The Kur

Today was the dressage musical freestlye, or as the rest of the world outside of the US calls it, the Kur.  Each rider creates their own test, set to music.  I hardly took any pictures of the riders 1) because I already have pictures of all of them from the 3 previous days 2) I wanted to watch 3) it is an ongoing goal of mine to not get so stuck behind the camera that I miss the experience.  I have a tendency to do that.  

It was lovely watching everyone go, particularly Diederick & Arlando from Holland (he's such a lovely, quiet rider), Laura & Verdades from the USA (she's American, trained the horse alone, and is a beautiful rider), and never to be overlooked, Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro.  It was spectacular to watch her go today as it was magic.  She had a few mistakes earlier this week, but today was flawless.  For my non-horse people reading this, Charlotte with Valegro is the #1 dressage rider in the world, won 2 Olympic gold medals, the dressage World Cup, and the European championships.  She broke the world record and then broke it again.  Basically they are going down in history as one of the greats of the equestrian world.  I am so incredibly lucky I got to see her go 3 times this week, because I likely will never see those two compete ever again.  They made it look so easy and fluid that it really was like dancing.  There are no words for how fantastic that team is together.

FEI President Princess Haya and the dressage judges

Princess Haya giving Charlotte her gold medal 

Blueberry getting some love while mom does ceremony things 

What an amazing team!!

Incredible, I know

Wish us luck for cross country tomorrow!  We have to travel to Argentan, 30 minutes away, and then from there take a shuttle 17 kilometers to the cross country venue, so lord knows if we will make it.  If so, it will be a miracle.  We're going armed with toilet paper, Dubarrys, and snacks!