Nintendo in passage. Photos by Terri Miller.
(Rancho Santa Fe, CA) April 4, 2014 – In the week between the Capistrano Dressage Classic and the Festival of the Horse, held in San Juan Capistrano, Charlotte Jorst’s Nintendo and Vitalis showed the difference a week can make.
“I was really happy with them,” Charlotte reported. “They both showed great progress from one show to the next.” She has been working with a new coach, Olympian Guenter Seidel, and training with a focus on qualifying for the 2014 US Dressage Festival of Champions presented by The Dutta Corp/Selection Trial for the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games US Dressage Team Short List in June at Gladstone.
Their progress is no accident. Charlotte said the turning point was the USEF clinic with Robert Dover, the US Dressage Technical Advisor/Chef d’Equipe, held the week before Mid-Winter Dressage at Burbank in February.
“Robert can pinpoint exactly what you need. He says it like it is, and he said that I needed to train with Guenter Seidel. So I went directly from the clinic to the Burbank show to Guenter’s. I never went back home to Reno.”
For Charlotte it was the only choice. “I have these wonderful horses, and my goal is to qualify for Gladstone,” she said. “It’s not for the faint of heart, living alone away from home and family, but I have this goal and I have to move forward, there’s really no other option.”
Nintendo, who Charlotte imported from Denmark at the end of 2013, had been competed only lightly at Grand Prix before she purchased him. “I’ve only been riding Nintendo since I returned from my family vacation in late January, so everything’s new with him. He’s a phenomenal horse for the Grand Prix and he just gets better and better. We’re still trying to get in sync, and Guenter has helped us change a few things, and the results are starting to show up. At the show last weekend, when I took Nintendo out of his stall for his first class, it was like he was a changed horse – all of a sudden, we were in sync. It was a great feeling.”
Vitalis, who with Charlotte represented the US in the 2013 FEI World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Dressage in the 6-Year-Old division, also won the 2013 Markel/USEF National Developing Horse 6 Year Old Championship. “Last year Vitalis was doing the baby 6-year-old tests, and last week he did his first CDI3* Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I. That’s amazing for a 7-year-old. He is just getting better as he grows up.”
Next, Charlotte is looking forward to another USEF clinic with Robert Dover and then to the Del Mar International. “After another three weeks of working with Guenter, and the clinic with Robert, I can’t wait to see what Nintendo and Vitalis can do at Del Mar. Guenter and Robert are so great to work with. It’s hard work, but that’s how you make great progress.”
When she’s not working with her horses, Charlotte is working on her Kastel Denmark apparel, which can be seen on riders and sponsor signage at the shows, as well as online at www.kasteldenmark.com.
“I couldn’t do this without the incredible support of my family and friends, and my new coach,” Charlotte said. “I am so lucky to be able to pursue my dreams for my horses and my business. I count my blessings every day.”
For more information contact:
Nan Meek – Dark Horse Media Biz
650-823-1671
nanmeek@sbcglobal.net