!! I don't know how we made it without running out of diesel but somehow we were okay!!

Now the scary part: All was goingwell on the third day until someone pulled up beside us on the freeway waving and yelling to us that we had a flat tire! We pulled over and checked it out and sure enough one of the trailer tires was not only flat, but completely blown!! Thank goodness the exit we pulled off on had a mechanic shop attached to one of the gas stations so they quickly fixed it up for us and explained that it blew because of the heat!!! That was a little overwhelming but we made it through!

I'm sure you are all wondering about the stitches... Stentano sliced the front of his nose on his bucket in the trailer just before we arrived to the farm where we are staying at before going to the horse park! Again, long story short, we had to have a vet come out the next morning to stitch it up for us because there was a flap of skin that looked like trouble. We got good news from the vet saying that it is only superficial but because of the way he sliced it, it needed stitches. So we have 10 days that we are supposed to have the stitches in for and our first class is exactly 10 days away from the day when the stitches were put in so we are good to go! He is on antibiotics for a couple of days too just to avoid any infections. He is doing well and right now it doesn't seem to be bothering him at all so I hope things keep heading in this direction!

Yesterday (Monday), was the first day I rode him since we arrived late Saturday night. On Sunday he was really tired and so I felt it was best to let him recover and to allow his nose a day to recover too. He felt very good on Monday considering the trip he had just endured! Today (Tuesday) when I rode him he felt even better! The biggest challenge is gradually getting him adjusted to the heat (and myself too!) so I am riding in the mornings right now before it gets too hot and then I will gradually move my rides to a bit later. In the morning's it is usually in the low 80's and by the time noon rolls around it's at least in the 90's (never mind the humidity too!!)

Esmee Ingham and her mom, along with Erika Urff fly in tonight and then their horses arrive tomorrow (Wednesday) so I am looking forward to seeing them all tonight! Tomorrow we will be moving Stentano over to the horse park so that will be nice to get him to the venue!

Alright well I better stop before I end up writing a novel! I hope all is well at home!

Monica and Stentano

The blog is finally up!

Hi Everyone!

Thank you all so much for your patience through my internet difficulties! I have finally been able to just get my blog set up! So for those of you who I did not have on my emailing list, I will post the emails that I have sent out over the past few days here for you to catch up on what has been happening since we left.