Team USA
won the Nations Cup and it was a really cool experience since it was my first US
team! Rosa was a little tense – she’s a
different ride at this level, and it’s a different ballgame with so much
collection in the small tour tests. Still, she was good enough to contribute to
the team effort; with Adrienne Lyle winning the special and Tina Konyot third
today we were fortunate to be on a very strong team.
I got so much help from Debbie and Robert and having them as
coaches is awesome, they are very positive and supportive and make you feel
comfortable in a team situation. It was so exciting to be on the podium – it
felt like a big deal, and I hope the first of many similar experiences! I can’t
thank the syndicate enough for helping Rosa
and I make it to the big leagues. It’s so exciting that I’ve had her for her
whole life and she did so well under so much pressure.
We still have work to do and I’m always hard on myself, but
for her age and her experience level Rosa
couldn’t have done better. I talked do Debbie for a long time after today’s
test and because I have so much quality and cadence and expression in the trot
it’s hard for her to hold it; in the canter she got a little tense and even
though the quality was better, sometimes in the corners we had a little mistake
where she switched behind once or twice.
She still is very young and we are on the right path. I feel
like I understand it and Rosa understands it,
it’s just a matter of putting it all together in a competition ring. It’s a big
venue and the international ring was filled with people in the VIP tent and it
was windy and the flags were going but that didn’t bother her. She’s very
focused; I think she gets tense from the pressure of the work, but she’s very
brave and never spooks at anything. I never have to worry about the environment
which is really nice, that gives me a lot of confidence.
It was so cool being on a team -- and it was a really great
team! It was really nice to meet Adrienne Lyle, she’s a great girl and rode
beautifully, and Tina has been on so many teams and has a lot of experience.
Shawna has been out of competing for a while but she’s excited to be back and
everyone was supporting each other 100%. Usually we are just competing for
ourselves and it was fun to have everyone cheering each other on and supporting
each other. I really enjoyed it.
Rosa has a Freestyle
tomorrow because the top 50% from today have to do the freestyle ,
which is exciting, but she’s pretty tired. There will be a lot of people and I
think it will be fun but I hope she sleeps in a bit tomorrow morning! Some of the
syndicate members are coming tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing them.
We don’t have that many weeks left here and I want to get as much help from Debbie
at home and at the shows as I can here, so I’m going to shoot for next week as
well, when I'll compete Rosa at the Palm Beach Derby, also in the small tour.
PHOTOS:
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