Bromont 2012

Bromont has come and gone for another year and my French STILL hasn't improved.. Perhaps next year! This year I ended up only taking Liberty in the 1 star, leaving Cole at home to work on his eating and relaxing skills. There's nothing like a three day event to mature a young horse and get him to understand his job and Bromont is the best venue I've ever been to for this purpose. It's a three day obviously, the horse has to learn how to trot up (jog), learn to be in a stall,  all the vet checks and compete on three separate days. Somehow Bromont manages to have all these requirements and still have a relaxing feel to it. The surroundings may help, Bromont is a tourist town surrounded by beautiful mountains. However I think it's more the organising committee that gives it that feel. This year both the Canadian and American teams used this event as the Olympic tryouts: the Canadian team was finalised there and the American team shortlist was selected. I was very happy to see Boyd on the shortlist with two horses, I've known him and his riding for over 12 years and have to say he is at his absolute best. His dressage is looking incredible and he showjumping like he should be on the showjumping team, his xc is as good as always. Phillip is also on the shortlist with Heath's Mystery Whisper. VERY exciting, I've seen this horse grow up from a yearling and have competed against him in two different countries. He proudly represents Heath's awesome breeding and training program, and Phillip has gelled with him in such a way that the entire eventing world ought to be very very nervous at the Olympics. Another person I was happy to see on the list is Marilyn Little-Meredith. I did make an ill advised bet with her last year on whether or not she'd make it to Rolex this year given that she had at the time been eventing for only a year. Not only did she make it to Rolex, she made the Olympic shortlist! So I lost my $10.. The only bad thing about this list is that the two people I train with will now be away all summer.
Back to Liberty's Bromont. He's been going so well all season that I thought he'd be in with a great chance to win. As he has become fitter tho, his body shape has changed and his dressage saddle started to pinch him while we were at the event. This led to a more tense than normal test, but a clear and fast xc moved him well up in the standings finishing well within the top 20 at his first international event! Not bad considering his test was not at his competitive best. This is a seriously good horse and I'm so lucky to be involved with training him to reach his fullest potential. He'll now have a break before coming back at the end of the summer where he'll aim for another international competition in the fall.
Thank you to everyone for your kind words and support about Ronnie. He really is missed both on a personal and professional level. Good horses are difficult to find!