H&C

27
Jul
2009

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Escapado goes home with a rosette

Hans Peter and Escapado in the GP Special
(c) www.caroline-finch.co.uk

"For the Grand Prix Special, Escapado was quite hot in the warm up. Then when I had to go into the arena, the first part of the test was really good, almost the best that he has ever been. But in the walk he was a bit too tense and then I had a big mistake in the piaffe transition, and he jumped out of it.

He was better after that and we didn’t have any mistakes in the canter work, but it was not as good as it could have been.

Three of the judges had me in first above the American, Leslie Morse, and one even had her in third place, but the German judge had her nearly 3% ahead of me, so even though it was very close, I ended up in second.

It was a pity Peanuts got so hot, but on the other hand I am pleased that at 16 years old, he is still happy and in the best shape he has been in since I got him. He was off with an injury for six months but now he is fit and when you look at him in the arena, he looks like an eight year old.

He loves doing the big competitions and getting all the attention. I can understand why he was difficult for Carl to ride in the Freestyle as a ten year old. He has calmed down a bit and now has the right level of tension and excitement to perform at his best.

Of course after the Special I watched Totilas in the Kur. What can I say? He is amazing. We were telling Edward on the way home today that it was lucky he had made a slight mistake in the one time changes, otherwise he would have nothing to improve on!

One of the best things about the competition at Hickstead was all the people who had travelled so far to come and see Totilas and the other top horses. One lady told us she had got up at 4am just to come down and see him. Having watched his Saturday Grand Prix performance online, she said she just had to see him in real life. That kind of excitement is something special. It is a lot of fun when people really care like that.

It was a pity about the rain, but I guess nobody can help that. I think the show was really positive for the UK to have all these top international horses and riders.

So Escapado went home last night and has already been enjoying himself in his field, and now it is time for us to go home too. Thank you for reading my blog."