May 9, 2016: Good performances at Hamburg

Certainly best weather possible for a day out - but we would have gone to Hamburg in any case! Mefisto and Ganda were on board, plus Imperio for some training. And then... Mefisto won the first qualifier, which would have meant taking part in the Dressage Derby. But I really did not want him to work so hard after the long time off the rectangle he's finished only now. I kindly asked the show organizers for acceptance, and they were very welcoming. Mefisto  said "thank you" in his own way, winning the Kür with a score of 77 per cent.

Already during warm-up for the Spécial, Ganda seemed a bit tired, I had to push her more than usual. Maybe due to the summer-like temperatures...? It went on like this during the test - and and I was shocked to see that after our performance, she had a tiny sore spot! So we were disqualified, which was absolutely correct. The FEI-Vet would have agreed into showing her in the Derby. But first, I deemed this to be rather unfair towards the horse, plus I would not have wanted any of my fellow riders to finish a performance with a sore horse. So no further competition for us.

Both horses performed very well, which is the most important factor. Although he went to Hamburg for training only, Imperio too made me happy. He is going to compete at Wiesbaden next weekend, in direct comparison with other Olympic prospects. I am still hoping to be nominated, and Imperio will certainly perform well.