Succeses in Compiegne!!

Yesterday evening Joyce and Marcel have come back after a trip to Compiegne (France) where Joyce has successfully competed two small tour horses, Showboy and Authentic.

On Thursday the vet check was on the program and on Friday the first tests. Joyce tells: 'On Wednesday evening we arrived in Compiegne. The showground was huge and there was a racetrack as well. The horses were stabled in the stalls of this racetrack. The stalls were nice and roomy. It was too bad the stalls had no window so that the horses could stick their nose out. Authentic didn't mind but Showboy wasn't quit at all and didn't want to eat any more. There were more horses which didn't quite like theirs stalls and there were some accidents with horses in the stalls. For some it didn't look too good.. During the evening Showboy had calmed down but still he didn't want to eat. 
The next morning we trained both horses in the morning and in the afternoon they passed the vet check.
On Friday the first test, the Prix St. Georges, was on the program. First, it was up to Authentic. During the warming up she felt great. The test went well but we had a mistake in the tempi changes every fourth stride. Our score was 68,7% and we finished third in Authentic's international début!
Then it was Showboy's turn. He still did not want to eat whatever we tried. He really was unhappy and I felt so sorry for him. The beginning of the test was okay but of course being restless costs energy so at the end of the test we had not enough energy anymore. We got a mistake in a pirouette and the last halt wasn't so good. He didn't want to stand still and I corrected him so this costs a lot of points of course. 68,6% was our score and we finished fourth.
On Saturday the Intermediare 1 was on the program. Authentic never ever did this test! Again I was the first to enter the ring and she did her utmost best! Of course there were some things to improve but I couldn't have dreamed of a better debut!! A score of 69,9% resulted in the third prize! 
Although Showboy still had not been eating we decided to show him in the Intermediare 1. We did a short warming up. We had some mistakes but I can't blame Showie! Still we had 68%. 

The best 15 riders of the Intermediare 1 qualified for the freestyle on Sunday. I thought I better compete Showboy as Authentic is really green and just did her first Inter I but we decided not to show Showboy anymore. So we had a nice challenge with Authentic, ha ha!

Again Authentic did a super job! She is such a great mare! I made a few stupid mistakes myself. The score was over 69% and we finished sixth!! 

Yesterday evening we arrived back home and the horses are in their own stalls again. We can look back at a nice weekend and a successful show with two top horses!

At home Showboy immediately started to eat and today (Monday) I hacked both horses as they deserved it!! 

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