HorseAddict

Canadian Stars Under the Lights

February 25 saw the Freestyles of the CDI 5* under the lights at WEF. This is usually the home of the hunter /jumper disciplines and they still claimed part of the big international arena. The 20 meter by 60 meter dressage ring was put in at the side of some of the jumps. It made the dressage arena fit in a bit better in this huge arena.

The first Canadian rider in was Naima Moriera Laliberte on Statesman.

A lovely half pass.
The pirouette.
An expressive flying change.
Naima is happy with Statesman at the end of their test.

The next Canadian was Olympian Brittany Fraser Beaulieu.

Brittany’s horse All In gave the audience his best trot and the audience was cheering him along.
Brittany is very happy with All In. She gives him a big pat at the end of their freestyle test.

The last Canadian rider was Lindsay Kellock on Sebastian.

Lindsay salutes the judges at the start of her freestyle. Sadly it was not the night for Sebastian. He was clearly not happy and Lindsay retired from the test. As the announcer told us sometimes the horse is just not having a good day. I felt that several of the horses were affected by the big atmosphere in this arena. I salute all the riders who can come in and rider under the lights and do so well with their horses.

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anne leueen

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Comments

8 responses to “Canadian Stars Under the Lights”

  1. Avery Avatar
    Avery

    We all have our days, regardless of our plans! Statesman is such a great horse name.

    Reply
    1. anne leueen Avatar
      anne leueen

      Yes it is. Statesman and Naima were the Canadian Dressage Team reserves in Tokyo last summer.

      Reply
  2. workinacresnothours Avatar
    workinacresnothours

    Just magnificent the photos catch the movement beautifully. Love the dapple colour of Sebastian so pretty. Have a wonderful week ahead.

    Reply
    1. anne leueen Avatar
      anne leueen

      Thank you! You have a good week ahead too.

      Reply
  3. David Avatar
    David

    I would have loved to have seen this in the big ring. I know they stage dressage in the Grand Prix (showjumping) ring at other venues which are similarly large.

    Reply
    1. anne leueen Avatar
      anne leueen

      I think it helped that they left sometimes up in half of the ring so the dressage 20×60 was not dwarfed by the big ring. I think some horses were ok with the atmosphere and others were a bit tense.

      Reply
      1. David Avatar
        David

        If I was a dressage horse, I’d be nervous too in the big setting. At Colorado Horse Park, the Grand Prix ring is huge. The grandstand, though, isn’t as large as their sister facilities at WEF and Tryon. When they do host dressage at CHP, it’s a smaller show.

        Reply
        1. anne leueen Avatar
          anne leueen

          I think the more experienced dressage horses had no problem . Brittany Fraser Beaulieu’s horse was in Tokyo so He seemed to rise to the occasion and enjoyed the audience cheering for him. Also Adrienne Lyle’s horse , another veteran of Tokyo was the best I have ever seen him in the Grand Prix Special.

          Reply

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