In 1999, when Wessel arrived at the airport in Toronto, it was in the middle of a snow storm.  He was a very tired little fellow and had to endure an extra long drive home to Kars.  We knew he had the potential to be a successful dressage horse but at that point he was barely started under saddle and Grand Prix was not on anyone's immediate horizon.  

The intervening 10 years have been a roller coaster of fun and allergy scares but this past weekend Joan and Wessel earned their fourth score over 60 percent at Grand Prix and in so doing have become the first horse/rider combination to win every DC award from Training Level to Grand Prix.

The first three scores were achieved in sunny Florida over the winter where, for unknown reasons, Wessel developed amnesia over his one tempi changes.  Thankfully other elements in his tests made up for this and his piaffe/passage efforts started to really show progress.

On the last day of  the Ottawa Spring Show, Wessel recalled how to count to 15 and in fact snuck in an extra 2 unrequested changes for good measure.   This puts the 2009 show season at home off to a great start. 

Useful Links