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Images by Merri Melde
Dackeritten: A Championship in Sweden
160KM Winners | |
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1st to FinishEllen Suhr (Norway) on Elcapero |
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2nd to FinishAnneli Schultz (Sweden) on Nowator2008 Endurance Champion of Sweden! |
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3rd to FinishAnette Hamre (Norway) on AvinBest Condition |
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4th to FinishIngrid Bostrom on Kurir |
120km Young Rider Summary | |
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2nd Nicole Sundin on Lilla Botanic 3rd Sofie Hinas on My Melody 4th Anneli Eriksson on Dahle Ox 5th Alexandra Cronqvist on Heroika 6th Stina Svensson on Rezyiann zs |
2008 Dackeritten: Swedish Championships
Saturday June 14 2008
Getting up at 3:50 AM is just cruel, but, when it's already light outside, you can kind of fool yourself into thinking that you got that long, good night's sleep.
It was quite chilly for a summer morning in Sweden as riders saddled their horses and warmed them up in a damp cold that penetrated the layers you had on. At a quarter till 5, horses and riders headed 2 km down the road to the official starting line, where two little Norwegian ponies watched the big Arabians and one big Norwegian fjord gathering together with great interest.
At 5 AM, off they went down a paved road, 14 starters on the 160 km ride. I jumped in the car with Michael, Maria, and Alam as we headed down the road to crew for Yvonne. She and Ingrid and youngster Anneli Schultz set a cracking pace right away, cantering down the two tracks through the forests and alongside lakes. Ingrid had won many of her races this way, setting a fast pace and getting a good lead in the first loop, then being able to back off later, still maintaining her lead. Whether she could do that on this young horse on his first 160 km would remain to be seen during the day.
2008 Dackeritten: Vet-in Day
Friday June 13 2008
My first afternoon in Växjö, I immediately got a taste of the "typical Swedish summer": clouds, showers, sun, changing every 15 minutes. It gets cool enough for a jacket, then warm enough to take it off, every 15 minutes. Then, there were the GNOTS. Or, gnats, as we call them, and nasty buggers they were. Persistent, vicious, and lots of them. "They just came out!" Michael swore. "We haven't had any all summer until just now. They will be gone in a few days." Magnus was prepared with bug juice and we all took turns running to him in desperation and borrowing it.
The gnots would stick around for ride day, though it was only in the forest at a few of the crew points, that they really attacked us. Mercifully, they were absent at Bergunda where all the Vet Gates and Finish would be.
2008 Dackeritten: Pre-Ride
Friday June 13 2008
The Dackeritten ride takes place near Växjö, Sweden, and don't even ask me to try to spell that out phonetically. I asked how to pronounce it, many times, and I worked on it all weekend. I got lots of giggles and lots of help... but I don't think I ever got it right. Suffice it to say, only the "V" makes a "V" sound. The rest - you're on your own.
There's a lot of history here - from the vikings who left an old grave marker in a field near Yvonne's house, to Dackeritten - a rebel back in the 1500's who wanted this part of Sweden to remain Danish, and who got chopped to pieces for it, to the farming Swedish who fell on hard times in the early 1900's and moved in droves to Minnesota.
2008 Dackeritten: the Swedish Championships
Thursday June 12 2008
How I got to Växjö Sweden is this. I noticed that on the weekend after the Dutch Championship ride there was a ride in Assissi, Italy, and Växjö, Sweden. Assissi - been there done that (ha) last year (oh, and it was so warm there); why not go to Sweden for endurance riding (where it should be cooler!)? But where to go? How to get there? Who to stay with?
Images of the Event | |
 ThursdayPhotos by Merri Melde
|  FridayPhotos by Merri Melde |
 The Ride (1)Photos by Merri Melde
|  The Ride (2)Photos by Merri Melde |
 The Ride (3)Photos by Merri Melde
|  The Ride (4)Photos by Merri Melde |