Nicola Philippaerts: "I learned a lot in Mexico and Miami"

Nicola Philippaerts: "I learned a lot in Mexico and Miami"
Nicola Philippaerts, rider of Dorperheide stud farm, rode in Mexico during the second Global Champions Tour of this year. In this blog he looks back on his show.

"After the first Global Champions Tour in Miami, I left for Mexico on Monday, late in the evening. I arrived in the hotel at 1 am and I went straight to bed.

Tuesday, the horses arrived as well. We decided the give them some rest first, so I first started riding them after lunch. I thought it was important they got to move g a little bit after their trip. I ended the day with a dinner in the hotel.

The next day I was in the saddle at 8.45 am already. I started riding Zilverstar and after I saddled Forever. Both horses felt quite brisk, even after the trip from Miami to Mexico. In the afternoon I rode in the big grass arena as well. The show seemed to be well organized and the quality of the grass was great.

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Thursday I started working in the stables at 7 am. Quite early, but it is very hot here, so I decided to ride Zilverstar and Forever in the morning, when the sun hasn't reached its highest point yet. In the afternoon I watched the warm up of the 2-star riders. We lunched at an Italian restaurant. On Friday, I rode my horses in the morning again. Zilverstar had to jump the first class, a 1.45m class. He jumped good and wasn't too spooky about the fences. With Forever I got the last to fences in the last straight line down.

Saturday was a great day for Zilverstar! We won the 1m50-class, a class against the clock. The cours wasn't so easy to ride and not many riders managed to ride a clear round. In the Grand Prix Forever didn't catch his form so we didn't do so well... Off to the next!

During the last day, the Global Champions League, a new team competition was ridden. I started with Forever, but he seemed a bit tired and got two faults. At 9.40 am I'll be flying to London, where I'll take a plane to Düsseldorf. I hope I'll by home by 7.00 pm after two great weeks in Mexico City and Miami Beach. Thursday we will be starting at our next show: The Global Champions Tour of Antwerp".