Merel Blom is a young lady on a mission to compete in the Olympics next year, hence her recent trip from her home in Holland to Southern California to ride two horses in the CCI*** at Galway Downs, chasing points to qualify for London. Although Umberto (above), her more experienced ride of the two, fell early on course at #5, I saw Merel on Saturday evening as she was returning from a hack on Rumour Has It, her other horse who jumped clear and eventually finished fifth, and she couldn’t have been sweeter or more friendly, shrugging off her fall and telling me she was just glad they were both ok. She also said it’s a habit to take her horses for a potter around on the evening after cross country to stretch their legs. On the Sunday after the competition was concluded I saw her again, this time on Umberto, heading out towards the track, and she very kindly stopped to chat.
Merel told me Umberto is a Dutch bred horse who Merel completed the European Championships with earlier this year in Luhmuhlen, while Rumour Has It is German-bred. Wishing Merel the very best of luck in her quest to compete in the Olympics, and I hope to bump into her again soon. Go Dutch Eventing!
