2000
North American Young Riders' Championships
Parker, Colorado, USA
2nd - 6th August 2000
Astrid Daily: August 1st
Woke
up round 6 AM local time and read my book (yes mom,
I'm reading the Kristien Hemmerechts). Went to Mary's
room by 8 AM but she still had to cover much ground
on her computer so I was a bit bored then as I had nothing
to do. We left for the show grounds at 10 AM. Today
would be the jog for the jumpers and dressage riders.
Vet inspections are always very nerve-wracking for rider
and horse. In the morning I decorated the golf cart
and it looks fabulous. The cart is a bit frivolic now
and it's dressed up like the dancers at the Moulin Rouge
in Paris. In the back I put the dressagedaily/horsesdaily.com
banner. Pity that I didn't have anything with Junior
Riders or Eurodressage on. I gave the cart a personal
touch by taping my initials on it with Duck Tape.
Round
1 PM the jog started for the jumpers. I had to write
down the order of go with the name of the rider, the
horse's head number and the frames Mary took on each
rider. The job seemed pretty useless to me but Mary
says it's so easy for her afterwards to sort out all
the photos. Several horses which were uneven, had to
be re-inspected but still passed the vet check. With
the dressage horses it was different. The horse Catalina
got rejected. For me David Marcus was the hero of the
day because the way he dealt with such a set back (start
figuring the time and money you put in qualifying and
getting to the NAYRC) was amazing. Marcus kept cool
but I'm sure, inside, his heart broke. Another hero
was Beryl Swanson whose horse was held for re-inspection.
Her 14 year old chestnut was a bit sore behind but she
kept him running from the grass field behind the judges
(in 100° Fahrenheit weather) immediately into the
re-inspection in front of the judges so that her Mester
was even behind again. They passed and were the second
heroes of the day. Beryl almost collapsed after all
that running but she was supported by friends and was
still able to do a special photo shoot line up with
her Region 6 team mates (Ryan Hites, Jennifer Schrader
and Shaun McLaghlan).
I detected a great difference in the way the dressage
riders and the show jumpers presented their horses.
Just like two years ago the jumpers seem that they never
even have run a horse; they just run in front of it
and pull it forward by the bit, which simply doesn't
work. And braiding, what's that? The dressage riders,
well, that's a difference. Everything is neat and tidy
like it should be, but wait until I discuss the quality
presentations of the eventers tomorrow.
Roxanne Christensen finally stopped by, like promised,
with a bucket full of Kendall Jackson, Corona and chips
and dips. That's the way to go! Had a fun conversation
about the latest tidbits in the American dressage world
and beyond. The welcome party was in the evening but
before that I settled myself in the warm up arena with
my computer so that I could write the Arnhem article
for the Oldenburg Sportpferd magazine. I promised to
do it for my best friend Jan Toenjes and with a view
on the dressage young riders life just couldn't be any
better. Changed clothes in the camper and went to the
welcome party. We ate some salad with noodles, roast
beef and chicken and I had a nice Pina Colada. Drove
to the hotel round 9 PM because we had to be fresh and
ready for the first day of competition, which starts
off with show jumping.
Woke
up round 6 AM local time and read my book (yes mom,
I'm reading the Kristien Hemmerechts). Went to Mary's
room by 8 AM but she still had to cover much ground
on her computer so I was a bit bored then as I had nothing
to do. We left for the show grounds at 10 AM. Today
would be the jog for the jumpers and dressage riders.
Vet inspections are always very nerve-wracking for rider
and horse. In the morning I decorated the golf cart
and it looks fabulous. The cart is a bit frivolic now
and it's dressed up like the dancers at the Moulin Rouge
in Paris. In the back I put the dressagedaily/horsesdaily.com
banner. Pity that I didn't have anything with Junior
Riders or Eurodressage on. I gave the cart a personal
touch by taping my initials on it with Duck Tape.
Round
1 PM the jog started for the jumpers. I had to write
down the order of go with the name of the rider, the
horse's head number and the frames Mary took on each
rider. The job seemed pretty useless to me but Mary
says it's so easy for her afterwards to sort out all
the photos. Several horses which were uneven, had to
be re-inspected but still passed the vet check. With
the dressage horses it was different. The horse Catalina
got rejected. For me David Marcus was the hero of the
day because the way he dealt with such a set back (start
figuring the time and money you put in qualifying and
getting to the NAYRC) was amazing. Marcus kept cool
but I'm sure, inside, his heart broke. Another hero
was Beryl Swanson whose horse was held for re-inspection.
Her 14 year old chestnut was a bit sore behind but she
kept him running from the grass field behind the judges
(in 100° Fahrenheit weather) immediately into the
re-inspection in front of the judges so that her Mester
was even behind again. They passed and were the second
heroes of the day. Beryl almost collapsed after all
that running but she was supported by friends and was
still able to do a special photo shoot line up with
her Region 6 team mates (Ryan Hites, Jennifer Schrader
and Shaun McLaghlan).
