Day 2: 1 August 2000
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 Arnheim 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.