Clinic with Mette in the Detroit Area this weekend

Mette will be giving a clinic in Fenton, Michigan, August 27 - 29 at Equistride International. Visit the website for complete details.

Return from Gladstone

(View the photo gallery of Mette's return flight home from Gladstone on her Facebook page)

I think you all know by now that I got home safely with my horses Taison and Finally. I rode with them in the trailer from Gladstone to the airport. They make a ramp from the trailer to the crate so the horses just went from one stall in the trailer to a nother stall in the shipping crate. Our tack was in a different container and each crate or container has to be weighed.

Only my horses were in "my" crate, so with two horses in a crate for three, they got 1.5 spaces each. It is way too small for big horses like mine to go in a crate with 3 horses!

The crate is lifted up to the body of the airplane, and this time it was a cargo plane, so there were a lot of containers in the plane. There are no stewards, or any service, so there are just a couple of seats for those of us who flew the horses.

Back in L.A., Heather came to pick my horses up for the last leg back home to Mill Creek--and I tell you, we were all happy to be home!

So the Gladstone story is now over for this time and I'm glad that I was part of it! Finally has now shown that he can travel and still eat and drink and that he can take the stress of a big competition, so from now on I'm really looking forward to future shows!

Taison normally just does a great job, but the heat and humidity were hard on a big black horse--he just needed some extra spark from him for a higher placing. But what can you do???

Thanks for all your support!

Keep in touch,

~Mette

Virus on Computer!

If you all wonder where I went, I just have to let you know that I got a virus on Friday evening and my computer was shut down! Bad timing!!

I was pleased with my horses on Friday, but they were better on Saturday in the Intermediare I. In that test, I had a mistake that took the scores down on both horses, so it was hard to climb up after that. I had no mistakes on Friday, on Saturday, I had a better go, but with mistakes. When Sunday, came I rode the best. Both horses climbed up the list, but for the overall, the freestyle didn't count as much as the first day.

For the freestyle, I had two fun rides to music I like and fits the horses. I know that some of you did see it on the computer.  That is so cool!

Thanks for all the nice comments and all your lovely notes, calls and emails. I'm so fortunate to have you all out there to support me. I'm so grateful your are cheering me on. I tell you...it's a tough group!! So you better ride and give all you have!!

Taison is such a hard worker. The heat was hard on this lovely big black horse. By the time he was in the ring ready to show, he had to go on willpower. He is the best when the weather is cool, so Gladstone is not the place to be!! It  was so hot and humid that we had to cool the horses down every ten minutes with water and ice. He just does his job and is always trying to do it without complaint!

Finally was such a good boy all three days. Friday I rode safe, no mistakes, but that was not enough. I had great rideability and felt very good about my ride. Sad that the judges didn't feel the same!!!!

Saturday, I rode stronger, but my two mistakes took me down in scores. For me that didn't matter, because he was so relaxed and had no problem with anything that could have distracted him. Three months ago he would have thought the ring was very scary, so that is a great move forward. Sunday in my freestyle, he got a good score, worked beautifully and I was very pleased with my placing.

So over all the trip was fun and it was nice to compete in the group of the top riders in the U.S. There are a lot of nice horses and good riders and I'm glad that I am one of them.

Monday, 8/9:

The trailer picked us up in the morning and it actually felt good to be on the way home. I rode with my horses and traveled with them all the way. Taison and Finally were in one crate and they traveled very well. It's a long day and I am always concerned that the flight and all the commotion at the airport will stress the horses. But all went well and I was happy to be back at the barn, and so wer the horses.

For now my horses will have a break from traveling and training and I'm sure they will love to just be home.

I will keep you all posted what's next on my list, but for now I'm thankful to just be home and back to work.

All the best,

 

Mette

Show photos from Gladstone

 

Good luck Mette!!

Back home at Mill Creek, Sara and Shauna with Basquewille wishing Mette and her horses good luck at the finals in Gladstone!

Show time!

Today was first day of showing. The show grounds now look really nice with beautiful settings and everyone is working really hard to make it perfect for these National Finals. The weather in Gladstone has been really hot and humid, but today we luckily got some breeze, even though it was still really hot.

The Prix St Georges was the only class of the day and Taison and I were first to go. The competition consists of the 16 best horses in the country. It's an honor to part of this elite group. Taison had a great test and I was pleased with him. I was back in the show ring with Finally later in the class. This was Finally's first really big show and he was on his best behavior. I felt that I owned the test in the ring and it was really fun to ride him. I am very proud of both my horses and I have two more days of competition to look forward to.

If you want to follow the results online go to http://www.usef.org/.

Thank you all for the good luck wishes !

Mette

Time for the jog

Today was another beautiful day in Gladstone! My horses are feeling really good and I'm so excited to get in to the show ring tomorrow. But before the show really gets started it;s time for the vet jog. For the inspection, you want your horses to look their best. You want them to be shiny and braided and to put their best foot forward. So we spent hours getting them ready and they looked absolutely stunning. Both Finally and Taison passed.

After the jog the order of go is drawn and for us who are lucky enough to have two horses in the same class, they make sure there is enough time for preparation between the horses.

Today my dear friends and family flew in from Sweden, US and Canada to be here and cheer me on. Im so appreciative of all the support from all of you!

I will promise to do my absolute best tomorrow!

Another day at Gladstone

We are counting down the days and we are getting closer to show time! Finally is going really well and I'm very excited to soon enter the show ring. The weather is still great but it's very humid, so both my horse and I are getting very hot. I wish I could ride with the fan that I have in his stall to keep me cool and make the bad, bad flies, big as a Boeing 747, go away.

Everything here starts to look like a beautiful show ground. People are working very hard to make everything perfect for the coming weekend. Its fun to see the difference before and after. On Thursday, we have the jog and I will start to compete on Friday.

Now when Taison is here and by tomorrow my lost tack trunk will arrive, all is complete. I'm so happy to have both my horses in the Finals and Im very proud of them!

On Thursday my siblings from Sweden will be here and I also have some friends from America who are flying in to cheer me on. I'm very moved by all the good luck wishes I have gotten from friends and people that know me. I will take that with me and I know it will make me ride even better.

There have been a lot of twist and turns to make everything work but I'm glad that I can finally focus on why I came.

Mette

Update from Gladstone

Another great day in Gladstone!

Finally is doing really well in his work and he is taking the commotion of setting up the arena, the bleaches and the VIP tent, great. He is really enjoying to be out grassing and so far the weather has been good.

Big news for today: Taison is on his way and will arrive in Gladstone tomorrow afternoon. It's fantastic that Mette has two horses in the National Finals!! Its a BIG country!

Every day more and more horses are arriving to the show grounds. The riders and horses that are based or competing in Europe are also now arriving. So by tomorrow almost all horses will be here, including Taison!

Mette also wants to thank all her wonderful helpers at Mill Creek, Shauna, Sara and Danielle. Without their help and support, this could never have worked. They all have stepped up to the plate and been wonderful, reliable and supportive in all the hard work--plus preparing and sending Taison off. Great job! My kind of girls!