Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
3/16/11: The Bucking Bronco!
Today I got to jump Lucy outside for the first time! It's amazing to think that I never rode her outdoors a single time for nearly three months. Finally the weather is cooperating (it was about 14 degrees celsius today) and I'm getting to ride in the sunshine again! A few days ago, I ventured outside on the flat with Lucy for the first time and got quite an unpleasant surprise when she immediately turned into a bucking bronco and continuously bucked and leapt into the air until she finally threw me onto the ground. After falling off, I couldn't help but imagine the horrible experiences that lay in store for me at home in the near... In Georgia I ride out in a huge grass field almost every day! Riding indoors isn't an option at Pinetree Farm, so Lucy better get used to the sun quickly or I am going to have a permanently sore body from hitting the ground every day! Of course I had to fall off just as the end of my time in Germany is approaching. I think it's required for a horse to throw me off in every country that I dare to ride in! My next foreign stop is Calgary, Alberta, Canada this summer and I will be prepared with some Arnica gel and Advil just in case.
Luckily, after a few days outdoors (and a little work with the draw reins), my bucking bronco seems to be settling down. Today she jumped wonderfully! There were a few pauses in the corners of the ring to let out some hops, but other than that she jumped the course quite smoothly. It was about meter 1.35 with some tight turns, steady lines, and one oxer-vertical in-and-out. Alois said Lucy looked like a little kid running around in the sun, happy to be free. I don't mind her feeling free, just as long as she doesn't get carried away and decide to throw me off again and run free into the German wilderness! Tomorrow I will jump her again, hopefully over a few bigger jumps. Alois didn't mind Lucy bucking today because it was the first time I've jumped her outdoors. However, if she bucks again tomorrow it will be time for "more domination," as he always says!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
3/13/11: Pictures of Munster.
3/13/11: Adventures in Munster!
On Tuesday we rode the horses early and Lena, Simone, and I headed off to the city of Munster in the afternoon! It was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It was a lovely day, about 9 degrees (I now operate in Celsius when it comes to both cooking and the weather) and sunny! We drove around the perimeter of the city and I saw the buildings occupied by the University of Munster, a school with roughly 39,000 students and one of the best medical programs in the country, including the incredible Schloss (castle) building that was once the palace of German Prince Bishops. The Schloss of Munster was built between 1767 and 1787 but had to be almost entirely reconstructed after World War II. In fact, most of the incredible historic buildings in Munster were destroyed during the war. Good job, Hitler, you got all the nicest buildings in Germany bombed because you wanted to be the king of the world. What he really should have done is just go live in the Schloss of Munster! I would certainly feel like a queen if I lived there! The Schloss is not open for public tours because it is used exclusively by the University for teaching. Those lucky German students! Other wonderful Munster landmarks include the Aasee Lake, a massive lake in the middle of the city that covers almost 100 acres of land; the Rathaus (Town Hall), an incredible Gothic building from the 14th century that was also destroyed during the war but entirely restored to its original form in the 1950s. The Peace Treaty of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years' War was signed in the Rathaus in 1648! There are several amazing churches in Munster, including St. Paul's Dom (Cathedral), a 13th century building that took 40 years to complete. The cathedral's most remarkable feature is an intricate astronomical clock decorated in the 1530s by Ludger tom Ring the Elder, a painter from Munster. Apparently he's very famous, but all I know about him is that he has a confusing name and a knack for painting clocks. A slightly smaller but no less remarkable church in Munster is St. Lamberti Church, located right at the end of the main Prinzipalmarkt Street in the heart of the city. It was built in 1375 and its hall-style construction is the most common type of church style found in the Westphalia region of Germany. On a slightly morbid note, the lower part of the church houses three iron cages that were used to display the bodies of Anabaptist cult leaders in the 1530s! I'm very glad I didn't get to see those.
After getting a taste of Munster's history, Lena, Simone, and I walked around Prinzipalmarkt Street where all the best shops in the city are located! We went to bakeries, clothing stores, and even Starbucks (of course). I wouldn't have even noticed the Starbucks because, let's be realistic, they're EVERYWHERE! However, when Lena spotted the big green sign she shouted "Starbucks!!!" and went running towards it. Apparently Starbucks cafes are still considered exotic in Germany and, because Warstein is not blessed with one, getting a chai tea latte was quite a treat for Lena. After our marvelous Starbucks adventure, we went to Hussel Confiserie, which Lena told me is the best candy store in Germany. The shelves were stocked like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and I picked up a few treats to bring back home. My sister Frances has a passion for Haribo gummy bears, so I can't wait to find out if Hussel gummy bears will be her new favorite candy!
After a few hours of shopping, Lena, Simone, and I finished out the evening by going to a delicious Italian restaurant called Vapiano. It is a chain restaurant that serves fast, gourmet Italian food and I actually went to another Vapiano in Dusseldorf with Lena and Christoffer on my very first night in Germany. It feels so long ago that I sat in the Gatwick Airport, waiting for my flight and wondering what lay ahead for me in the coming months. I have certainly enjoyed my time here and I can't believe there are only two weeks left before I fly home to Georgia. I may not sprechen sie Deutch, but I definitely have a little German spirit in me at this point! I will miss living in Warstein... with all the beer... and tractors.
Friday, March 11, 2011
3/11/11: Just A Few Pictures!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
3/5/11: The German Eskimo.
Yesterday, Lucy and went to our first horse show together! It was quite a long day. I woke up at 4:00 am and was ready to leave the house by 4:30. It was still dark and freezing cold when Simone; Lena; and I got to the barn, and we had to ride and lunge a total of eight horses before leaving for the show at 8:00. I thought I was going to collapse from cold and exhaustion riding around the arena at the crack of dawn! My sister Frances informed me that the weather is sunny and warm at home in Georgia, and I couldn't help imagining a gorgeous Southern day as I rode around feeling like a polar bear. We survived the morning riding and went back to the house to drink some coffee (I drank at least six cups of coffee throughout the day and I was still falling asleep standing up), Lena and I changed into our show clothes, and we headed back to the stable to load up the horses. We took Bandit, Lillibett, and Lucy and each horse had two classes to compete in. There are a lot of one-day national shows in Germany that are great for getting mileage in practice classes. Simone drove the horse van about an hour and a half from Warstein to Warendorf, where we parked in a large dirt field alongside about fifty other trucks.
Lena had the first class with Lillibett at 11:00. The track was meter 1.30 in a big indoor ring and Lillibett jumped great! They went clear but it was a power and speed class, and Lena rode a slow track, so they didn't get a ribbon. After this was another welcome coffee break before Lena's meter 1.35 class at 1:00, in which she rode both of her horses. The weather was so unbearably cold at the show that when Lena got on Lillibett for the second class and handed me her huge Montcler jacket, I put it on over my own four layers of clothes and puffy winter jacket. There was a mirror in the schooling area and I saw my reflection as I set jumps for Lena. I looked like an eskimo! EXACTLY like an eskimo! When I said this to Simone, she laughed and said, "Yes, yes you definitely do." Germany has taught me that there are times when sacrificing fashion for the sake of comfort and survival is necessary. Unfortunately for this little German eskimo, the day had only just begun...
Lena made small mistakes on Bandit and Lillibett in the 1.35 class and had four faults on both of them. However, the horses both jumped great. After this, we sat by the heaters in the restaurant (sadly it was not actually an indoor restaurant) at the show, sipping tea and trying to keep our teeth from chattering, until it was time for me to ride Lucy. Lena was so cold and tired that she used the table as a pillow and took a quick nap! The track for Lucy's first class was a simplistic meter 1.25 course with long bending lines and one vertical-oxer two stride in-and-out. I walked the course and made a plan of attack, then I got on Lucy a little early and worked her with draw reins attached to a breast plate to keep her relaxed and put together before I started jumping. Tacking up Lucy in the field outside the horse van was a bit of a challenge because she's still very sensitive about her ears. Eventually we had to take the whole bridle apart to get it onto her head! When I first got on, Lucy felt very fresh and nervous and I immediately thought the class was going to be a disaster. The sun was going down and the ring was not completely enclosed, so I fully expected seven-year-old Lucy to be a nervous wreck. However, she very pleasantly surprised me by jumping around beautifully! She was wild as usual, but went very smoothly, jumped clear, and never spooked at all (except at the giant hay bale sitting by the in gate, and how can I really blame her for that? It was huge! Even I thought it looked like a man-eating hay bale). The class was scored in a very weird way. It was judged almost like an equitation class! After each round, a judge gave comments on the horse and rider's performance and a score out of 10, based on the horse and rider's style, speed, track, compatibility, and the number of jumps knocked down. Lucy and I had a few lovely corner bucks and I let her get too deep to the last jump, so I don't think we were scored very high!
Despite this, I was ecstatic after Lucy's performance, but the day was far from over. We had to wait until 6:30 for Lena's second class with Bandit, a meter 1.40 junior/young rider jump-off competition, to start. Luckily the miserable, long, cold wait was worth it when Bandit jumped double clear! Lena's jump-off round was a little slow, so the pair ended up in sixth place. We didn't have much time to sit around and feel cold this time before Lucy's second class started at 8:00 pm. At this point I was actually convinced we had been transported to the North Pole... except that Santa, elves, and cookies were nowhere to be found! I quickly walked the course and ran back to the truck to put on my helmet, very bitterly remove a few jackets, and help tack up Lucy. Lucy came through for me once again and jumped even better over the slightly bigger meter 1.30 jumps! Our track was a bit smoother this time and, according to Simone, we received a score of 7.7 out of 10 and the judge thought Lucy and I suited each other well. I was very proud of her jumping so well under the lights and in the cold so late at night.
After leaving the ring, Simone, Lena, and I hurriedly packed Lucy and the rest of our gear into the horse van and, in the space of ten minutes, we drove out of the show in a desperate rush to escape the cold! It was 11:15 by the time we got back to the stable. We made sure the horses were comfortable in their stalls and then drove the horse van back to the house. Simone, Lena, and I all fell into bed completely exhausted as soon as we got home! It may have been the longest day of my life, but it was definitely worth the effort to get some great ring experience with Lucy!
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