06/07/2019
Fredrik B. Seim - Quevara van de Vlierbeek Z
Winners Prix de Bilto 140 cm, Aino Nations Cup, Finland July 6th, 2019.
So here is what happened:
I drove to have a look at the Nations Cup in dressage and thought I'd get there in time to see one of the show jumping classes. I spent most of my time with my camera by the warmup, as it is, to me, usually more interesting than the actual rounds. I'm a photographer but I also train people to train horses, so everything about the sport interests me.
And among the horses I saw one so completely present, so alive, so alert and normal in every way, facial expression and movement. First a bit tense. And the rider let the horse have it's head and just rode like they were in their own back yard, and the horse gradually relaxed. Still everything a horse should be: responding to the environment.
It was a superbly well trained horse, too: stood still on a loose rein when asked to, responded to light aids, moving fluently and the rider completely "still" before, over and after the jumps. A joy to see.
I texted a friend in the audience before they got into the arena, saying "Based on the warmup I'm a fan of the chestnut horse's rider." And they jumped their round, clear and over seven seconds faster than number two. Poetic. See the round on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BzkqoZRg33G/
Riding well is not easy. Training a horse is difficult, too. It's truly a challenging sport and jumping even more so. But sometimes you see a horse and rider that have it nailed. Those two did, today.
And seeing a young rider on a fairly young horse do this so well gives me hope for the future of this sport. If you can compete at this level with the horse's spirit intact, it is doable. And as it's doable, it should be the norm.
