Those were some amazing days in Peelbergen! Maurice and I were there with eight horses, rode a total of 20 classes, and had some truly fantastic rounds.
I’ve picked out my four favorite jumping classes: two of mine and two of Maurice’s.
Don Diarado on Friday in the Grand Prix – out of more than 80 starters, 13 made it to the jump-off, and only six pairs went clear in both rounds. Maurice and Don Diarado were simply on fire and finished fifth in an incredibly confident manner.
Chacco’s Son on Saturday – Chacco’s Son was competing in a 1.45-meter class for the first time in over a year. That was, of course, something special. It was fantastic to see how relaxed and careful he was as he moved through the course. The jump-off was really fast, but Chacco’s Son pulled through brilliantly again and finished sixth. Hats off to him!
My own riding starts with Light Star in the Grand Prix – this horse is in fantastic form. He was super careful and absolutely confident again. I never once felt like we were going to make a mistake. Seventeen clear rounds made it to the jump-off, and there were some really fast pairs among them. Light Star might not be the fastest, but he really put the pedal to the metal and held his own brilliantly in seventh place. He’d already ridden a fantastic clear round in the Grand Prix on Thursday. Absolutely brilliant! And all this despite the fact that I couldn’t support him quite as well as I could. I’d cut myself a few days before Peelbergen, in the groove between my thumb and forefinger. Very unpleasant! And it’s healing incredibly slowly. Since then, I’ve had to bandage my thumb and forefinger while riding, leaving only my other three fingers free for the reins. It’s definitely unusual, but Light Star makes it incredibly easy for me and is incredibly responsive.
I was also very proud of Light Star’s half-brother, Like About You. He competed three times in the Youngster Tour, placing each time, and in the final, which was really tough on the large grass arena, he showed two clear, relaxed, superb rounds. He definitely intends to follow in Light Star’s footsteps someday.
Actually, I absolutely must mention Dia Light as well. The seven-year-old daughter of Don Diarado was competing internationally for the first time. She was quite nervous at the beginning: a new stable, lots of arenas and horses, the whole tournament routine… Everything was completely unfamiliar to her, but she learned an incredible amount. The horses jumped sometimes on grass and sometimes on sand, which also had a great learning effect. By the end of the days in Peelbergen, Dia Light was much more confident and had placed.
I’ve long since surpassed my initial four favorite jumping classes, but we simply enjoyed all the wonderful rounds 🙂
Tournaments like Peelbergen are worth their weight in gold, and when things go as well as they have for us these days – fantastic!
