Kaitlyn Hamilton's Diary in Germany

Friday – December 16, 2005 - We Made It!

We found out that there were shuttles going to and from the Festhalle - another brilliant idea from the show organizers. It was so convenient to be able to catch a shuttle every 15 minutes. One of the drivers even played Beatles music in the car - fun times!

That day Noah and I were scheduled to ride 5th, and I just knew it would be a better ride. He was much more in front of my leg and everything just fell into place. Unfortunately the judges didn't agree. We got a 62.7%. Although my test was accurate, international competition requires absolute precision and brilliance in order to be successful...I'll work on it :-). I wasn't disappointed because I was happy with my personal improvement from the day before. Plus we ended up 9th (and 9th in the world isn't too shabby. My sister also flew in that day and was there to see my ride so I had nothing to complain about.

After our class, all the riders were interviewed. The video clips of each interview would be displayed on the big screen before we entered for our musical freestyle. The interviewer asked me why I had a German trainer. I told her that it doesn't matter to me where my trainer is from, as long as he loves my horse and gets the best out of me. She also asked if I spoke any German. Nein! But I do still remember a few words from high school. "Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch...Eins, swei, drei...um de Ecke" I said (which means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...1, 2, 3...around the corner). She thought that was pretty funny.

In the shuttle ride back to the hotel, I met Jessica Werndl from Germany, and Helena from Sweden. They were both such sweet girls, and we were like 3 peas in a pod. All the young riders had to get dressed up again for a bus ride over to the Frankfurt City Hall to meet the mayor! He gave a short speech about the history of dressage in Frankfurt, and told us that he was so proud to have us all here. Ann-Kathrin and a representative of the major sponsor of the competition, Schenker told us a little bit about the process of putting the competition together and the helpful ideas they received from Eva Solomon and Mariette Withages. Personally, I think everything came together beautifully, and I'm so honored to be a part of it.