Brazil has been a blast so far! We are definitely enjoying exploring the new culture however my Portuguese is about as good as my Spanish…pretty much meaning we are in a communication nightmare.
Hand gestures, pictures and the handy free translator app Derek and Kent found have really come in handy! Despite the language barrier the food is absolutely delicious. Dynamo jumped in super form on Thursday in the 1.45-meter speed class. We had one down but Kent and Zafira posted a fourth place finish. We had a great team dinner on Thursday night at the hotel that included a few cheers to what we hoped would be a successful day in the Nations Cup on Friday.
And I guess since I’ve been raving about the beautiful weather we were bound to have a rainy day. It poured yesterday during the Nations Cup which made the already difficult course even more challenging.
Dynamo put in two spectacular rounds. I however made a few rookie mistakes. We had one rail in the first round and an unfortunate 8 faults in the second. The course was very technical and the triple combination caused trouble for a lot of the riders.
ADVERTISEMENT
Overall I was very pleased with how my horse and I handled the course. The pressure you feel being on a Nations Cup team is something that can only get better with experience. The U.S. team finished in third overall (we tied with Argentina) and the Brazilians came home with a great win on home turf.
We enjoyed a really fun party at Haras Joter’s immaculate farm. The setting was extraordinary and we were in good company with our Canadian and Venezuelan friends. It was such a nice way to end the exhausting yet exciting day. Most of us had the morning to relax and flat the horses. I’m hoping Nemo and I can finish out our week in Brazil with a solid round in the grand prix.
The ring at Porto Alegre |
Chatting about my round with my groom, |
Kent scoping out the track. He was busy |