Monday September 20, 2004

Double Victory at Hagen, Perfect Good Bye Present for Lisette Milner

Only days after her announcement that Lisette Milner will be returning home to Wellington, Florida, after having trained with Ernst Hoyos in Germany for 18 months, Milner got the best good bye present she could dream: a double victory at the national dressage show in Hagen, Germany.

Riding her KWPN licensed breeding stallion Eminence (Burggraaf x Santa Luigi), Lisette Milner won the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special at the national show at PSI's Hof Kasselmann in Hagen, Germany. Scoring 66.73% in the Grand Prix, Milner dominated a field of 20 all-German Grand Prix competitors. The next day she rose to the occasion once again and repeated an extraordinary win in the Grand Prix Special.

"I cannot believe I won two days in a row," Milner said excitedly. "Of course, it's not the Olympics, but it is very hard competing here. The judges are not generous when they do now know your name. I'm so thrilled. Even Ernst was happy!"

Lisette's European training camp has been a lifetime experience and Milner pays much gratitude to her host Gerd Knoop of Gestüt Hoftehof. "He's my manager at shows. He helps me find my way in Europe and helps me get organized for competitions," Milner explained. "Höftehof sponsored me to get into the show in Hagen. This was so generous of them."

"Hagen is one of the most beautiful shows it sits in the hills and all the stalls, buildings are old world. It was fantastic to sit and watch the jumpers with the mountains and hot air balloons in the distance. Basically it was a beautiful day," Milner said, adding that "it's been an unbelievable ending to this 18 months of Germany."

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