Today Lana and I watched the best Grand Prix combinations in the nation compete for a spot on this year's Olympic team. It was inspiring, to say the least! Each combination absolutely deserved to be there. Steffen expertly guided his newest ride Legolas through a beautiful test and was far and away the winner with 76 percent. The piaffe/passage tour on that horse is unbelievable and I'm sure easily earns him 8s and 9s. Tina Konyot had a beautiful ride as well on her stallion Calecto to slot in 2nd with 72.7. The next 4 riders were all incredibly close, all within 1 percent. It is going to be a very close fight for the 2nd and 3rd spots on the Olympic team! It was nice to see some of the riders make mistakes, not because I wish them ill, but because it helps me see that even at the best riders in the country are human too! Even at the highest level it is still a sport and everyone still has something to work on and improve.
I rode Monk after the GP, he was super. I think we got some inspiration from the GP class! Today I worked him a bit harder, predominantly on getting more activity and expression in the trot. I also worked some on the half pirouettes from the PSG, which are harder for me than the full pirouettes in the I-1. I find riding them out of half-pass helps to keep the bend, but eventually I have to ride them off of a straight line.
It looks like pretty much everyone is warming up in the indoor, then moving to the main arena. Monkey and I haven't been in either of those arenas yet, that will be next week's project.
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