May 4, 2021: Good results against strong competition

I am back from Mannheim very satisfied with my two horses. For Denoix PCH it was the first international Grand Prix - and then directly in a considerable field... He did great and gave me a good feeling in the arena (even if he cantered in the first passage). And even though we came fifth with a score of 72.674 percent, I was initially a little hesitant about the scores. Then, watching a video, I realized that some things had felt better from up there in the saddle than they looked. Whereas others, such as the rein back and half-passes, I liked very much. But that's the way the sport is, and to finish within one and the same percentage point as rank 3 and 4 with a nine year-old is really no disgrace.

In the Spécial - also his first international - he performed really great. Strong walk, pirouettes and piaffes went particularly well and we finished third behind Isabell Werth and Bella Rose and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Zaire.

I had entered Beryll for the freestyle tour. In the Grand Prix he was a bit nervous and trotted once during the extended walk. Plus, we messed up the pirouette to the left - as both exercises score double, this was of course expensive. But we still finished fifth with 70.826 percent. The scores confirmed my good feeling!

In the freestyle, it was a bit of a revenge that I hadn't practiced it at home - so I was clearly behind the music in the canter. But Beryll was much more relaxed than two days before, so the walk was much better. Piaffe and passage were also very good, and if it hadn't been for the one score outlier down in the judges' panel, we probably would have ended up a little further ahead. But I am also very happy with this sixth place.

Now it's time for further training at home, because with Munich the next tournament is coming soon! Once again, many thanks to all the organizers who take a lot of extra effort to make all this possible.