Our carousel team had their first competition of 2023!

Did you know that almost all the horses at the Hollandsche Manege come from Ireland? This inspired our Carousel group to make their kur entirely in Irish theme this year. The colors of the country are reflected in the clothing and the music is from riverdance. Commander Marloes and her mother spent hours creating the beautiful costumes of our ladies and gentlemen. Gentlemen? There are no gentlemen in the Carousel, are there? 6 of our ladies choose to change gender during the kur and ride on “normal” saddles, the other 6 ladies ride like classic ladies of the past on sidesaddles with skirts.

Preparations…

On Sunday 2 April, the Carousel rode their beautiful kur for the first time. Early in the morning, riders and grooms gathered at the Hollandsche Manege to prepare the horses for transport. The last yellow spots were removed and buns were repaired. Then it was time to escort the horses into the trucks and drive them to Assendelft.

On their way to Assendelft

Hippsich Centrum Assendelft held a carousel competition in which teams from all over Noord-Holland could participate. In Assendelft the last grooms were received and instructed. The sun was shining brightly and the riders’ nerves were rising. How do I put on this skirt? Where is the button on these white riding breeches? Does anyone have another hair band?????

Warm-up!

After saddling the horses, it was waiting for the group to warm up. All the horses were waiting sweetly, but Flynn preferred to explore the neighborhood and walked several laps. Murphy had the day of his life as the backup horse on standby, receiving a lot of cuddles but not doing the hard work. The ladies looked beautiful in their fresh new “Irish” clothes.

Riding the kur

Then it was finally time: the kur. The music went well, surely Polly ran through most of the corners and the kur went top notch! Many spectators were impressed by the ladies’ saddles. And so did the judge! The ladies achieved 70,625% and took home the white of third place! In Assendelft the winners received no rosette (“since it stays in the truck anyway”) but a delicious cake! Back home, the team but the horses back in their stables, gave them well deserved kisses and carrots and sat down together so celebrate their first competition and eat their cake.

Congratulations again ladies with your great performance! We are looking forward to the next competition on 4 June at Manege Groenewoude.