We rose early and headed to the barn to feed Cooper and check him over. All the US horses were jogged in hand in front of Michael, Chester and Lisa, the team vet. All looked good. You can't be too careful at this point. Anyone who did not pass the vet check before cones would be eliminated and their scores would not count for the team score. Sometimes the ponies get stiff standing in their stalls overnight and it just takes some walking to get them loosened up.
We groomed Cooper and I braided him. Braiding is so calming and soothing to me, I find it very relaxing. It helps to clear my head and get me focused.
We got ready in our driving clothes and headed down to the arena to have our first look at the cones course. At 8 AM we were all allowed in to walk. The course was long with some twisty turns and some cones at odd angles. The footing was going to be the issue. It would be hard to go fast enough to make the time and at the same time avoid having the carriage slide into the cones.
Fran has been riding with me in cones to give more weight to the back of the carriage, the hope was to prevent fishtailing, or at least lessen it. Michael gave us our split times. The length of the course had been calculated and we had four split times to make. This meant that at specific cones I was to look at the clock and decide if I was on time, too fast or too slow, and adjust accordingly. We had been practicing this at all the shows so we were ready. It's not smart to go too fast - risking balls down, or too slow, causing time penalties. The plan was to use all the time available but not a second more.
We got Cooper ready and headed down to the open grass warmup. We had constant contact with Michael and Chester, and found that the cones runs were going faster than planned, so we had to scurry up to the first warmup ring.
Warmup was uneventful. Lisa viewed us all with a watchful eye. We started in the first warmup arena, then when we were on deck, moved to the small dressage ring just outside. Randy went just before us and had a clear round with just a few time penalties. That took the pressure off us for the team score, so I decided to go for it and give it our best shot. We entered the ring and saluted, then waited for the bell, then we were off!
Cooper was excellent throughout the course. He went exactly where I asked at the speed I asked. Between cones four and five, I felt the carriage slide, then it was on two wheels! Quite surprised, I backed off for a second, then back up to speed. We slid into one cone, and then the dreaded number 19 (a tight turn out of a corner) loomed. I drove the line I wanted but the carriage slid there as well and I was one of the many who took 19 out. I should have slowed down a bit. On to the finish, we were 3 seconds over. Although I wasn't happy about the cones down, I couldn't help but be very happy with Cooper. He was feeling good and did what I asked. Such a good pony!!
We got Cooper cooled out and settled in his stall, then headed up to the ring to watch Suzy, one of the last singles to go. She drove an aggressive round, to move up to fourth in the standings. We watched the rest of the class, where first placed Dennis Schneiders had several balls to move him down and Suzy up to third!! Very exciting!!
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| Chester and Michael watching cones |
We watched as much of the rest of the cones between checking on Cooper and saw some great cones driving, as well as some tough runs. There was a lot of sliding throughout the day in all the classes, which made for lots of movement in the standings. Jennifer had a tough round, Wendy did better and so her score was used. Our team was in good position, now it was up to the fours to bring it home. Laurie had some problems, but Lisa Stroud had a super round to secure the bronze medal for the US.
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| Some of the many awards at Lipica photo by Bettina Ruckelhaus |
Now it was a rush to get all the ponies ready for the awards ceremony. We quickly got Cooper ready (I had taken his braids out so quickly rebraided him with red,white and blue yarn provided by Suzy) and went to our place in line along with the other individual and team medal winners. In no time we were entering under the arch into the area and lining up in our spot.
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| Victory lap |
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| Jennifer with Chester |
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| Suzy |
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| Randy |
We watched proudly as Suzy was awarded her medal, and applauded all the individual medal winners. Soon it was our turn to leave our carriages and mount the podium. Dottie rode along with me and took the reins when I stepped down and made my way to the third step.
The American flag was raised as we watched. Miss Slovenia came out along with Richard Nicoll from the FEI and other officials to give us flowers and our medals. One of the German team members fell off the top step as he struggled to see Miss Slovenia :). The announcer mentioned that our team was all female, the German team all men, and the Dutch team had both men and women. There was lots of waving, clapping and laughing and photo taking, then back to our carriages for the victory lap.  |
| Dottie, Shelly and Fran |
Wow, it was finally over! Many months (really years) of preparation and training, of drivers and of horses, countless shows and trips, the help of many friends, family, students and sponsors had brought us to this point. The US team had not been a favorite for a medal. We had done our best and stayed tough as a team and brought home the bronze. Suzy had given her all and brought home the individual bronze. We did it!!!
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| Team Vet Lisa Casinella riding with Wendy |
It wasn't quite over, though! Lots of packing now as the horses were leaving in the morning for Michael's, where they would get a rest until flying out on Thursday. We got everything ready and took the rest of the afternoon to load the trucks and trailers with all our equipment. Finally time to get some dinner and relax. There was a team dinner at the hotel restaurant where we had a chance to chill and have a glass of wine.
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| LIsa and Koos |
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| Jacob |
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| Michael and Sonja finally have time to relax |
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| The Captain and his crew :) |
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| The Team Medal Winners |
No problem falling to sleep Sunday night, we slept like babies :). Up early once more to load the ponies on the trailer. Our plan was for Jacob to ride back to Michael's along with Taz (Jennifer's groom) and Andy(Wendy's groom), while we headed off for a few days of R & R with Lynn and Jeff. Jacob got plenty of international experience throughout the show, and the clean up and pack up was all part of it. Once at Michael's, all the equipment had to be unloaded and cleaned, all carriages had to be pressure washed. Everything would be inspected when it arrived in the US and if it wasn't clean, the USDA would not let it in without being cleaned by their personnel and billed to the owner. Thanks, Jacob!!
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| Fran and I say goodbye to Lipica |
Jacob traveled along with Cooper and Josie to NY, where they were unloaded and whisked off to USDA quarantine station in Newburgh, NY. They would spend the next few days there until the results from their blood tests came back and they were cleared to leave. We had a load of Aiken ponies ride together, with Wendy's, Jennifer's and mine bonding further as they made their way home.
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| Bettina |
