Bad weekend in St Gallen
The CSIO of St Gallen has been difficult for Kevin Staut. Host of the 4th stage of the Nations Cup circuit, the Swiss city has also not brought luck to the team of France. Kevin Staut looks back on this weekend that he will try to quickly forget.
Kevin Staut: "The competition was very difficult for me, especially as we competed by teams on Friday and that this kind of class is really important for me. The first day was devoted to working courses. My three horses are relatively well behaved and were fully prepared to compete in the major classes of the competition.
Friday, in the Cup of Nations, I have not played my role of team leader, as I should have done it. Rêveur makes a small fence down in the first round but, in contrast, in the second round, we perform a very bad course. Even though it would not have changed nothing in the final standings, I had to sign a faultless round for my team.
The next day, in the derby, Quismy makes two fences down but still performs a very good course. It is a pity because we had a really fast chronometer and we could get a place in the top three easily. We had to take risks, we did it and we did not get the intended result this time. However Quismy has once again demonstrated that she liked derbies. After her 5th place in La Baule and her good course in St Gallen, I think she will run this kind of classes when the opportunity will arise.
After the incident caused by the intrusion of a horse in her box in the night from Saturday to Sunday, the general health state of Quismy is good. However, her sporting diagnosis remains reserved.
Ayade who has sharply fallen in the triple combination of the Grand Prix, is going very well. She only suffers of aches. She saw the osteopath and we made additional examinations which have confirmed her good form.
Going back to the Grand Prix, I do not felt Ayade very at ease from the begining of the course. After having make a fence down once on the oxer #8, she makes a fault on the first and the second element of the triple combination, before stealing me a stride before the last element. I don't explain her reaction. Although I am disappointed to have finished my weekend like that, I am reassured that my mare has nothing because the fall has been impressive. I hope that she was not frightened. I am going to make her jump small fences rather quickly, then she will resume competition on smaller classes to be sure that everything goes well.
St Gallen has to be forgotten for this year and I hope to put an end to this bad series as of this weekend."