Robin Brueckmann's Road to Belgium

Monday, September 25, 2006 - Misty Morning

We all went down to breakfast at seven. Barb, Bob, Becca and I went with Laura to the barn, and Denise went to Brussels to pick up Missy and Barb's mother, Nora. Hope Hand was also coming in on the same plane as Missy, but she had to stay in Brussels for an IPEC meeting. She was now on the international board.

It was a dreary, chilly day, with a light mist. We got the horses taken care of and turned them out for a few hours, until the mist got stronger. We were not going to ride until Missy arrived, so we really had all morning to just hang out.

The Brazilians were here in force. They had brought three horses, and what appeared to be six riders. There were enough staff that we could not count them. They were all wearing uniforms, and their horses were wearing identical green logo saddle pads.

They had an Andalusian stallion. The trainer rode this horse; he was not being cooperative. She rode him for a long time, and I wondered what disabled rider was going to get on this wild thing. I never saw a competitor on the horse, although I did not watch the entire ride. The Brazilian team was the only other group here today. They had the small indoor to themselves this morning. We all wondered when the other countries were coming; there were over a hundred riders entered for our competition. Denise returned around 12:30. She had called, to tell us that Missy wanted me to ride first, followed by Becca and then Barb. I got Rocky ready, and took him into the small indoor. The Brazilians were long gone by now, so we had the facility to ourselves.

Missy joined us. I thought that Rocky was going well, and Missy mostly agreed. I did all our trot work. Missy wanted it snappier, more active. She noticed that he was not as expressive in the medium trot with his left front as his right, and I tried several things to get him to even out. I presented the walk pirouettes. Rocky wanted to step out in the turn to the right, and I had to ride it very carefully. When I got that under control, I went on with our canter work.

Again, Missy wanted it more active. She had competed at Poplar Place horse trials yesterday, and she wanted that event-horse canter. I did my best; my jumper-bred horse obliged. Rocky normally tried hard to dump into my hands, and today it was only a little bit.

I ended with some center lines. Rocky stopped absolutely square and perfectly still. Missy seemed pleased. She said that tomorrow we would add more pizzazz, and then we would be ready to compete.

Becca had a good ride, too. I did not watch it, as Laura and I were taking care of Rocky. I did get to see about half of Barb's ride. She was working on transitions. I had not seen Mibis go very much, not at all before this trip. She was a lovely chestnut Dutch mare, and she was a good match for Barb.

After Barb's ride, most of us were ready to clean up and head to the hotel. Missy and Nora were bushed. It was quite chilly now, with a determined mist. Becca, Denise, and Laura stayed to feed the horses and get them settled down for the night. The rest of the group would go out to dinner later; I would turn into a pumpkin and go to bed.

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