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.
Friday, September 2, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
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!
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!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
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. :)
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. :)
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