Mette's August 2006 News update

Mette went on a horse buying trip to Sweden, Holland and Denmark in August for 10 days looking for horses for herself and for her clients. She discovered that it is difficult to find horses with the quality and rideability she is seeking. She estimates that out of the 35 horses she rode only five were of a caliber she would seriously consider. Mette hopes to make another trip in the near future.

Mette is featured in an artilce in the August/September issue of the Equestrian News. Click here to read the article!

Mette's July 2006 News Update

Mette welcomes Heritage Performance Riding Gloves as her newest sponsor!

"I love Heritage Gloves for both riding at home and at shows. They make a terrific product."

Read more about Heritage Gloves on the Sponsors page.

Meet Mette's Working Students: Viktoria Alfhors from Sweden (left) and Lisa Hathaway from Seattle, Washington (pictured with Rockefeller).

Mette has another working student coming from Israel next month. Mette feels very honored that so many students are willing to travel from around the world to work and train with her.

Mette's Story about her Gladstone Championship Experience

It was fun journey to try out and make it to Gladstone. I worked hard and I had a lot of good help from Debbie McDonald and Cory Walkey. I competed in a couple of shows in California: some CDI shows and some normal shows with High Performance classes. I think my horses did great. This was the first time that I tried out for the championship so maybe I could have done it a little bit different if I would have known how the whole thing would come out. Basquewille made it in Grand Prix and I almost made it in Intermediare I with Edelweiss. He was 13 th on the list and a couple of horses that passed me at the end, I think I could have been ahead of them, but unfortunately that didn’t work out. So I did go with Basquewille.

We left on Friday, June 9. We flew out of Los Angeles with FedEx and then arrived at Gladstone the same day. The trip went well. The first couple of days it was fun to be there, because we saw the place from the beginning when no rings were set up and everyday more horses came and more people came. It was a very good and fun experience.

The show started on Thursday and the vet check was on Wednesday. The first couple of days Basquewille was great and felt strong and my training went well and I was really ready to go for it. Unfortunately he got sick and it started because he didn’t want to eat the hay and didn’t drink. And then, I think it was Tuesday, the humidity got worse, so he really needed the water. He got very dehydrated so had tendency to colic and he just didn’t feel well. When the jog out came up on Wednesday, I only had him on fluid--I think he got 20 liters that day. I really tried to help him as best I could. The starting time was on Thursday and on that day, unfortunately, I made a big mistake myself and then he didn’t really feel as good as he could. After that he got better and better and I really wish that he could have been as good on Thursday as he was on Friday and Sunday, because then I would have had a chance to be maybe in the top six.

The whole week in Gladstone was phenomenal. The people were very friendly and I had a great time. It was fun for me to get to know riders from the East Coast, as well. Debbie was there to help me warm up. She did a great job and I was very happy with that. We were supposed to leave on Monday from the beginning, but we ended up having to leave on Tuesday, so I felt that we’d been gone forever. It was a fun experience and I would try to do it again. Now I know more so I can prepare better with the shows and pick the best shows to go to. You learn from your mistakes. This coming year, 2007, I will try out for Gladstone and the finals there. I know that the Pan Am games are coming up and I will try to get a spot on the team that goes to Rio de Janeiro.

Best of all, I was very happy that my mother Gertrud, my sister Elisabeth and my brother-in-law Göran Odin took their time and all the effort to make their trip to come out and see me compete in this big event. They flew from Sweden all the way to Newark, New Jersey. They just came out for Friday, Saturday and Sunday and cheered me on. It was fun for me to know they were there. I don’t think they’ve seen me compete since I left Sweden 20 years ago, so for me to have them around was a wonderful feeling and I know that they had a great time. I just wanted to say thank you Mom, Elisabeth and Göran for taking your time and making a big effort to cheer me on!!

Mette's Results from Gladstone:

Combined Results (Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special, Grand Prix Freesytle) (pdf file) Grand Prix Freestyle results (pdf file)

Mette's May 2006 News update

Mette prepared for the Del Mar National Horse Show (see below) and another Clinic with Klaus Balkenhol on her road to qualifying for Gladstone this year. Read Mette's report of her training sessions with Debbie McDonald.

Mette wins again! This time she takes the CDI*** $2500 Grand Prix Special on Basquewille at the Del Mar National Horse Show!

Basquewille Chronicle of the Horse Article

Mette was interviewed in Chronicle of the Horse for her double Grand Prix win on Basquewille in April at the Golden State Dressage Festival.

Debbie McDonald visit

Olympian Debbie McDonald came to Mill Creek a few times to help Mette prepare for her major shows so far this season: the CDI Festival Dressage Show at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center and the CDI show at Del Mar National Horse Show. Mette greatly admires Debbie and felt fortunate to be able to work with her. Mette wishes she had more opportunities to work with her, but the bad weather prevented it Mette says: “I am grateful for the opportunities to train with Debbie McDonald, who has taken valuable time to come to my stable and help me with two horses: Basquewille and Edelweiss. She is a wonderful teacher and I really enjoy riding with her. When you do pick a trainer to work with, it has to be someone who works in the same way as your beliefs. Her system makes me feel at home and my horses are working great!”

Mette's goal for this spring is to qualify both Basquewille and Edelweiss de Bonce for the Gladstone show in June (that's the USET Foundation Dressage Festival of Champions). After the CDI show Del Mar, Mette will ride in the Flintridge High Performance show where she will need to compete both horses in a Freestyle division as part of qualifying for Gladstone.

Chronicle of the Horse Article

Mette and Edelweiss de Bonce were written about in the February 17 Chronicle of the Horse. Click here to read.