DressageDaily:Canadian Duo Boylen & Trussell On a Roll in Europe: Boylen & Trussell Compete at CDI*** Olfen, Germany

Tuesday May 11, 2004

Canadian Duo Boylen & Trussell On a Roll in Europe

Boylen & Trussell Compete at CDI*** Olfen, Germany

Christilot Boylen and Lucky Lemon at the 2003 CHIO Aachen Canadian Grand Prix riders Belinda Trussell and Christilot Boylen both were in the competition ring at the CDI*** in Olfen Germany, held April 16 - 18, 2004. The international show saw over 14 nations represented in large classes in both the small and large tours.

Belinda Trussell and Royan II continue to improve on the European show circuit. The CDI*** Olfen was the first show for the duo since the world Cup Finals and Trussell explained that they continue to work on different strategies in order to develop more brilliance in the competition arena.

"Royan is a wonderful horse who continuously tries his best", exclaimed Trussell. "With such a sensitive animal I must find the balance not to ask too much and keep his brilliance. The next few shows I will try different strategies to find the perfect balance between brilliance without mistakes."

In the Grand Prix, Trussell and Royan II placed 21st in the field of 53 riders with a score of 65.63%. They then went on to the Grand Prix Freestyle where they climbed to 5th position scoring 69.88 %. "I was thrilled! It was a huge achievement to qualify for the freestyle with so many horses in the Grand Prix, and to finish 5th among those horses and riders was fantastic. " The class was won by Germany's Hubertus Schmidt and Pretender on a score of 75.48 %.

For Christilot Boylen, it was the first competitive start since October of 2003. A shoulder injury prevented competition until January 2004, and in February Lucky Lemon experienced a setback caused by an injury while out hacking. The injury meant training was put on hold until the end of March. "She still needs to catch up on training and will probably need a few competitions to regain last year's form", commented Boylen. With two mistakes in the Grand Prix, their score of 66.58% placed the pair 14th in the highly competitive class of 53 riders.

Boylen also showed Don Valentino in his first International competition. Don Valentino, owned by Alec Murray of Ancaster, Ontario finished a very impressive 6th in the Prix St. Georges scoring 68.17% in the field of 23.