Last Show of 2009

The first weekend in December, I competed in the last show of the year, which was the Dressage Holiday Special at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank California. All horses were great and this time it was Donatello (pictured right) who won his two classes. All of my horses are just where I want them right now and I'm trying to keep them happy and healthy, so we'll be ready for the 2010 show season. I am looking forward to 2010 with all the big shows and championships. I plan to ride two smaller shows in January before the first CDI in Indio in February. With so many big shows in 2010, I know I will be busy--but it will be a lot of fun!

Below is a photo of Finally at the Dressage Holiday Special:

Below are some recent photos of Mette on Finn

Birgitta Bergsten Visits Mette in November

International Dressage Judge and Mette's good friend, Birgitta Bergsten, came to Southern California for the third time this year to work with Mette. (Birgitta is pictured right with Mette and Finally.)

Birgitta feels that Mette and her horses are doing very well this year: " She has three very talented horses in Taison, Finn and Donatello and they have developed very nicely this year." Birgitta notices a big difference from the time before—as she has every time before—and feels all three horses will go on and up to higher classes. Taison is currently working his way up to Intermediare II and Finn is doing better in Prix St. Georges and is well on his way to Intermediare I. Donatello is working on Training Level 3, Test 3 and is working on his pirouettes for PSG. He already knows how to do a canter series with changes every three strides and often can do them every second stride.Birgitta is very pleased that Mette is moving along with these three horses, because she is such a good rider, this progress makes it more interesting for her and her horses. Birgitta expects Taison will be working at the Grand Prix level next year: he has become very steady, strong and powerful. Finn is a very elegant and Birgitta feels that he is the horse people will talk about as they see more and more of him at the shows.

Taison takes 6th place in the Developing Horse Championships!

After a 40 hour drive the horses came in a big air ride van to Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Illinois, which is just outside Chicago, for the finals (August 21-23). There were five horses on the van and they all had box stalls. They had hay and water and were not tied up, so they all rode very easy and safe. The horses arrived at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning and we were all there to meet them.

I had a double stall for Taison at the show and he was very happy to be safe on the ground when he arrived. I traveled with a great group of riders from California and we had so much fun. The time went by so fast, thanks to the super camaraderie, friendship and support of the group.
The show grounds at Lamplight are very nice! It has a wonderful layout, good footing and is green with lots of flowers and plants. I thought that the weather could be a big problem for my big black horse: hot and humid. But we were lucky. It was no problem at all--just very nice!
The jog for the vet was on Thursday and Taison passed with no problems. Excellent start! My first ride was on Saturday. The test that day was Prix St. Georges it counted 40% of the total score. Taison came in 4th and was very close to moving up, but this time the scores were not on my side. I was very happy with my ride and Taison felt great in the ring. He jigged a step or two in the extended walk and stuck in one of my walk pirouettes. Both mistakes were expensive, but that was almost the only thing we did wrong. So Good Boy!!

On Sunday, we rode the test of the Developing Horses. In my book that is not an easy test for any horse, but especially not for a big horse, big mover like Taison. They changed the test from last year and I think it will be changed again. Hopefully they will make it more "Developing" than it was this year! I was the last to go and I was so inspired to ride. We were so ready and I wanted it so bad. I think we rode a great test--just some small bobbles. We were close again to the riders in front, but it was just not enough. We ended up in 6th place and that was just fine. One more point and he would have been 5th. But that is how it is and I'm so proud of my lovely horse.

I am looking forward to the Fall and all the work to move him up to Grand Prix. I know he will try hard to do his best and so will I! I will keep you posted.

To my wonderful friends from the show who made it so much fun; to Marci who came all the way from Canada to help me out; to Anna who flew out for the fun weekend and who always makes everything perfect for me; and to my horses: THANKS!!!

All My Horses are Champions at the Pebble Beach Dressage Show!!

(See a videos of Mette riding Taison and Donatello at this Pebble Beach show on her YouTube page.)

The dressage show at Pebble Beach July 2nd to 5th could not have been better!! All four of my horses were great and all became Champions in their divisions. It is about a seven hour drive from Los Angeles, so it was a heavy load. We left the hot weather and came to the most perfect weather to show in. All my horses loved it and were very fresh.

Finally came along for the ride, just to see how he was going to travel,react to a new place, and so on, and to see how he was in the show ring. I decided to ride him in two Prix St. Georges classes. The first day he was a little insecure, but did a lot of good things. The second day he won and became champion in Prix St. Georges! Fun Fun!!

Taison qualified for the finals in August in the class for Developing Horses, with a score over 70% and he won Intermediare I with almost 74%, making him the Champion in Intermediare I. He was so good and really tried his best. He is such a good boy.

Donatello and Rockefeller both competed in the same Third level classes. When Donatello won, Rocky was second and vice versa. They were both always in the 70% range. Donatello became Champion in Third level and Rockefeller was Reserve Champion.

So overall, I'm so pleased with my horses and happy that all the hard work paid off. A big thanks to Birgitta Bergsten who drilled me from the judges point of view the week before the show. I really had a great time!

Below is a video of Mette Riding Taison in the Developing Horse test at Pebble Beach in early July

Birgitta Bergsten visits Mette for the Second time this Year

Birgitta Bergsten came from Sweden to work with Mette for the second time this year from June 23 – June 30. This was Birgitta’s first time working with Mette on Finn and she had many wonderful things to say about Finn. Birgitta feels that Finn is a very nice horse with lots of talent, good paces, long legs and a beautiful face and good looking overall; he is tall but light. Birgitta noted that Mette has always had good horses, but that she has always been more talented than her horses—now she has a horse the suits her well and has the same talent level. “This horse can really be something good with Mette. We are both very excited over the horse. It will be a lot of work, but he is willing and tries hard. This is the horse we have both dreamt about for a long time.”

Finally!!

After looking for a very long time, I have finally found another horse! I spent so MANY hours, took trips all over the world and sought the assistance of so many helpful people without success; I was almost ready to give up. I heard about this horse through my friend Stefan Wolf here in California, so it is thanks to him that I found my new horse, who I have appropriately named Finally! Finn, for short, is an 8-year-old Hanoverian gelding, born in Germany and sired by De Niro. I am very happy to have found him and I’m looking forward to the journey together with him. It will be great!

I want to thank everybody who worked so hard to help me find the horse I wanted. I really do appreciate everything that you all did for me and one day it will pay off. I also want to send a special thanks to Patrick Schutte in Holland who spent days with me over many visits. I would also like to thank Gert Jan van Olst.

So this is the reason why I have not competed very much this spring-- I have been traveling a lot to find a new horse. And now I am excited about my great string of horses and for our future together. My next show will be at Flintridge the last weekend in May. I will ride Taison in Intermediarre I and in the Developing horse class. This will be his second qualifier; I really hope he will do well, so we can go to the finals. I will also be taking Rockefeller and Donatello inThird Level and my student, Anna, will ride my beloved Basquewille in Prix St. Georges. I will be bringing a total of 11 horses to the show and I hope all will do well.

In April, I went to the Mane Event in Canada for three days. I gave a lecture and taught different levels of riders in a clinic. It was more for the audience than the riders, but it all turned out more than great. There were tons of people at each session and the Canadians were super eager to learn and very interested. The riders did a great job of showing what dressage is all about. I just feel sorry I could not help them more with their own riding. Hopefully I will have a chance to go back and give more to the riders. For all of you who rode: You all did a great job!

Thanks!

Rockefeller wins with 72%

This time it was Rockefeller who won and was my highest scoring horse at the 2009 Flintridge Dressage Show, May 22-24. In second place was Donatello with 70%; he put in a great test as well. They both went Third Level and I was very proud of them.

Taison was great in Intermediare I, but was a little bit tired in the Developing Class. We warmed up too long in the very warm weather, so he did not feel as good as he did in San Diego. He is still very powerful and obedient, but to win you have to be spectacular.

Basquewille, with Anna Dahlberg, was happy to be showing again. He was so good and Anna did a great job. It was run for both of them.
All of the horses and students who went to the show did great and we all had a good time.

The next time out will be in Pebble Beach the first week of July. Maybe I will bring Finally??

Before that Debbie Mc Donald will be back and help me and I also will have Birgitta Bergsten from Sweden fly out to L.A. again this year to drill me from the judge’s point of view. Both of them are so good and very helpful to me. I'm very appreciative that they take their time to help me. I love it!

Keep up all the hard work and good luck.

-Mette

Taison scored 72% in Intermediare 1 at the first show in 2009!

Mette took Taison and Rockefeller to the CDI show in San Diego the weekend of March 13-15. The Dressage Affaire is always a fun show: well organized with many good horses and riders. Rockefeller went 3rd level and was in the mid sixties. He is coming along very well and Mette was very pleased with him. Taison did great in Prix St. Georges and the Developing Horse test, but the highlight was Intermediare 1. He got over 72% and put in an super good test! Taison is continually improving. Mette is very excited about all her three horses. This will be a great year!

Mette works with Birgitta Bergsten

Message from Mette: My friend and international judge, Birgitta Bergsten from Sweden, came once again as so many other years before. This year the weather was on my side and we got a lot done during the week Birgitta was here. Birgitta’s way of seeing how the movements are performed is clean, classical and correct. So for me as a rider, I just had to try to execute each movement the way it is supposed to be done. There are no shortcuts, I just have to ride correctly.

It doesn’t matter how much we all try at home--if we don’t do it in the way it’s supposed to be done, then we won't be competitive in the ring. So for me, it is extremely important to break down each test on each horse and at the end of the week, put it together. For me the riding is like pieces of a puzzle—you need to work on the basics: movements, test riding, putting the test together and having your horse fit, healthy and enjoying his work by not going into the ring every day. So you really have to set up a short term goal and a long term goal and hope at the end that all the pieces will come together and you get a perfect picture. Thank you so much Birgitta for taking your time to come and help me once again--I really appreciate all your help!

P.S. You can see Mette riding the new Developing Horse test for the first time on Taison with Birgitta's help on her YouTube channel!

Greetings from Mette

The 2009 Show season has already started. My goal for this year is to qualify both Taison and Rockefeller in the National Developing Horse Dressage Championship, which will be held at Lamplight Dressage in Wayne, Illinois in August. I will also show Taison in Prix St. Georges and Intermediare I and if all goes well, he will qualify for the USET Festival of Champions in Gladstone, New Jersey in June.

Donatello is now going in Third Level and I will also be showing clients horses this year. I am still searching intensively for a replacement for Basquewille and I’m getting closer but it has been a long road because I’m not lookin for A horse, I’m looking the THE horse.

I’m very happy to report the Debbie McDonald will be coming back to work with me; I have missed her tremendously. In addition, I’m thankful the Birgitta Bergsten from Sweden will return to work with me for a week to drill me from the judge’s perspective.

This year is filled with lots of clinics and shows and I hope that all of my students and I will have a successful year.

Happy New Year from Mette!

Dear All of You,

2008 was a great year for my business and my horses. Business is booming, and I have more clients and horses that I can take on. It's a lot of fun,and I enjoy every minute of it!
On a sad note, I did retire Basquewille from the show ring. The decision was easy to make, but hard for me personally. I miss him terribly and I have been putting much effort in to finding a new super horse to replace him. These are big shoes to fill. It's very time consuming and tiring, but I hope all my travels and searching will pay off in the end.

My young horses are growing up. Taison, for example qualified for the finals in Kentucky, but I decided not to go this year. In his debut last weekend in Intermediaire I, he came in second behind my ride on a client's horse. He did a great job and I was very proud of him!
I have done many clinics, both in the U.S. and out of the country. It's always nice to see new riders that work hard to reach their goals. There are so many good riders out there, but we all have to work hard to get better. That's the fun part of the journey.

So to all of you out there. Keep it up!! And don't forget to Be Thankful for what you have. Happy New Year and all the best of everything in 2009.

-Mette