Dear Rita,
Last year we had a fun contest on this blog site for World Cup fans! But because I think it is bad luck to vote for or against yourself going into a competition, we have to avoid speculation on the outcome of the whole starting list this year.
On the other hand, we could do some betting on other things! Eighteen pairs start in the Grand Prix on Thursday, April 28, and 15 go on to the Grand Prix Freestyle Final on Saturday night. The following competitors and horses will start in the Grand Prix:
| Belgium | Jeroen Devroe, Apollo van het Vijverhof |
| Denmark | Natalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, Digby |
| Finland | Mikeala Lindh, Skovlunds Mas Guapo |
| Great Britain | Richard Davison, Hiscox Artemis |
| Germany | Helen Langehenenberg, Damon Hill NRW or Responsible OLD Ulla Salzgeber, Herzruf’s Erbe or Wakana Isabell Werth, Satchmo or Warum Nicht |
| Hungary | Robert Acs, Weinzauber |
| The Netherlands | Adelinde Cornelissen, Jerich Parzival Edward Gal, Sisther de Jeu Hans Peter Minderhoud, Exquis Nadine |
| Poland | Katarzyna Milczarek, Ekwador |
| Sweden | Nina Hoffmann, Leo Af Magnushoj Patrik Kittel, Watermill Scandic |
| Ukraine | Sergey Puzko, Kompliment |
| USA |
Jan Ebeling, Rafalca |
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Adelinde Cornelisson is the current favorite to win, and she is my bet for the big win. Here is the contest. If anyone can beat her, who will it be? You can only pick one horse/rider combo, and your pick has to be published in the comments of this blog by midnight (Eastern Daylight Time= New York City) on Wednesday, April 27, 2011.
The winner(s) get a free month subscription to www.dressagetrainingonline.com.
The second contest (you can participate in both if you like) involves this fabulous picture of Winyamaro taken by Sjoert Pegge in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last month in Winyamaro’s Grand Prix freestyle test at the show.
Who can tell me 1) EXACTLY which movement we are performing in the choreography, 2) in which part of the arena it occurs and 3) which song from the P!nk Funhouse album is playing in the moment that this photograph is taken?
The winner gets an autographed glossy of this photo!
I’m Catherine Haddad, and I’m saying it like it is from Vechta, Germany.
Training Tip of the Day: Check your bending gears in your warm-up everyday. Does your horse bend exactly the same from left to right? Does he do leg yield, shoulder-in and haunches in with the same ease on both hands? Are your half-passes the same in both directions?
