#ihtl

[silokamisims]

𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝐸𝑄𝐻𝐷 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 - 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑅𝑜𝑦𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝐷𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑

[such-a-downer]

[kullabergs]

CTJL MONACO, MONTE CARLO 1.30M CLASS – 3:15PM

And so she found herself astride on another midnight black stallion, several years after her soulmate had retired from showing. They were each others’ complete opposites; where he was grouchy, Capri was kind. Where he was demanding, Capri was lenient. Where he was strong, Capri was gentle. Yet they both gave Iris that indescribable, unsurmountable feeling in the saddle. She hadn’t found him in any other horse before, until now. She experienced a mixture of melancholy and euphoria when they were about to enter their first international show together, as her memories of someone so different yet so alike, blended in with what was yet to come. Even though this was a big moment for the two of them, her mind still couldn’t grasp the earlier events of the day, it all came back to her in dizzying glimpses; surprise, anger, confusion … Her name sounded in the speakers and she came out of her haze as she spun her head around and briefly locked eyes with the source of all the chaos in her mind. She gently shook her head, took a deep breath and put all her focus back on Capri; on the bubbly texture of the rubber reins in her hands, of how the sun glistened against his neck, the squeaking sound of a saddle she had sat in so many times before on a different dark horse. She softly nudged the black stallion, ears pricked forward, and entered the Monte Carlo show jumping arena together; for the first time.

Everyone meet our newcomer to our stables; CT Great Contender (out of the legendary stallion Great London and powermare CT Chadino Z). We decided to take a leap of faith and bring Capri to Monaco for his first international show after two years of being out competing in the lower classes and getting used to bigger show environments, and it seems to have gone fairly well as he managed to bring home a first place ribbon! Thank you to @calveroterranorasj for trusting me with this beautiful boy <3

[elainerose-hx]

Kullabergs Esra from @kullabergs & Charles Blake riding for the USA team at the CTJL Crema show! 

[kullabergs]

CTJL STOCKHOLM (Iris Hammel – Eilwen VX) She had been passing by the Olympic Stadion arena every day on her way to the stable for her riding classes after school, during her entire adolescence. She had been fantasizing about riding here ever since she was a little girl; to enter the hallmark with all the other giants such as Peder, Malin, Henrik, and Rolf-Göran. During the entire show season, this was by far the most nervous she’d ever been. The stakes were high, competing on her own soil this time, while simultaneously fighting to stay at the top of the leaderboard. There were a lot of people she wanted to make proud; her parents, her sister Elina who had come to watch her compete for the first time ever since she stepped away from the equestrian world many years ago, her kind and empathic trainer, and the entire Swedish nation, of course. So sure, she wanted to leave a mark on an arena as historical as this one, but she had never expected that mark to be tomorrow’s headlines reading: ”Swedish Rider Finishes Clear Round Without Bridle!”

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Sometimes accidents happen and this time it was a bridle not properly fastened. They were approaching the final combination when Lillan’s bridle came undone, bobbing to the left and right as Iris tried to keep the grey mare’s head as still as possible so she wouldn’t get smacked in the face with both bridle and earnet. In a millisecond, Iris decided to impulsively try to finish the course anyway as the last two fences came rushing up at an ungodly speed and Lillan, bless her, was such a good and loyal horse who, through the course of this show season, had started to trust Iris enough to keep going, bit still in place, to finish the course. Knowing what a sensitive horse she was, this show had proven to test her horse’s loyalty towards her, and even though Iris completely humiliated herself (again!) at a big competition, she couldn’t help but feel incredibly grateful to having been granted a horse with such a big heart and courage as her little grey whirlwind. With all the odds against them, they still managed to clear the round, bridle or not.

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We've got another win for the pair! Even though the first round didn't go as expected, they still managed to clear themselves for the final round and go home with another ribbon to add to Lillan's successful career. They've now taken the lead in the leaderboard and will be making sure to properly fasten any loose bridles for the upcoming finals ...

[kullabergs]

CTJL CREMA

The rays of the golden hour sun was shining upon the arena in Crema as day shifted to afternoon, and that magical warm Italian light made the dust particles in the air sparkle like little stars, dancing hastily whenever movement was present. The sunlight cast long shadows as it continued to scorch, so late into the afternoon. For sensitive and attentive horses such as Lillan, those long shadows could prove treacherous in the arena, creating threatening shapes of demons and ghosts alike. Fortunately, that’s where her blinders came into play. It was excruciatingly hot, and if Iris thought so, she could only imagine the heatwave her horse was fighting against, flying over jump after jump in front of a drowsy audience, equally as affected by the warmth as the competitors in the show ring. She had thought many times about not going, as this horse was clearly not accustomed to the warmth of the Lombardian interland, but being in the company of an Italian herself, it was almost out of the question to diss his homeland for the discomforts of temperature, and she knew the repercussions of her actions would be disastrous. So off to Italy they went …

–

Very happy and honoured about Lillan bringing home another win in Italy for our small stable! Even though they both struggled with the heat, we're happy they both managed to pull through despite it all. We're extremely happy about the pair soaring to the 2nd top in the leaderboard and we hope to be able to push even further by the end of the show season!

[kullabergs]

– ”So how did I look?” – ”Fast and furious?” Iris replied to Luciano when she greeted them as they exited the arena after their gut-wrenching ride. – ”You have to see it as- as driving a Ferrari. She’s a Ferrari.” Luciano shrugged his shoulders, seemingly unharmed by the 150km/h rowing session he had just performed in Crema today. There were 29°C degrees outside, the sun was blazing and Vespa’s tack left foamy sweat marks all over her red coat. Even Luciano showed traces of the excruciating Italian heat – under his helmet she saw sweat pearls sliding down his curly hair. Apart from that he seemed completely unfazed by the near-death experience. There was simply no way to hold this horse back, not even the pelham bit, not even the bib could do it. She was an unstoppable force and Iris hereby declared Luciano her new rider during this tournament. She would not be falling on her ass again. – ”Yeah, you may have cleared this round, but let’s see how you do in the jump-offs…” She raised her eyebrows and indulged in imagining Luciano being the one biting dust. – ”Cara, you’re only jealous because I actually managed to stay on.” He threw her a devious smirk and an air-kiss, patted Vespa on the shoulder and nudged her to continue on forward, something she most willingly obliged to do. They set off towards the stables into Vespa’s fino paso trot, leaving Iris – lips pursed – already planning how she would get back at him for that remark.

[kullabergs]

Some days it's your day and some days it's not...