2008, a truly fantastic year !

CSIP Wierden Boxing Day and Rikke is travelling to Holland for the final show of the year. In the team competition 1st round Sam and Rikke had a super clear round unfortunately 2 fences down in the 2nd round and Denmark finished in 3rd place. As with all the other classes the course for the Grand Prix was big and technically difficult. Rikke and Sam were again in simply great form and were rewarded with the first clear round of the Grand Prix. In the jump-off they were really unlucky, barely touching the back pole of a massive parallel, and 4 faults. 6th place in the Wierden Grand Prix was a great end to what has been a truly fantastic year for Rikke and Sam.

On a lighter note Passion and Rikke teamed up with Katarina Schwarz riding Angel for the fancy dress relay. After a quick cheer leader dance before the audience they mounted their ponies and went to work. Tactics were agreed and the girls needed to improvise when Passion took the 7th fence in the first round but they were total control and completed the 2 rounds in a super time and 1st place in the class and 2nd place in the fancy dress.

Christmas Show Wilhelmsborg 2 days after returning from Hengelo and the wheels are rolling again, this time to Aarhus. Snowdrop went well all weekend with an 8th place and 3 other OK rounds considering that Rikke hasn't competed on Snowdrop this year or a 140cm pony since winning AEG on Happy at the start of the year. Passion was also jumping well, with two 5th places and an unlucky penalty in the 120cm class.

CSIPJ Neeroeteren & Hengelo Rikke has 2 consecutive shows on the continent and is travelling with Sam, Lucky and Lorenzo. Lorenzo and Rikke continue to improve and started their first large tour in Neeroeteren. In Hengelo she took another step starting in her first major CSIJ Grand Prix. Clear over the fences but 1 time fault and 9th place. Sam continued to improve his form and in Hengelo it was a super 8th place in the large tour and despite an almost perfect trip in the Grand Prix they picked up 4 undeserved faults.

CSIPJ Moorsele Sam's first show since August and as he had just restarted training after his well deserved break this was more of a training weekend than stiff competition. As Lucky was not his usual self all weekend it was Lorenzo who won the only rosette of the weekend. Lorenzo went really well in all 3 classes with a 13th place in 130cm class.

Sam is on holiday after the busy summer months and Rikke competed at various national shows during late summer early autumn. Desteny was jumping again and shared in the rosettes with Passion and Lucky.

2nd Round Baltic Cup Rikke and Irish Luck had a great show. 9th place in the opening round, 3rd place in the second round and 1st place in the small Final which was held indoors due to the atrocious weather. Sam was due to compete in the team competition but this was cancelled due to condition of the arena after 24 hours non stop rain.

National Championships

Kilconnell Sam was Rikke's hope for the National's but Reapes Passion and Irish Luck were competing in other classes. The conditions could not have been worse for August with torrential rain and a waterlogged arena for most of the classes. Sam and Rikke jumped well but luck was not with them during the weekend. After 4 faults in the 1st round the finished 3rd in the 2nd round and were well placed for the finals. A good tour in the final round and they finished 5th overall.

It was a yet another good show for Rikke and Irish Luck in the 110/120 cm classes. Despite 4 faults in the 1st 110cm class a clear round in the 1st round in the following days 120cm class with jump off was sufficient for a fine 3rd place and the mini-Grand Prix Final on the final day. The final was again with jump off and Rikke and Lucky were again clear and ready for the jump-off against 12 others. When they are in this mood there are few who can match their speed and again they were flying, a super clear round, 1½ seconds faster than 2nd place.

Pony European Championships

The European Championships in Avenches were a fantastic experience for all of us, but especially for Rikke. In the 1st round they continued the great form and the big obstacles were no problem, good tempo and flow between the jumps gave them a great clear round a good time. When the round was over Rikke and Sam finished in a fantastic 12th place. Rikke and Sam were selected and on the team for the 2 rounds the following day. Expectations were high, they were in great form and Denmark had one of the best teams for many years.

Anyone in sport knows there are good days and there are less good days. For whatever reasons, Rikke and Sam had one of those days. In both rounds the poles simply wouldn't stay up for Rikke and Sam. However, as the others on the team had good days the team result was super and Denmark were in a jump-off for bonze. On the day Germany were a little better and Denmark had to settle for 4th place. Still a good result but not the result we had all hoped for!

With so many faults Rikke and Sam had to be satisfied with jumping in the B Final Saturday. Whilst Rikke was ready to go for it in the against the clock competition her trainer asked her to go steady and she did as told. A nice and steady clear round to finish their participation in the Europeans.

Nordic Championships Skövde 26-29/6

Rikke and Sam are again in Skövde, almost 40C warmer than last time we were here 2 years ago! After a clear round in the warm up class Rikke was very focused as the 2nd man on the Danish team Friday. All the team were clear after the 1st round and with all 4 clear again in the 2nd round it required a jump-off against Sweden to determine the championship. Despite Rikke's 4 faults in the jump-off Denmark finished on top and team GOLD was home. Entering Saturday's individual finals with zero faults hopes were high and their great form continued with 2 super clear rounds and again in the jump-off. There was no intention of trying to win and the 4 faults had no bearing on the results where Rikke finished in more than satisfactory 5th place. There are more pictures here

May/June 2008

Towards the end of June at the national competition in Suså Rikke and Lucky were i great form in the 115cm classes with two 1st places including the final. Less than a week after Ikast at the CSIOP competition in Wierden Rikke and Sam were part of the national team for the first time and with 2 rounds with 4 faults they helped secure a great 3rd place for Denmark. The CSIP show at Ikast was a great success for Rikke. 4th place in 125 cm qualification and winner of the small tour on Irish Luck. 4th place in the other qualification round and winner of the Grand Prix on Kilconnell Sam.

The weekend after Lummen at the CSIOP show at Moorsele Rikke showed more good form on Sam and again finished as the best Dane in the qualification round. Passion and Lorenzo were also amongst the rosettes incliding a great 7th place to Lorenzo & Rikke for juniors. Their best result so far. At the start of May, Rikke with Sam, Lucky and Lorenzo were at the CSIP competition in Lummen. A 5th place to Passion in a qualifyer, Sam went in the Grand Prix and finished 4th after a rather unfortunate 4 faults in the jump-off. Lorenzo jumped well all weekend but had no luck at all in the classes.

CSIP/J Moorsele 4-6th April

Rikke and Sam in Saturdays 125 cm class Our first outdoor show this year and Rikke took Sam, Irish Luck, Colour and Lorenzo on the long trip to Belgium. Sam was is great form and started with a super clear round in the main round but unfortunately 4 faults in the jump-off of Fridays 125 cm pony class. Saturday and another clear round for Sam, again in the 125 cm class, and 13th place. Sam & Irish were both clear in Sundays 115 cm competition. Lorenzo was also in action in the junior classes and produced 3 clear rounds with an 11th place in Saturday's class. Colour of Love completed all 3 courses but with many faults, she isn't quite ready for 130 cm and more.

Rikke wins AEG Grand Prix

After the first round there were several riders into the jump off Sunday and Rikke and Hello Happiness put in a super clear round to win this Grand Prix in style. See the videos: Hello Happiness 1st phase Hello Happiness Jump off Rikke and "Happy" (140 cm pony) were together for slightly more than 2 years and during this period had tremendous success in both national and international competitions. In 2007 they were 2nd in the National Championships, won the Tophorse Style Cup and had many other top results. Hello Happiness has only been sold to make room for Rikke's new horses in what is already a very busy calender.

Top horse joins the team

In February Rikke was pleased to welcome Lorenzo into her stable. Lorenzo has previously competed at senior level and is an extremely capable horse with a fantastic temprement and lots of power at the jumps and many good results with it's previous rider. We are all looking forward to see how Rikke fairs in the months and years ahead!