Late but interesting post

So. Sorry about the big delays between posts. I’m sorta lazy. I’ll make it up to you by making this one longish.

Anyway, Sunday the 4th. I’ll start there. It was quite the sight-seeing adventure. Mr. Held took me to some really cool places. We first went to Königswinter, where there are shallow mountains surrounding the city. On top of one of them is an old castle and Mr. Held and I climbed to it. The original plan was to take the train up there but it was closed and Mr. Held was determined to get up there. So we drove halfway and then hiked up the rest. It wasn’t so bad for me, but Mr. Held is an office man. But he wasn’t going to give up. We reached the top and the castle itself wasn’t impressive, but the view was fantastic. The old European houses nestled comfortably in the land that lay across the Rhein River. It was beautiful.

We then started to climb down the mountain. There was a little restaurant that we decided to get lunch at. Mr. Held ordered me potato pancakes (which is served with applesauce to put on top. sounds weird, but it’s really good!) and French onion soup along with an espresso. It was a great German lunch with a very kind guy. :)

We made our way to our next stop--the Bridge of Remagen. On the way there, we went across the Rhein river via toll boat which is something I had never done before.

We made it to the bridge. It is a beautiful landmark. This is where the Germans and Americans fought during WWII.

Then Mr. Held drove me through gorgeous valleys with grape vines surrounding us. The grapes were being grown for wine. It was an amazing sight. We drove until we found a small Christmas market where all sorts of trinkets and Christmas treats are sold. We walked around but didn’t buy anything. Then we went home.

It was so nice of Mr. Held to take me to see those things. I know I’m in a really special place with very kind people. I will be forever grateful for their generosity.

That week, Wilander went away. He was sold. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. :)

Last weekend I went on a road trip on my own to Frankfurt to see the international horse show. I took the hour and a half train ride and (eventually) found my hotel, which was just across the highway from where the show was being held. I got up the next morning and hurried inside the hall. It was a big indoor arena and decorated in an xmas fashion. I found my seat up in the balcony and watched the first of the Grand Prix tests. I took pictures and video and observed. It was great to see so many amazing horses and riders and muse with the possibility of me being in a ring like that someday...

After the morning session was done, I went and walked around Frankfurt for awhile. I walked for three hours window shopping and being a tourist and eventually settled down at a coffee shop where they had internet to let everyone back at home know that I was still alive. Then I walked back through the big city full of great people watching and shops to the evening portion of the show. I watched some jumping and it made me miss it. That thrill of flying over a jump on a 1000+ pound horse is not something you get in dressage. When I have my own operation going, a big part of my program will be cross training. In dressage, we ask for collection. When a horse launches over a jump, that is one of the most intense ways for a horse to achieve collection.

I also got to watch the young riders. Most every one of them made a mistake, but it was cool to see young people excel at their sport. I was impressed. There was one girl from the US who got 2nd place with a 69%!

The next morning I got to watch the Grand Prix freestyles with a front row seat. They were so amazing to watch and looked like a blast to ride! The music for each horse matched perfectly and the patterns were creative. I want to ride a freestyle so bad, it looks like a lot of fun.

The last rider I got to see was Isabel Werth. Her horse didn’t do great. He spooked and even kicked up his heels during the extended canter. But nonetheless, she got a 75%. The winning horse from Italy, which was also my favorite freestyle, got a 79%.

After that was all done, it was time to go home. The last few days of work I have been exhausted. It snowed for the first time today but only a couple inches.

Noelle and my mom come in 4 DAYS. YAY!

Wilander = :)

The days are so repetitive here. I muck stalls, lounge horses, turn horses in and out, have my lunch break, clean, etc., etc.. But every day I get handed little bits and pieces of trust. After being here for a month and a half, they have let me ride numerous ponies. But all of a sudden, I was climbing onto a horse. Not just any horse, though.
His name is Wilander. I immediately became fond of him a couple weeks ago when I walked into his stall and he greeted me with a smile and a lick. He likes to lick people. He's the color of smoke. He isn't what people would think of what a warmblood looks like; he doesn't have much of a tail and he's not what you'd call elegant because he is very round-looking (kind of like Hollywood) instead of lanky like a warmblood. But when he moves, he floats.
As I climbed on board this amazing horse, I thought maybe they were making a mistake. Maybe in a few minutes, Marion would come in and shout at me to get off her horse. But no. She came in and watched me ride him with a genuine smile. Every once in a while she would give me some advice. But holy crap. I was having the time of my life on that horse.
Unfortunately, Marion got a call in the middle of my ride about someone who wanted to come see him the next day as he is for sale. So Marion rode him for the rest of the time. But it didn't matter. I am so happy that they let me ride such an amazing horse. My thighs still burn from sitting his big trot. Hopefully I'll get to ride him again.
On Sunday, Mr. Held is going to take me sight-seeing along the Rhein river. I'm super excited. I'll make sure to blog about it. :)
16 days until Frankfurt and 23 days until Noelle and my mom come visit me! :D

11/21/2011

I’ve been meaning to blog in the past two weeks but haven’t gotten much of a chance. They are keeping me busy here. The week before last, Katrin was gone, so Peggy and I had to do everything on our own. I worked five horses a day in between turning horses in and out, feeding, sweeping, and getting horses ready for Marion. Last week was almost as busy since then Peggy was gone. Some days I even skipped my lunch break so we could be finished on time.

I have been lounging horses a lot, which I like. And I got to ride two new ponies. They are a blast to ride. Especially compared to naughty pony, who kept switching back and fourth between getting better and getting worse, so Reinhart had her sent home and we admitted defeat. I tried the best I could, but in my opinion, that pony isn’t meant for dressage. She just mentally couldn’t do it. If a horse isn’t willing to do their job but you make them, they will never be happy and able to perform up to your expectations. So I was glad to see her go and I hope she goes somewhere where they understand that.

On Friday evening, a woman who has two horses here asked me if I would like to come with her to another stable where they do vaulting. It sounded interesting, so I said yes. We went and I saw some amazing things. This wasn’t Washington County Festival Under the Stars vaulting. This was the real deal. They once had four people on a horse, stacked up high. The girls were very athletic. The barn was half gym, half horse barn. I guess they are international competitors, which was apparent because they were really impressive. I’m allowed to go anytime, so I will be sure to take pictures next time.

Yesterday was my day off. I decided to bike to the nearest tack store because my gloves are what Mindy would call “ratty”. I got there at 2:15 but it closed at 2:00. So I biked around for awhile trying to figure out if there could be another nearby since I was one on a map but soon gave up and biked to the Rheinpark shopping mall. It was enormous. It had four floors full of shops and the fifth floor was a theater, I think. I didn’t get anything, just people watched, rested, and wandered around. At around 4:30 I got back on my bike and started to make my way home. I passed by some things I remembered passing by on the way there and started to look for signs that pointed to the Skiihalle since the horse farm is right next to it. It’s the easiest way to find my way back home. I looked and looked but I didn’t find one. I biked into deadends, wrong ways, loops, and soon minutes turned into hours and it got dark. I realized I was lost and wasn’t going to be able to get back on my own. I found myself at a truck stop of sorts where there was a McDonalds. I went in and asked the workers if any of them spoke English. They all did, fortunately. They gave me a free coffee and a warm place to sit while they called a taxi. The taxi was barely big enough to fit into the car, but the driver was very nice and the bike and I made it safely back to the farm at 6:30. I looked on Google maps to find out that I had biked 10 miles. Hopefully that won’t happen again...

The weather here is really nice. When I wake up it’s somewhere around the upper 30’s and gets to the 50’s in the afternoon. I’ve been wondering when it’s going to snow. I guess the norm is around Christmas. So not used to this!

This morning was the first time I overslept. I woke up to Katrin calling my name at my apartment door at 7:15. oops. I am so not a morning person. But I made it out in five minutes and everything was fine.

This week, Josef, the stall mucker, is gone. He got a replacement, but he is very lazy. The stalls are still partially dirty and underbedded and he left a whole barn unmucked and the three of us had to stop what we were doing and quickly muck it out.

I recieved my Frankfurt International horse show tickets in the mail. I get to see Totilas! nah nah nah boo boo! ;)

In two days it will be exactly ONE MONTH until Noelle and my mom come to visit me!!! Soooooo beyond excited. :)

11/5/2011

The past few days have been a lot of fun.

On Wednesday, Mr. Schleypen decided to have me ride a new pony who had just come the day before. She is older, around 15, so we all thought she’d be an easy ride. We were so wrong.

I got on her and she immediately took off into a crazy fast walk and I struggled to hold her back. When I picked up the trot she was better but very resistant in her poll. I flexed her and bent her but she wasn’t giving to me at all. Reinhart had Katrin come in and help me. Katrin had me let her go more forward (I was holding her back) and she became a bit softer in the mouth but she was still very stiff I didn’t feel comfortable on her, so my equitation was all over the place. It was a mess. But I felt we had made some progress. The pony was surely one of the hardest horses I had ever ridden. She wasn’t dangerous, just terribly resistant in every way.

The next day Katrin helped me again. Now that I knew what I was up against, I felt more confident but we still didn’t make as much progress as I would have liked. The pony still threw her head in the air and ran away any chance I gave her.

Then yesterday I tried riding outside because it was a nice day but the pony wouldn’t have any of it. So I headed inside where Reinhart was riding. He watched me and I could tell he wanted to help me. There were some other people in the arena who spoke English and he had them translate some but I was still not clear on what he wanted me to do. So finally he showed me. Turns out he speaks English just fine. We were able to work things out with a mixture of English and German and he told me that instead of letting her go forward like Katrin wanted, he wanted me go nice and slow with her. He then had me walk on a circle and leg yield in and out of the circle with lots of flexion until she softened. This seemed like a better solution for the pony.

I’m glad Reinhart is still letting me ride her. Although she is a challenge, I feel like I can fix her with time.

Today was my day off. I slept in and then set out to explore Neuss some more. I biked for 40 minutes until I ran into a big shopping center. It was like an outdoor mall with tons of shops and stands. There was a guy playing an accordion for tips. It was busy and people watching was prime. There were countless clothing shops, cafés, fresh fruit stands, bakeries, and other assorted stores. It was a really neat place.

After wandering around for awhile I noticed it was starting to get dark so I biked home and hung out in my apartment for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, it will be a nice easy Sunday. :)

10/29/2011

This past week has been what you might expect from a working student; mucking, grooming, tacking up horses, turning horses in and out, cleaning tack, sweeping the barns, etc, etc, etc..

BUT. Yesterday I got to clip a horse. I have plenty of experience in body clipping horses, but I’ve never had to worry about whether or not it looked good. This horse hadn’t been clipped before, do he was antsy and I knew they probably didn’t have high expectations because of this, but I wanted to please, of course! :)

So I turned the clippers on and started and all of five minutes into it the clippers stopped shaving. I took the blades apart and put them back together several times with no avail and gave up and let Katrin figure it out. I was then on a roll. Since the horse hadn’t been clipped before I would shut the clippers off every fifteen minutes and give him a break. He was being really good, but the flies bothered him more than anything else and made it hard to clip with him moving around so much. So I guess the breaks were for me, too. I eventually got everything done but the legs and face and by that time the horse was fed up. I don’t blame him. We had been clipping for an hour and the blades were getting hot. But I tried his legs and he kicked my hand twice. Not hard, but still. I have been kicked one too many times to know how terrible it can be. It could escalate and I’d have yet another stitched up hole in me!

So Katrin put a twitch on him and we got the job done without too much fuss. Then I was off to do the rest of my evening routine.

This morning I got up early to go cheer on the Neuss Grefrath Reitclub team at a nearby horseshow! It was a lot of fun. They do a lot of things differently here than in the US, but I expected that. Like, for example, they got their horses ready at the trailers because there was no stalls to put them in. They didn’t wear that weirdo skirts over breeches look you see at Washington County Fairgrounds, but jeans instead. In the warmup ring, everyone goes in one direction at all time (someone asks to change directions if they want to go the other way). Three or four horses show in the arena at once (they all ride the same test and line up single file, except for halts, where they come down the centerline side by side). Even though it was a small show, there was an awards ceremony and they won prizes like saddle pads, polo wraps, and horse treats (jealous!). The levels and patterns are different. And they had a jumping portion of the show that added onto your score, but it was only for people under 21.

Our barn did really well and they all looked spectacular!

We made it back home in time for me to have my lunch. After, I went for another walk around Grefrath. I didn’t feel that I had enough time to go downtown so I stayed close by the barn.

When I got back I made some yummy risotto, watched tv, and talked to Chris and mother until it was time to go to bed. :)

Sonntag

Today was my day off so I slept until 8:30 and then woke up and finished the rest of another novel I was reading (My Name is Memory by Ann Brash, a really thought provoking book). I then made myself some breakfast, showered, cleaned my apartment, watched German television, and with nothing else to do, set out on a journey to explore Neuss.

Neuss, as it turns out, is quite small. It’s mostly made up of houses and apartments, but there were some shops I walked past. There is an aquarium store, a salon, a travel agency, a bar on every corner, a little food stand with candies and snacks, a cafe, a pizza place, and some gift shops. Although none of them were open because it was Sunday, it was good to go for a walk and see what Neuss had to offer, especially since it was particularly good weather for it.

There is also an old, enormous church. I saw that behind it there was a path and I walked onto it to discover a huge graveyard. It was like nothing I had seen before. Every single grave was well kept and beautiful. Even the oldest plots looked as if they had been there for all of a week. They were decorated with fresh flowers, stones, candles (most every one was lit), and vines. It was obvious that people didn’t forget about their loved ones buried deep in the ground. They came back and remembered and continued to take care of them even though they didn’t have to.

I ran into a squirrel while walking around the graveyard. He was a big red one, who climbed up a tree to my eye height and just sat there and stared at me. I stared back until he decided to go on his way up to his palace in the treetops. As he made his way up, I couldn’t help but smile because his grunts sounded like they were in a German accent.

I slowly made my way back to the stables, where I went back to my apartment and thought about what else a person could do on their day off in a foreign country. There wasn’t enough time to walk myself to Dusseldorf and back, so I decided that that was for next weekend. And it wasn’t time to start making myself dinner yet. So I went and talked to Jess and mother! Hooray. :)

Freitag und Samstag

Yesterday was normal except for two things. One, I got horses ready for Marion. Two, after work I went to a party with all of the girls from the barn. We went to one of their houses. Of course, they spoke exclusively in German, but I still was able to catch a drift every once in a while about what they were talking about. The food was quiche...with pork in it. And some sort of potato cake...with bacon in it. *sigh* So I was served streusel. And to drink? Wine and shots. Lol. I didn't have any, nor do I ever want to. The party was still fun though and I got to know some of the people I see on a daily basis better.
This morning I did my normal morning routine. Peggy has the weekend off so I volunteered to muck out mine and her barn, which is eight stalls. I thought maybe good karma would come around...
Turns out I was right! I tacked up Angelina and entered the arena, where Marion was riding. As I warmed up, all of a sudden a voice, in English, came across the arena, yelling at me to make my hands vertical. Little did I know it was the start of my first lesson. It turned out to be mostly on my equitation, which is good, because I admittedly do have poor equitation at times. Some things I need to work on include keeping my hands vertical, my legs underneath me, half halting with my seat more, and looking in between the horse's ears and not down to the inside. Marion was hard on me, but that's good. Those are all things that need to be fixed quickly.
We did lots of transitions. This place is obsessed with them. Why? Because not only does it keep your horse light on your aids, it shifts their weight onto their hindquarters and builds their abs. A horses abs are what make a horse lift their back. All good things. We never went around the arena once without doing some sort of transition, whether it was in-gait, trot to walk and back up, or a lateral movement. It kept Angelina thinking and building muscles. By the end of the lesson, she was rounder in her back and fluid and my eq improved. Hooray!
Then I did some other silly things, like mess around with enormous bags of carrots. Did I mention that they feed a bucketful of carrots as a meal?! Yeah. Pretty weird. It makes me giggle every time I think about it. :) Also, since we're on the subject, they normally feel hay once a day, but some horses are exceptions, and the grain looks like a mixture of cereal, some sort of mash, oats, and pelleted feed.
Afterwords I went for lunch where I ate more soup. I'm eating a crapload of soup lately. At least it's all yummy soup. And German bread is super yummy. You can buy fresh breads at the grocery store. They make it right there. So I ate all of that, sat there and felt awesome, and had a long lunch since it's Saturday. Wootage.
Then the rest of the day was pretty normal. But it was awesome. :)

The past few days

Monday and Tuesday were pretty much normal. On Wednesday I got to lounge more horses, which was fun. And today I had a broom fight with the cobwebs again. I had an especially good ride on Angelina. Whoopdedoo. :)

I’ve been watching lessons as much as possible. I learn so much just by simply watching. Although I haven’t had a lesson yet, I feel that that is okay if I get to watch other people ride. There are some amazing horse/rider combos here. I wish you guys could see! (sorry for the lack of pictures, by the way. I feel like a creeper walking around with a camera.)

I’ve realized this past week how much the people back at home mean to me. I love you all and I miss you like crazy....but I’m keeping a positive attitude and I can’t wait to see you all again!

May the force be with you. ;)

Lazy day Sunday.

Today was my day off so I turned my alarm off last night and let myself catch up on some sleep. I woke up at noon and read the end of my novel I was almost done with (Ape House by Sara Gruen--I highly recommend it). I decided I would take it easy and save the exploring for Neuss for a different day.

I made myself some brunch--scrambled eggs and potatoes o’ Brian, and then got dressed and walked around for awhile before chatting with some of my favorite people online. Then I went back to my apartment to eat and then started another book :)

Ahh, sometimes I love lazy days. :)

Saturday!

Katrin left for the weekend for a wedding so the two other workers and I are on our own. I knew today might be difficult with no one who speaks fluent English, but I felt that I had more energy and was able to muck three double stalls and three normal sized stalls, re-bed, and groom eight horses in a matter of two hours. In the past days it has normally taken me an hour extra.

But of course, there was another incident while cleaning out the fillies stall. That one really doesn’t like me and shows it. I was putting new straw into the stall. They use big square bales that have big flakes I’m not used to pushing around so I lose my balance a lot. While pushing it into the stall, I tripped, fell onto my hands and knees, and watched with horror across the stall as that filly pinned her ears at me, turned around, and let a back hoof fly in my general direction.

I tried to scramble up to avoid it, but it was too late. She made contact with my collarbone, which was lucky because it was originally going towards my head. I got up and smacked her and she gave me a nasty look and went to the corner of the stall. I had a swearing fit but eventually calmed down and finished up the barn. I walked away with a hoof shaped bruise and ego.

Since I had finished so quickly, I got an hour long break and then went out to sweep up around the stables. I had my lunch break and then went out to ride Angelina. It was a lot of fun. There were a bunch of people watching someone else ride (probably a horse for sale) and I got a bunch of complements on my riding! Pretty neat, if I don’t say so myself. I was beginning to wonder what people thought of the silly American girl’s riding.  I know I’m pretty good, but compared to other German riders, I had no idea how good. There isn’t a single bad rider at my barn.

I untacked Angelina and went to change into normal clothes so I could run to the grocery store to get some food. I got ingredients for curry to make that night as well as some sweets and other assorted items.

I guess weekends are short and easy days so I retired to my room for the rest of the night to talk to my lovlies. :)

Day one!

I woke up at 5:30 am so I could be ready to work at 7:00. Katrin showed me a barn where there was a couple of yearlings and a mare in foal and she had me groom them and muck the stalls. While I finished the mare’s stall, Katrin showed up with a horse and put him on a horse treadmill I hadn’t noticed. It is a very strange contraption but all of the horses they put on it didn’t seem to mind. They all had to walk on the treadmill for 25 minutes.

I groomed some more horses and was starting to think that that was all I was going to do when Katrin told me that I was to ride a horse! She was a big, sweet six year old mare named Angelina. It had been almost a week since I had ridden a horse so I made a lot of mistakes, but it made me a whole lot less homesick.

They do a lot of weird things here that will take a long time to get used to. I have to pick the horse’s hooves before they even step out of the stall and people also pick all of the hooves on one side of the horse. You always have to apply hoof balm and Vaseline to their nose when grooming. Horses get turned out for an hour, either longed or walked on the treadmill, and ridden. Cleaning absolutely everything after you use it, which I hate.

I was served lunch by Marion’s mother, but I couldn’t eat it because I saw it had pork on top of it. I had the realization that as a vegetarian, I would unintentionally be on a diet while here. I knew this already, but my stomach ached as I had not had a full meal since Monday. Eating hasn’t been a priority lately.

After lunch I had to clean out all of the automatic waterers, so I met all of the horses in the barns. Then I chatted with my mom and Chris and the day was finally over.

Day three (on time)

My alarm woke me up at 5:30 but I ended up missing the snooze button and luckily woke back up at 6:30. Good thing I didn’t have a whole lot to do!

I did the same stuff as yesterday. Starting to see a pattern here, which I like. I’m not a huge fan of my morning routine up until I ride Angelina, but that’s okay.

Lunch today was sautéed green beans and potatoes, tomato soup, and some sort of yummy custard thing. :)

Then I went out and lounged the same horse as yesterday. We’re coming to an understanding as far as voice commands go.

After, we washed windows and I saw something weird out of the corner of my eye...it was a car...pulling a two horse trailer with a horse in it! What the??

I sweeped up all of the barns and then went to talk to Topher. :)

Day two (a day late)

I woke up at 6:00 today to see if I could get away with an extra half hour of sleep, which it was. I dressed and ate some toast and headed out to find Katrin.

She first had me groom horses again, which I didn’t mind too much. I know I will be doing a lot of it, so I figure I better enjoy it. I then went back to the barn where the yearling fillies and pregnant mare were kept. I mucked and groomed them, meanwhile watching the horses on the treadmill. One of the enormous jumpers was on it and she would occasionally get sleepy and start to fall over, which terrified me. Then one time she fell hard and started to come off the contraption. I braced for an accident, but the treadmill stopped. It has a safety mechanism, thank god.

While watching all of this and putting fresh bedding in the babies stall, one of them noticed that I had left open the door just enough to sneak through. She leapt out and started to trot out of the barn, but luckily the other filly screamed for her to come back, so she did. I put my arm around her nose and Peggy, one of the workers, came to my rescue. She threw me a halter and I led the crazed filly back into her stall.

I finished up in that barn and then did more grooming. I then helped Peggy turn a horse out. This is when I found out there are more fields across the street. Taking horses across a street daily that has no speed limit seemed dangerous, but the people at this barn do not take so many precautions as I do. They leave horses “ground tied” for minutes and pick feet in a way where you’re asking to get kicked. They like to turn horses out with boots, which I find weird. About a quarter of the people I have met wear helmets. Their number one concern isn’t safety, it’s cleanliness.

I rode Angelina again and I was better but I still didn’t feel at my best. My jet lag was still effecting me. After, I had the privilege of sweeping down cobwebs in the barns and almost getting killed several times after scaring the shit out of the horses. I tried to calm them down but they don’t listen to me much since I don’t speak a language they understand.

I was actually able to eat lunch today. It was peas and carrots and something like potatoes au gratin. Yum! My first full meal in awhile. :)

Then I got to lounge a horse, which turned out to be somewhat of a challenge. Voice commands are a bit different but it was fun nonetheless.

Katrin took me to the grocery store to get some more food and I also ended up buying an internet stick. Hopefully it works.

The Pony Express is on the move!

WARNING: May be boring at times. Just writing what comes to me. It is my blog, after all.

I left my house at 3:30 and said goodbye to my animals. Nuzzled Jack one last time and we we were off to pick up Raf in Savage and then to the airport. We arrived on time and my mom park her truck where she wasn’t supposed to and helped us into the baggage check in. We quickly said goodbye and she ran to the truck to find some police officers looking on the from of the truck for a hook-up to tow it away.  They were in a good mood that day, however, and let her go without a problem.

We went through security and soon after that I discovered that Raf is quite the shopper. He especially likes those classy perfume stores that reek ten miles away. You know, the ones you’d never catch me dead in.

After that silly shopping, we went food hunting. Raf got asian and I found out how unvegetarian-friendly airports were. So I got a measly cup of fruit and we boarded the plane. We had great seats with no one in front of us. The captain informed us that the flight was running early and soon after that we took off for our 7.5 hour trip across the ocean. Raf’s video-thinger didn’t work so we switched seats since I just wanted to read. It was my lucky day in terms of airplane food as it was nasty pasta with not-so-green salad. We went up to the Southern tip of Greenland and then came back down. The screens in front of us showed some random facts about our flight and I remember looking at the temperature when we reached Greenland and thinking that I had gone insane. It read, I kid you not, -70 degrees F.

I fell asleep sometime after Greenland but woke up an hour later, groggy. There was about two hours left of the flight and it went by somewhat quickly.

The Amsterdam airport was colorful and trying really hard to be hip. Most of the ads were in English, to my surprise. Raf, having gone 8 or so hours without a smoke, quickly retreated into a smoking room, which were scattered throughout the airport. Never had I seen such a culture where smoking was so important. The rooms were heavily fogged from the nicotine. Although I had been previously warned of these rooms existence's, I was still surprised. And for whatever reason, I had suspected that the people would be a lot different than in Minneapolis. Wrong. I saw that they were just regular old people who had lived different lives in a different culture. They were too human. This made me feel better.

Raf, of course, wanted to do more shopping in classy makup/perfume stores. I looked like such a hag after such a long flight, sitting and worrying about what was to happen next. My face was pale and my skin was dry and my clothes weren’t appropriate. Blahblahblah.

The securtity at this airport was a whole lot easier. I started to strip my clothes off and the woman who was assisting people glanced at my passport and quickly understood what I was doing. She told me that I didn’t need to take my belt, shoes, or anything metal off like I did at the Minneapolis airport. I went into the contraption that scanned me and I was out in no time.

We got onto a bus that took us back on another plane, but this time it was only a thirty minute flight. Since this plane was much smaller, this pilot took the liberty of making sharp turns, going up and down and up and down, and making me feel like I was gonna puke.

We got out of the Dusseldorf airport as soon as we could and waited for the cab that took us to Raf’s super deluxe car. It did all sorts of fancy cool stuff but I don’t really remember what it was cuz I was too busy gawking at my new scenery, which, to my disappointment, wasn’t much different than Minnesota at all.

We arrived at the barn I am to work at for six months. It is truly a very impressive place. It’s all brick with lots of nice arenas and the people are kind. My apartment is huge with a living room, two tv’s with satellite, a bathroom, a bedroom, a kitchen, and stairs so steep and slippery that I’m afraid I’m going to break my neck on them. The horses were, of course, gorgeous. Tall and athletic and effortlessly floated. 

I also watched Reinhart coach some 7-12 year old girls on their obedient ponies in German. Then I wondered around like a fool until the other working student, Katrin, took me to the grocery store.

Marion’s mom came with and she speaks zero english. This made shopping difficult. Katrin told me that I could get anything I wanted, no limits, and I chose some things while Marion’s mother chatted at me about how I should have gotten “this” or “that” instead while Katrin babbled back to her in German as I awkwardly stood there and looked like an American.

We went back to the barn and I found out that the internet in my apartment doesn’t work, which is why this update is so late. I had to go steal Katrin’s internet. She was super nice and said that if I ever feel homesick, need help, internet, or just simply need to talk to someone, she is always there. I felt somewhat relieved. She will be a huge help.

Tomorrow is my first day of work. I have to get up at 5:30 so I’m ready by 7:00. Then my day ends at 7:00pm. Looooooooong day. So far I have mixed feelings about this place, so we’ll see. I am terribly homesick and lonely at times, but it will pass.

OPULENCE. I has it. ;)

I leave for the airport in 1.5 hours.

I have to keep reminding myself to breathe. No, it's not for myself. I know I'll be fine and have a great time . But the fact that I will be away from the people I love is what makes me cry. It's what the pit in my stomach is fretting about. I want somebody to actually jump into my suitcase so I won't feel quite so lonely.

Okay, maybe it is a little selfish. But comn', can you blame me?

I said goodbye to everyone last night and each time someone left, we exchanged a sob or two.
Six months isn't that long, but right now it feels like an eternity.
I will for sure put this blog to use now.
I love you all and miss you already. <3
Bye for now.

All you need is horses.

6 days left. I couldn't be any more excited. :)
I already miss you all but I'm ready to go have the time of my life. I'm going to try my hardest to be the best horsewoman I can be and there's nothing stopping me. I will make sure to update this blog a lot more than I have been (even though I'm not so great at it). And thanks to modern technology, I can talk to you guys free through Skype. Feel free to chat me up! My username is ginger.coleman3.
I hope (and know) that this journey will gain me a huge leg-up in my career with horses. I can't wait to see where life leads me.

38 days left in the US.

I bought my plane ticket a couple days ago, so now it's official. It's real.

Yesterday I had to say goodbye to my best friend Noelle, who is going off to college at Steven's Point. I'm excited for her, but of course I will miss her dearly. We've been friends for 12 years. It's amazing to think that it's been that long. As they say, time flies when you're having fun, and I certainly have lots of great fun with her. Good thing she's coming to visit me in Germany!

Good luck to everyone heading on their way to the next path in life.

38 days left in the US.

Yesterday I had to say goodbye to my best friend Noelle, who is going off to college at Steven's Point. I'm excited for her, but of course I will miss her dearly. We've been friends for 12 years. It's amazing to think that it's been that long. As they say, time flies when you're having fun, and I certainly have lots of great fun with her. Good thing she's coming to visit me in Germany!

Good luck to everyone heading on their way to the next path in life.

So...
I found a place (for real this time) where I will go to be a working student in Germany. It looks like a nice place with nice people. Their website is www.cavallis.com
I will be working six days a week doing everything besides mucking stalls, all day, in exchange for lessons. I'm going to be living in the apartment above the barn.

I am super excited, of course, but now that it is actually starting to seem real to me, I cannot help but feel scared, sad, and homesick. I just want to pack up all of my friends and family with me. You guys mean so much to me that it's been hard to think about leaving everybody behind. I know in all reality that I really won't be gone that long but right now it feels like it will be eons. I also worry that something bad will happen when I'm gone. Hopefully I'm wrong. Luckily, the people I'm working for said that I could leave whenever I want.

I know it seems silly to even think about quitting halfway through with something this big just to be back home. But I've only ever been out of the country once. For a week. And I don't think, as a matter of fact, that I've been away from home for more than a week. So you see, this really is a stressful thing for me to think about. I'm just throwing myself into it, but I guess it's for the best.

Two months left at home.
Here goes nothing.


P.S. I forgot to mention: my riding instructor doesn't speak english... :O Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Yikes.

Emotions are running high 'round here.
Although I am done with high school forever, the stress hasn't stopped. I still have my PSEO class to finish up, horses to train, a show season to make sense of, things to do, places to see, etc., etc..
All of this made my stress override my calm, contained self and I had a meltdown. Yikes. But I'm back. I'm fine. Everything will fall into place.

Another thing that has had me bothered lately has to do with animal slaughter. The other day, I found a video that the Gentle Barn posted on YouTube. They rescued four calves whom were victims of the dairy industry. Had the Gentle Barn not saved them, they would be in a package or digested through the human digestive system, labeled "veal". After watching this video with my mom, we made an effort to become vegans. We hadn't realized until now how much the dairy industry kills animals. After being a vegetarian all my life (18 years), I always thought how much good I was doing by not eating animals. It was good, but it was certainly not enough. There are so many reasons that outweigh consuming animal products that it is worth taking that extra step. It feels selfish not to. I have become much more aware of what I eat, drink, and buy. And it's completely and totally worth it.
I encourage you, if you are a meat consumer, to try to be go vegetarian for a day. Then a week. Keep going when you find out that it isn't as hard and you might have thought, because after a while, it isn't hard at all. Or you could refrain from eating meat once a week. You could save hundreds of lives. The only way to stop something is to stop doing what you don't like.
I know I sound like a crazy PETA whacko, but I wouldn't do it if it were something I feel so strongly about. Think about the animals who were born to die.
Have empathy.

No news on my Germany trip, by the way. It kinda got postponed until I'm all done with my PSEO.
Well...
bye.

P.S. Think.

Hey y'all.

It's been awhile since I've acknowledged this blog. Mostly because there hasn't been much news. We're still figuring out arrangements for Germany, passport, etc., and meanwhile, I'm scrambling to finish up the last month (!) of my high school career. Pretty crazy, if you ask me.
Part of this scrambling is because of my senior project about horsemanship. I've been looking at natural horsemanship, as well as the old fashioned ways of the stereotypical cowboys and trying to figure out what philosophies I agree with. And guess what, they're all wrong. Every person in the market of selling their horsemanship (Perelli or Clinton Anderson, for example) is in it for the money. Have you ever noticed that when someone decides to set down straightforward rules, that they only ever work for them and a select few people? There's a reason for that. In all reality, the only horsemanship that really works is logic.
If you don't punish your horse, they'll never respect you and take the role as leader. If you beat them, they'll be frightened by every move you make. There is a fine line and the only way to grasp it is to be with your horse as much as you can if you want to be successful in what you do. Study horse behavior and psychology, especially stuff about herds in the wild. Learn about what other horse people do and decide what you agree or disagree with. What's logical to horse? What isn't? Think through your horse's eyes. There's always a reason they do what they do.

Horses and Fools

Heyo...

So last week I ordered some dressage books from good 'ol Barnes and Noble and they came on Tuesday. And of course, I got right to work on reading them. Today I finished a great book I would recommend to any dressage enthusiast, "Dressage Masters: Techniques and Philosophies of Four Legendary Trainers" by David Collins. He interviewed four classical dressage trainers (Klaus Balkenhol, Ernst Hoyos, Dr. Uwe Schulten-Baumer, and George Theodorescu) about their philosophies on dressage, young horses, and techniques on training. They all had very interesting perspectives. All of them emphasized on how dressage nowadays has become a business. People in competitive dressage are always in a hurry to get young horses do things they really shouldn't be doing because of their undeveloped strength. Dressage is a life sport. It should take many years to get a horse strong enough to do some of the upper level movements. They all generally agreed that at the end of the first year of training a three year old, a horse should understand half-halts, the three basic gaits, contact with the bit, and be allowed to be relaxed. These trainers consistently look at the training scale throughout their training of Grand Prix horses. Their philosiphies, I noticed, were a cross between modern dressage and natural horsemanship.

Some other interesting points they had were how a rider should never disrupt the movement of a horse. They should never work against the horse, but instead with a horse. A rider should be able to use their aids subtly and never for a long time where s/he ends up carrying the horse on the forehand. A horse should always, no matter the exercise, remain relaxed. Only then are they able to execute a movement correctly. Of course a horse is able to perform movements if they are taught them, but they should never be taught with violence or the outcome will never be satisfactory. A horse learns by repetitiveness and if a rider taught a horse half-pass by whipping them sideways, the horse will never learn to stay relaxed and supple. A horse trained this way loses confidence or eventually ends up with soundness problems. A rider should have understanding of a horse and be able to put themselves in their shoes.

Some other points these classical dressage trainers had to make were about lateral movements. One trainer argued that a rider should never practice leg yield because it puts the horse on the forehand. This point made me observe riders while they did this movement. I noticed that this was true of most horses, but not all.
Another suggestion was about how to train the piaffe without force. This trainer said he took his horses out on trails frequently and he used this opportunity to train his horses, especially when they turned around to go home. As most of us know, a horse usually prances when they know they are close to home on a trail ride. This trainer takes advantage and then trains the horse to piaffe. This way, during the future, the horse will not have learned to piaffe tensely.

This book has sparked quite a bit of thoughts, as you can see. I thought I'd share...
However, I do not understand how a rider would train a lazy horse without using their whip. I would like to know.
I would also like to know how to half-halt better. How to understand the training scale. What collection really is. These are answers that do not need explaining, but I need to experience.
I strive to be a better rider. The best I can be.
That is why I starve for so much knowledge of the sport.

The other book I am excited to read is about long lining, something I don't know much about at all. Hopefully it can become something I use more often as I only use it right now to train a young one to steer without a rider on their back.

Whoo, I'm all blogged out. I think I ought to leave it at that for now.

As many people can relate, I am getting a slightly severe case of Senioritis. School is not something I look forward to when I get up at 6:00 am. Nor the place I feel happy at every moment. I have been in this building for a whole six years or about 1,200 days. Now, as a senior, I just want it done and over with. Luckily, I only have three months left.
Now, don't get me wrong. This school has offered me a lot and I have excelled and exceeded my own expectations for myself. ARTech is a place I have grown to become me.
But I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Luckily, I know that at the end of the day I am able to go to the barn where (almost) nothing goes wrong. I know that when I tack up a horse and get on their backs, they're going to try the best they can to do what I ask of them. I get taken away and I always feel better with these friendly beasts. They try so hard to please and understand us but sadly we don't always take that into account when we get mad or frustrated at them. Horses do everything for a reason. Not because they're jerks, but most likely because they're hurt or scared. They are truly the most honest animal that humans have domesticated.
I just wanted to throw that out there because many horse people needed to be reminded of that. I wince at people beating on their horses for no obvious reason. Of course, there is a time and place for punishing a horse but for the most part I think trial and error training is the best solution for any horse training problem.
Moving on before I get too into it, I have gotten some recent news of where I will stay in Germany. Raphael found me a place near Heinsburg, which is north of Aachen. I'll be working at the farm of the Quadflieg family and staying at an apartment (Kris Black's from Savage, MN) about ten minutes away from there (yes, that means I have to drive). So far, this is all I know. I'm sure there will be lots more info to come.
I'll post as soon as I know. :)

Measuring Time

Brr, it's been especially cold in MN for the last couple of days. I've been keeping up to date with Germany's weather, as well. While we're suffering in -30, they're happy in their 30's (yes, that is without the negative in front of it). That is a whole 60 degree difference. I'd be sunbathing right now! Geez, I sometimes wonder why people live here...
I'll be excited to have my Christmas and new year (I'll be avoiding all the crazy Americans who think the world is going to end in 2012) in Germany. Yet, I'll miss everyone I normally spend the holidays with. But my ma is planning to come spend the holidays with me there and so do many other people. I guess I need to start saving up for bigger suitcases to sneak everyone into the country with me. :]
Talking to people about it get my adrenaline going. I'm happy but sad at the same time. I just don't want to miss anything at home but yet I need to have experiences in my life so I can grow. I know I'll learn so much; more than anyone or anywhere in the U.S. could ever offer me. I am thankful to be diving into unknown abyss (sounds like an oxymoron). Many people tell me that I won't want to leave when it's over and I believe it. I'm sure I'll return time and time again. Or I at least hope to.
There will be many entries in this blog like this, I'm sure. Just nervous ramblings about how I feel about the topic at the time. However, since that could get boring, I'm sure I'll be able to calm down and talk about other things, like finishing up my senior year at school or my horses I have at home. But this is what I usually have on my mind. If it's not this, it's what I need to do to get there. Whatta life.

But for now, I just write and live for the future.

Ready, Set, Go!

Hey everyone,


whoever everyone is. For now, that's no one. I don't plan to make this blog truly public until I really know where the heck I'm going to go.
Where am I going? Well, there's some sort of crazy plan being set for me to go be a working student at a dressage barn in Germany in October. Yeah, I don't much believe it either. Not yet, anyway. I won't believe it until I'm on the plane, flying over an ocean, far far away from everything I love. But it's good for me. I figure, if a person wants to be someone, they have to be open to experiences. So nonetheless, I am very very excited.


Anywho, that's basically what this blog is going to be all about. It's to keep in touch with my friends and family while I'm there and also for me to remember the experience. But for now, I set it up in case I need to iron things out for myself.


Here's to making memories. Wish me luck. :]