Our girls on the podium! SILVER AND BRONZE!

Megan with the silver medal, and Jaimie with the bronze!!! I am so proud of them, and I know that everyone back at home are also so proud of them. They rode amazing today, and deserve all of their success.

Now onto the freestyle! We qualified 6 out of the 7 YR Canadians to compete in the freestyle on Saturday evening. That means we are in the top 15 in North America, which is absolutely amazing in the grand scheme of things. Unfortunately, Maura will not be among us in the freestyle class, but she was very pleased with her ride today and Czar was super. I am VERY excited to be able to compete for the last time at the NAJYRC in the freestyle class. This is by far my best test, and I will give it my all on Saturday!

Good night to all! It's been a crazy couple of days of non stop action! Hardly any time to sit down. We're up at 6, and home at 11! But we enjoy every minute of it. Well...perhaps the 5:30am alarm is not enjoyed at the moment, but once we're off, we're off!

What an amazing day

SILVER MEDAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

ALL SMILES!! Heading to the opening ceremonies!

Us loving our medals!

The GOLD MEDAL winning junior team from the West!! WAY TO GO LADIES!!

WE DID IT!!!! We're bringing home some hardware!!! Congrats to my fellow teammates Megan, Maura, and Amy on an awesome day. We won the silver team medal and were only 1 point off of the gold!!!

Amy kicked off the day laying down a good first test with some awesome trot work pulling in a 63.6% due to some small mistakes that added up. She finished top 15 today going in to the Individual test tomorrow. Maura was next and unfortunately went off course on a coefficient movement and had to be docked 2 full marks for that movement (coefficient movements are movements in a test where the score given is multiplied by 2 and are usually movements that make or break your score). However, she had an otherwise good first test at her first year at young riders and laid down some really good trot work as well. Czar, who is usually up to some comic antics, had none of those today and was really there for her which was great- no foot resting in the extended walk today :D. Next up was Megan on Caravella who laid down an unreal test and brought in a 67 and change, and put us in the gold medal position initially. She would finish second overall going in to the Individual test tomorrow. Unfortunately, another team member from Region 5/6 in the States got a high score and knocked us down to the silver medal shortly after. I was last to go and had a personal best ride which scores in high 69 range until my last 2 lines of changes. Due to a mistake in both lines - which we never mess up!!!! - Nina and I ended up with a 67 and change as well, securing the silver medal for the team and finishing 3rd overall.

My teammates and I are really excited to head in to tomorrow's competition off of the big win today. We will keep you posted!

Team Test

So here it goes! The competition finally begins. After months and months of training and preparing, and of hopes and dreams, we're finally able to give it our all tomorrow. Happy to report our entire team made it through the jog today! GREAT news!!!! I'm up first tomorrow, at 7:40 am! And then Maura around 9am, Megan around 11am and then Jaimie to anchor our team at 12:30pm. I have been up since 6 this morning, and just got home now, so I'm off to bed. But we're through the jog, excited for tomorrow, and will hopefully be giving you a celebratory post tomorrow saying we've won ourselves a medal!! We'll do our VERY best at least. Pictures to come!

Amy

Welcome to the Ontario Young Rider Team's blog! My teammates and I will try and keep you updated throughout the week with not only our young rider results but the junior results as well.

First of all, a big thank you needs to go out to a couple people. Patricia from ECOGOLD for donating ECOGOLD team saddle pads with the Canadian flag, Mark and Victoria from Equestrian Factory Outlet for the amazing package they put together including our team jackets, Peter Sharpe from Cadillac Fairview and Craig Mauchan from BMO for their donations and support, and everybody who participated in our fundraisers this year. Every little bit counts and we appreciate your support and contributions. I hope I haven't forgot anyone!

I'll start with an introduction of myself just like my teammate, Amy Jager. My name is Jaimie Holland and I am one of the four members of this years Ontario Young Rider team. I am 21 years old and am pursuing an Honours Bachelor of Science Kinesiology degree with a minor in Psychology at McMaster University. My horse, Fleurina, is a 12 year old Westphalian mare out of Floristan I and Nevermind. I have owned "Nina" since she was a four year old and was brought over from Germany by Lori Bell from Norbert Van Laak's barn. Together with the help of my long time coach Tom Dvorak, we have brought Nina up and trained her through the levels from training level to PSG now. Periodically my coach Tom Dvorak has German trainer Norbert Van Laak over for clinics that I also ride in. Nina and I share a close bond because I have had her and ridden her since she was a baby. Nina has a heart of gold and tries her heart out for me every ride. She is a true competitor and has all of the tests and the freestyle pattern memorized - sometimes she thinks she is smarter than me...which may be the case.

Nina and I have represented Canada at the North American Championships four years in a row now, sometimes qualifying at the last show and the last ride only to have personal bests at the championships each year. In 2007 we helped earn the Junior Team Gold Medal in Virginia, followed by the Young Rider Bronze Medal in 2008 in Colorado. This year has been our best so far finally cracking that infamous 70% in the technical tests. Now in our final year of young riders, we're aiming for gold!

It's Sunday night right now as I write this. The trailer is packed, Nina is bathed, and I am just packing my suitcase at home. The trailer will be leaving from my coaches barn at 4am for Lexington, Kentucky tomorrow morning (:s). It should take us just over 12 hours of driving to arrive! Nina is going down with Amy Jager's horse, Key West, and Santana Royakker's horse, Ravallo Son, who both train with my coach, Tom Dvorak, as well. Big congrats to Santana for qualifying at the last show in the last 2 rides. She will be competing on the team with three other riders from out west!

Getting ready for a major competition like this is very exciting, but like Amy mentions, also a lot of work. To prepare for it this year, I have been working with my personal trainer, Kendra Olsen, doing a lot of cross fit workouts to physically prepare. Additionally, I have been working with Sport Psychologist, Dana Sinclair, from Human Performance International since my first year at Juniors to make sure I am mentally prepared. To cap it off, making sure every ride I have a game plan ahead of time of things I want to work on and achieve, and just honing Nina's and my skills and partnership. I can't wait to get there and just ride and have fun!!!!!! I don't know if I will sleep tonight I'm so excited!!!

Introduction of Key West and Amy Jager

Key West being the sweetheart that he is :)

Key West and I with our champion ECOGOLD cooler at 2010 Blainville CDI

Hello everyone and welcome to the Ontario Young Rider Team’s blog for this year’s NAJYRC competition.

A huge thank you to ECOGOLD for your support of this year’s team, and also for setting up this blog for us. Your support in our team is invaluable. Also to our many other supporters, and the Dressage community in general, we thank you so much. Every show when we come by with our 50/50 tickets, you don’t run, you give. Thank you for that.

I’ll start with an introduction of myself. My name is Amy Jager and I am one of the four members of this year’s Ontario YR team. I am twenty-one years old and am pursuing a degree in Biological science at the University of Guelph. My horse Key West is a 10-year-old Trakehner gelding sired by Charly Chaplin. I have known Key West since he was three years old, and since the first day I met him, he’s had a special place in my heart. If you could describe Key in two words, it would be ‘a gentleman’. He is beyond a doubt the kindest and most willing horse I have ever met. I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to ride him, and I enjoy every moment I spend with him.

A little bit more about me. Well, I am very lucky. This will be my fifth consecutive year representing Canada at the North American Junior and Young Rider championships. My horse Jive, who went with me to last year’s YR World cup in Germany, took me to four NAJYRCs, where we earned team silver and bronze medals. Now, it is Key’s turn to go.

I am very excited for this year’s NAJYRC. I have brilliant teammates, all of whom I know very well. Jaimie Holland, another student of Tom Dvorak, has been my teammate for the last two years. Now, in our final year as Young Rider’s we’re aiming for a gold. Both Maura and Megan were medalists at last year’s NAJYRC as Juniors and are now very competitive at the Young Rider level.

Getting ready for a huge competition like this is very exciting, and of course a lot of work. Also understanding that we’re part of a team for this competition is crucial. Our training lately has been focused on the team test, or the PSG. We want to put our best foot forward for the team component, because we can think about our individual effort afterwards. Getting mentally prepared for the competition is also essential. At random times during the day I’ll find myself going over my tests in my head. Or sometimes I’ll be doing nothing in particular, and I’ll think about something that Tom has told me I need to do. Whether it be to sit more left in the half pass left, or to breathe in the pirouettes, the more you think about the small stuff I think the more it helps.

Dressage Talent Set to Represent Canada at the 2010 North American Junior Young Riders Championships

The Dressage Selection Committee for the 2010 North American Junior and Young Rider Championships is pleased to announce the selected athletes who will represent Canada at the Championships, which will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY July 28 – August 1st, 2010. Team Ontario will include the following riders:

Amy Jager and Key West from Waterloo, ON
Jaimie Holland and Fleurina from Caledon, ON
Maura O'Sullivan and Pik Czar from Toronto, ON
Megan Lane and Caravella from Collingwood, ON

Here are a couple of videos...

Amy Jager and Key West - 2010 CDI Blainville Freestyle


Jaimie Holland and Fleurina - 2010 Wellington Dressage Classic