Friday, Dressage Day Two

Friday was a blur - a very busy day with lots of hazard walking between going to the dressage arena to watch our drivers compete. Suzy, Randy, Lisa and Laurie all did their dressage tests on Friday so we went to cheer them on.

Suzy and Josie photo by Marie de Ronde



Lisa photo by Marie de Ronde



Laurie photo by Marie de Ronde

I missed the course walk via hay wagon on Wednesday (my assigned time to work with coach Michael) and on Thursday as it was too close to my dressage time. The organizers said they would arrange a different time for anyone that needed it, so at 2 PM Fran and I met Christian Iseli, the Course Designer, for a personal spin around Section A and D. There were a few hills on A but it was a nice drive out in the country and well marked. The start was close to the stable area. When we got to the walk section, we could see white tapes everywhere stretched between trees. Christian explained that many team coaches and drivers walked the section (which stayed on a dirt/stone path) off the path cutting between the trees to save meters. He put the tape out so that anyone that went off the path had to go even further to make the next gate, a very successful way of keeping drivers on the intended route.

Section E was loops with exits to hazards, similar to the Laurels. Think super highway with entrance/exit ramps and you'll have the idea. While driving on the loops, other drivers would be out there, too. You had to pay attention so you took the correct lane into/out of each hazard. It was well marked but you had to know what you were doing. Fran spend some time out there with the other navigators, making sure there would be no issues on Saturday.


Christian praised the organizers at Lipica, saying how cooperative and helpful they had been. He was very pleased with the competition and was looking forward to watching the marathon on Saturday. It was fun to hear his thoughts on the course and hazard design.


I have no idea how many times we walked the hazards but I felt comfortable with the routes for my pony and we were looking forward to doing our best on Saturday. The only hazard that didn't seem up to the rest of the course was the Water Obstacle. It was a shallow concrete pond with big upright pillars fairly close together. During the week the water had been very shallow but on Friday they started to fill it and it was much deeper - not overly deep but with the tight turns it didn't look like it was going to be fun to drive.


Each day more and more decorations were added to the hazards so they looked quite nice by Friday. The course itself between hazards was roped off and mostly the spectators were on two sides and the competitors were out of the traffic areas. The obligatory beer tents were up (we need these in the US!).


It's not an easy job to mark hazards that are fair but challenging for singles, pairs and fours but I think Christian did a great job of it!


All our US drivers did a great job on Friday and Michael and Chester were happy. We were in third place as a team at the end of the day. In dressage Suzy was in fifth place, Randy in ninth, Jennifer in third, Wendy in twentieth, Laurie in twelfth and Lisa in seventh. I ended up in third place.


On Friday evening, guess what? Another party! The nightly parties didn't start until 8 PM, unlike our 6:30 PM parties in the states. We were treated to an enthusiastic Awards Ceremony, where we were awarded our ribbons by Miss Slovenia, a slender blonde in an evening gown, then, wearing our ribbons, we took a victory lap around the large tent with lots of clapping, yelling and cheering.


Suzy, Jennifer, Chester and Shelly

Once again the party went on into the night but we headed off to bed - we had an early morning and a big day coming!