Nikita and I are half way through our week-long training session with Olympian Heath Ryan. For those who don't know, Heath went to the Bejing Olympics for Australia, so it's pretty neat we get almost a whole week with him.
We've focused on the Grand Prix test, and Heath said we should practice it daily. He likened it to a total body work out, and said doing each movement daily will help Nikita to build muscle and stamina without stressing her joints, ligaments, or lungs. The nice thing about working on the Grand Prix with someone who's done it in the Olympics is we've gotten these clever hints about how to ride the test with more polish and presentation. These are the kind of things I wouldn't figure out myself (then again, as my wonderful groom Stephanie knows, that top hat is still a mystery to me)!
Heath said the work we're doing is getting closer to international caliber, and believes Nikita will be an awesome international Grand Prix horse, once we have more experience under our belts!
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