1/31/11: Wassup? Not Much...

Lena and I had a quiet weekend in Warstein. We stayed at the barn until about 3:00 pm each day, riding all the horses, and then watched German TV and relaxed at the house until heading off to bed. Yesterday, I was pretty bored around 5:00 in the afternoon and searched online "things to do when you're bored at home." I found lots of interesting lists! It's actually shocking how many different lists of 150 Things To Do When Bored can be found using Google. After reading countless options, I selected two that sounded appealing: 1. write a letter to a celebrity and 2. take a bubble bath. So, while filling up my bath, I wrote a postcard from London with a picture of Tower Bridge on it to Johnny Depp. I can't wait for some random official Johnny Depp fan mail opener to read my British postcard sent from an American in Germany!

After putting my Johnny Depp postcard in the mailbox this morning, I headed out to the barn to ride. My knee is feeling much better! I rode Lucy and Lillibeth (one of Lena's horses) on Friday and Saturday, then I just lunged Lucy on Sunday and didn't ride. This break was great for my knee, and it felt almost back to normal today. This morning, I tacked up some horses for Alois and Simone before getting to watch Marcus Ehning try a horse. It was amazing to watch him ride and jump a horse that I have ridden before! The horse went beautifully for him of course. I rode two of Alois's horses and Lucy afterward, and I tried to imitate Marcus's soft yet determined way of riding. Needless to say I failed dismally! I flatted Lucy using a chambone today. She was a little fresh because I only lunged her yesterday, but she's starting to accept my leg and getting much smoother in her transitions. I absolutely love her. Tomorrow I plan on riding a few more horses and I'll see how my knee holds up.

I'm still working on my German. I'm starting to understand a little more during conversations at the dinner table, but I am still pretty clueless. While trying to learn German, I'm also trying to teach English to Sabi, who only speaks German and Hungarian. So far, he's learned "What's up?" and "Not much." At least he'll be able to greet people if he ever comes to the US! Tomorrow I plan on Americanizing him a little more by teaching him "awesome" and "cool."

1/27/11: Success!

Today I finally rode Lucy again! She's been getting lunged with a chambon since last Friday. This morning I got up, wrapped my knee with a ridiculously oversized bandage, put on riding clothes (I've discovered that riding pants are not comfortable with a small watermelon-sized knee), took Ibuprofen, and headed to the barn. I think Ibuprofen is pretty awesome because riding was no problem, and I even jumped a little bit. Alois also rode Lucy for about 15 minutes. He really put her together, and seeing his hand and body position while riding her on the flat and over jumps was really helpful for me when I got back on. Lucy often tries to avoid pressure from the rider's leg by constantly swinging her hind end slightly from side to side. To help with this issue, Alois sat very deeply in the saddle, maintained a constant but soft feel of the reins and draw reins, and made her canter in a slow and consistent rhythm. She was much easier to adjust to the jumps and settle in the corners after Alois's work! Alois left for a horse show this afternoon, so I will try to utilize some of his tips while working Lucy on the flat over the weekend. Luckily, I have Ibuprofen to help me out!

1/26/11: Epic Fail.

So, today I got on Lord's Boy as my first ride since last Friday. He was wonderful, and I even jumped him over some small jumps, but the longer I rode, the more stabbing pain I got in my knee. When I got off, I was in tears walking back to the barn. Lena and Derren told me to sit down and promised to take me to the hospital later. My knee pounded for the next hour or two while I groomed a few horses, but once we finished in the barn and headed inside to get lunch, the pain subsided a lot. Lena and Opa took me to a hospital ("krankenhaus" in German) in Warstein called Maria Hilf. Thank goodness Lena stayed with me to translate for the doctors because no one at the hospital seemed to speak fluent English. We spent two full hours talking to doctors, nurses, and lots of assistants. A very nice female doctor looked over my knee, asked me some questions (or should I say, asked Lena some questions, since the whole conversation had to be translated), and sent me to get X-Rays. The diagnosis is that I have a strain or slight damage to the meniscus on the inside of my knee. It is not serious, so hopefully a few more days of rest and ice will fix it up completely. I'm perfectly mobile, but pushing weight into my stirrup and pressing my leg against the saddle seem to aggravate the issue. It is absolutely ridiculous that I have been in Warstein for over a week and have not ridden for half of the time. I am officially a mess!

1/25/11: Let's Try Again.

After a few days of grooming horses and cleaning tack, tomorrow I am going to give riding another try! My knee feels almost completely back to normal, and it looks more like a small mango now than the humongous watermelon it was three days ago. I plan on riding Lucy and one or two of Alois's just to test it out.

After breakfast this morning, I attempted to walk to the barn (it's barely a quarter of a mile away from the house) with the Pollman-Schweckhorst's dog, Billy. We were happily walking along and were about halfway to the barn when Billy suddenly turned around, bolted back to the house, and sat down by the door where she refused to budge an inch. I called her repeatedly, but eventually I had to give in and go back to get her. Opa (the word for "Grandpa" in German. Everyone refers to Simone's father as this) gave me a leash, and Billy and I gave walking to the barn another try. I think she thought I was trying to steal her when she realized none of her family members were joining us on the walk! Once I made it to the barn, I lunged Lucy for about twenty minutes while rocking out to Kid Cudi on my Ipod. Music sure does make lunging more enjoyable! She was really well behaved and seems to be very sensible for such a young horse. I think she will learn quickly in Alois's program, and I found out yesterday that I will have the chance to show her in young horse classes at a national Junior/Young Rider show in Germany in a few weeks. I'm really excited! The biggest issue I'm having with Lucy right now is a white fungus she has on the inside of her ears. Simone told me a lot of horses get this fungus in Europe when the hair in their ears is clipped very short. It clearly causes Lucy a lot of pain because, even though she's very sweet and quite in the stable, she runs backward when I try to push her ears down to put on a halter or bridle. I have some anti-fungal shampoo from the vet and have been putting it in her ears every day, but if it doesn't clear up soon I think she will need some different medicine.

After Simone; Christoffer; and Pia, a nice woman who has been riding some of Alois's horses over the past few days, rode three horses each, everyone headed inside for lunch. Simone very kindly cooked me spinach and potatoes, while everyone else ate chicken and potatoes. I'm so grateful for the fresh market! I took a little nap after lunch (it's amazing that I can sleep during the day even after I've barely done anything), and then went back to the barn where I helped Lena and Simone with their horses. When all the riding was finished, we did a massive cleanup of the ring. We removed all the jumps, dragged the ring, and cleaned the jump storage area and the entrance hall to the ring. The ring will feel very spacious tomorrow with no jumps in it!

After finishing up at the barn, I took my first trip to a German grocery store. It is called Edeka and I was very impressed by it! It took me about 15 minutes to pick out a new face wash because I couldn't explain to Lena exactly what a facial scrub is. Finally we got it all worked out and hopefully I didn't buy some sort of peel that is going to make my skin fall off. I need a fresh face for riding tomorrow!

Pictures: 1/22/11

The town of Warstein.

Famous Warsteiner beer!

The Pollman-Schweckhorst's cat, Felix.

The emblem for the Brewery that can be found on everything at Alois's barn. There are even pictures of beer all around the ring!

The brewery.

1/22/11: The German Cripple.

For the past few days, my right knee has gotten progressively more swollen and sore. Every time I get off a horse, it hurts a little more. I have no idea what's wrong, but this morning Simone saw me walking to the kitchen in shorts (returning frozen peas I was using to ice my leg), noticed my knee, and announced that I should not ride for two days. She gave me some mysterious German anti-inflammatory cream (or at least that's what I hope it is) and some mysterious German pain pills (I'm pretty sure that's what they are because they had an effect similar to Advil), and when we headed out to the barn I only tacked up horses and cleaned tack. I am proud to say my time at the barn was not wasted, however, because I learned to say "how are you?" in German: "Wie geht es dir," although it sounds like, "Vee get es tia." Before going to the barn, Simone, Lena, and I also went to a fresh market in Warstein. Warstein is definitely the smallest town I have ever lived in. It officially became a town in 1296 and I don't think it's grown a whole lot since then. A beautiful church and the main offices for Warsteiner Brewery make up the town center, and every Wednesday and Saturday there is a small fresh market in the courtyard of the church. It's made up of a few individual vendors selling everything from eggs, steak, and bratwurst to fresh fruits and vegetables. Simone, Lena, and I bought lots of groceries and took them back to the house before heading to the barn. We also dropped off some bags of bottles and plastic at recycling bins in the town. Everyone recycles here because it costs 25 Euros to have a regular sized plastic bin of trash discarded.

This afternoon, after finishing at the barn and cooking some of the vegetables from the market to eat for lunch, I got out the trusty peas again and sat with them on my hippo-esque knee for about 30 minutes whilst watching The Break-Up. I really hope my leg is better tomorrow! If it isn't, I am going to go see a doctor on Monday. For dinner, Simone, Lena, Charlotte, and Opa (this is the German name for "grandpa") went out to dinner with one of Opa's friends and his eight year old daughter. We went to a very traditional German hotel called the Schettel Hotel and Restaurant. It was absolutely beautiful, with an intimate restaurant, delicious food, and only ten bedrooms. The Pollmann-Schweckhorst's are good friends of the hotel owners, so I got a guided tour!

Now I just need to put some more German cream on my leg and hope for the best for tomorrow.

1/20/11: Are There Vegetables In Germany?

I have been in Germany for four days now! I am trying to learn German from watching TV shows with Lena. My favorite is an action show called "Good Times, Bad Times" when translated into English. The main characters are two young men named Dominic and Patrick who were held for ransom by kidnappers in the first episode I watched. They have since escaped from their captors, but Dominic is currently in the hospital in a coma caused by internal bleeding. It is a very suspenseful show, even in German! Understanding TV in Germany is difficult, and eating is also. I don't eat meat or dairy, so German bratwurst isn't on my list of favorite foods. Luckily, Mrs. Drea foresaw this problem and sent me with lots of protein bars and snacks from England! I'm a little worried about starving when I run out of snacks, but I'm hoping for the best.

My new 7 year old mare, Lucy, arrived two days ago at the stable (in Germany, the barn is called a stable rather than a yard) and I absolutely love her! She is a small gray mare and is a little hot and sensitive. She also has a beautiful face and a sweet demeanor to match. This morning, Alois helped me school her over some small jumps. She jumped amazing but has a bit of an attitude between the jumps and wants to play and kick out sometimes. Alois says he likes her very much and she just "needs education." I think he's right and I'm very excited about him helping me train her! I have now seen Alois ride both on the flat and over jumps, and he is a wonderful rider with an incredible feel for the horses. I feel very lucky to be training with him!

Today was the first day I finished at the barn before 7:00 pm. After Lena and Charlotte go to school around 7:30 am, Christoffer, Simone, Alois, and I usually start riding around 8:00. Yesterday morning, Christoffer, Derren, and Sabi were supposed to leave for a horse show about eight hours away in the south of Germany. However, the horse van (I have to call it a truck now instead of a lorrie... so confusing!) had some mechanical problems, so they were not able to leave until noon. Because there was a rush to get all of Christoffer's horses ridden before they left for the show, I was very busy riding and tacking up horses. I rode six in total, but it took a long time! I finally got on Lucy at about 6:30, and closed up the barn at 7:45. It was a long day! I had a much easier day today. There were fewer horses in the barn today because Alois is showing four this weekend, so I rode four this morning and had this afternoon to relax. I was very happy about this because I somehow injured my right knee, and it is causing me a lot of pain. It is red and swollen and I don't know what's wrong. Hopefully it will heal fast. I put ice and arnica on it this afternoon and I'll see what happens.

Lena and I have been watching some of Breakfast At Tiffany's every night. We haven't managed to finish it because we get too tired and go to sleep, but it's nice to be able to share a famous American movie with Lena. She has not seen it before, and she claims she's understanding and enjoying it. Lena's English is good but certainly not fluent. We have some communication issues, and often we have to refer to an online German-English translator called Pons. The Internet is a life saver!

Tonight Lena and I plan to finish the movie, and tomorrow I am working in the barn alone in the morning while Simone goes to pick up some stuff from the vet. We'll see if I can handle it! Unfortunately, I can't take any pictures of Alois's barn right now because my camera is broken. I think the lense got a little wet while I was in England (probably from all the fog!) and now when I turn it on, it says "lense error" and turns back off. I will try to buy a new one soon!

1/17/11: Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Today was my first day at Alois’s barn in Germany! Lena and Christoffer, Alois’s sixteen year old daughter and her Danish boyfriend, respectively, picked me up from the airport yesterday evening. After a sad goodbye to the Drea's- I am really going to miss them- I somehow managed to haul all of my suitcases through the airport and make my plane. I had to repack my overweight bag in the middle of the check-in line, exchange my Pounds for Euros, and then wait for about an hour to get on the flight. I sat down in the terminal and the first announcement I heard was, "last call for the British Airways flight to Atlanta." I almost went running through the terminal yelling, "LET ME ON THAT FLIGHT, I MISS HOME!" but i managed to restrain myself.

It was a quick flight to Dusseldorf and I got a little tour of the city before Lena, Christoffer, and I went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. We had to drive about an hour and a half to Warstein, where I settled into the Pollman-Schweckhorst's beautiful house, which is right across the street from the Warsteiner Brewery and the stable where Alois keeps his horses. Almost immediately after arriving at the house, a dressage horse at Alois's stable got cast in the stall and we had to rush to the barn to help it get up. Luckily, the barn is about 30 seconds away and, although the horse had clearly been struggling for quite a while to get up, it was able to scramble away from the wall and get to its feet with some encouragement. After this bit of drama, Alois showed the rest of the family (his lovely wife, Simone; eight year old daughter, Charlotte; Lena; and Simone's father), Christoffer, and I the video of a Grand Prix he jumped in last weekend. His horse jumped very well and he just had one unlucky rail in a combination.

Today, I got to see Alois ride in person. He is a beautiful, fluid rider, although he has a very German style. He sits very far back in the saddle and maintains a strong contact with the front end of the horse. I think it will take me a bit of time to get used to riding with such a deep seat and strong feel of the horse's mouth. If I want to survive in Germany, I will have to be tough!

I went to the barn at about 7:30 am this morning and met Derren, a British man who grooms for Alois (I am so grateful there is another native English speaker in the barn), and Sabi, a Hungarian man who grooms for Christoffer and speaks no English (maybe I can learn Hungarian as well as German while I'm here. Dream big). I started riding around 8:00, and rode a total of five horses. My favorite was a beautiful little bay gelding that Alois owns named Lord's Boy. He is a little fiery and sensitive, certainly not a typical German horse!

So far, I have learned only a few German terms. I can say, "guten morgen," which means, "good morning." I can almost remember how to count to ten: "ein, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn." I can also say, "sieh sie morgen," meaning, "see you tomorrow." I definitely have a lot to learn!

1/9/11: Party Time!

The internet has been down again at the Drea's, but other than that everything is going well! The Dubarry work boots I ordered at Olympia finally came yesterday and I love them! They are so comfortable and warm that I didn't want to take them off and put on my paddock boots to ride. Today was another beautiful, sunny day. I even saw the stars last night for the first time in over a month. England has taught me the valuable lesson that living in a sunny place is worth the potential skin cancer risk because life is simply happier!

Jessie and I had a dinner party on Friday night and had a great time. I wanted to bake chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Unfortunately, Mrs. Drea informed me as I got out the mixing bowl and ingredients that she doesn't measure anything in the kitchen, so she doesn't own any measuring cups or spoons. I almost cried when I heard that! First, I couldn't figure out how many sticks of butter to use because the individual sticks are a different size than those in the US. After that, I continued to guess the ingredient measurements and somehow managed to pull off acceptable cookies. There were about 36 cookies and they were all gone by Saturday, so I felt successful!

Several exciting incidents occurred on Saturday. First, I fell off for the first time since I've been in England! Sadly, it was very anticlimactic. I was jumping Rantadoo and when I landed off a skinny he tried to dive hard to the right, so I pulled him left but he wouldn't turn fast enough and we almost ran into the fence. I decided I better just go with the right turn and at the last minute he did turn left and we just went our separate ways. A Libyan man who works for the Drea's named Ahmed and a 15 year old girl named Lily who comes to ride on the weekends also fell off all within a few minutes of each other! Another, somewhat more positive, exciting moment occurred when I was able to put on Tucatie's bridle for the first time. Tucatie is a meter 1.40-1.45 horse that Jessie as been riding for several years. She's great fun to ride but has a nasty habit of running away and throwing her head in the air like a giraffe when someone comes to put a bridle on her. Being short, every day I've tried everything short of beating her over the head with a bat to attempt to get the bridle on, and yesterday I was finally able to distract her using some hay and successfully slip the bridle over her head. I felt very accomplished and I got her bridle on again today, so I think we're starting to bond!

Tomorrow Jessie is going to take me to the local tack store. I can't wait to find some fun new British equestrian gear. I just have to do my special sunshine dance before I go to sleep in the hopes of getting some good weather for tomorrow! If it doesn't work I may need to buy some more thick riding socks at the tack store. England has really opened my eyes to the greatness of warm socks!

1/5/11: SUNSHINE!

Today started out interestingly... I went out for a run at 6:15 (it felt like 4 am... brutal) and when I got back to the house, I discovered that I locked myself out! The lights were still off and I didn't want to knock and wake the Drea's up, so I just sat on the front porch for about 15 minutes until Mrs. Drea came to my rescue. Luckily I had my blackberry to send BBMs while I was waiting! When Jessie and I headed to the barn a little later, I saw something absolutely wonderful and astounding: SUNSHINE! The sun was bright and beautiful. Since I've been living in England, every time the sun peaks out, it's just a tiny sliver and isn't really bright and warm. I never anticipated how much I would miss sunshine! This morning finally provided me with my sunshine fix, and I literally bounced around the barn all morning because I was so happy. Sadly, it only lasted a few hours and then the weather turned gray and cold again. It was almost completely dark by 4:30 this afternoon!

My new favorite horse is a gelding named Rantadoo that came to the Drea's from Germany about a month ago. When he first arrived, Jessie talked to his owners on the phone and asked what his name was. Because of the German accent, she thought his name was "Rent-A-Loo." She has been calling him that for the past month and only found out his real name today when she had to fill in entries for a horse show! When Jessie first told me the horse was named Rent-A-Loo, I replied, "What? Like a Port-A-Pottie?" She thought this was very funny because mobile toilets aren't called Port-A-Potties here, they are called Rent-A-Loos. I still feel very awkward saying I'm going to "run to the loo," instead of "go to the bathroom." Anyway, I am really enjoying riding Mr. Port-A-Pottie (even though, at over 17 hands, he's about three sizes too big for me!) and he was very good when I jumped him today.

I am hoping to see some more sunshine tomorrow, figure out how to open the front door, and get lots of riding done!

1/4/11: Back to Work.

The horses can finally get ridden again because the heaps of snow have melted. Jessie and I have been riding since we got home from London on New Year's Day. The horses are crazy after having a full two weeks off! They barely even got out of the stable because of all the ice in the yard, so they are out of shape and very fresh. Yesterday I had a great time trying a new kind of equestrian sport: driving! A few days ago, Mr. Drea bought a pony that can't be more than 11 hands from a local farmer. The pony came with a homemade wooden cart, and Luke drives it to the gas station and the pub. I got to try it out, and I must admit it might be more fun than show jumping. I felt like British royalty driving Dexter down the road!

This morning I was very bad and slept in. I went to find Jessie in her room at about 8:15 and she had already been to the barn and come back for breakfast! I think the extra sleep was probably worth it. I flatted five horses, and a physiotherapist came to work on several of Jessie's horses. It was very interesting to watch her work. She made small adjustments in the horses' necks and rubbed different muscles and joints like a masseuse. Jessie said she works wonders on the horses! She worked on Tucati, who is one of the horses that I ride, so tomorrow I hope to feel a difference in her movement.

Pictures: 1/3/11

Luke and his pony, Dexter, pulling a cart!

Dexter.

A very cool drying rack for blankets (aka "rugs") in the tack room.

The chocolate counter at Harrod's.

Everyone has these little push button tea kettles!

The "Piggy Drea".

Dark, creepy church in London.

Double decker London bus!

Whole Foods... The best grocery store in the world!

A morbidly obese attack squirrel in London.

1/3/11: New Year's Resolution Time!

Happy new year! I was lucky enough to spend New Year's Eve in London. It was my first European New Year's Eve celebration! Before I left for London, Jessie informed me that the British don’t drink on New Year's Eve because they want to start off the new year respectably. I believed her at first but it turned out to be a pack of lies! I don't think these crazy Brits would ever miss out on a worldwide excuse to party hard. I met my friend Paige at my grandparents' flat in Kensington to spend a few days enjoying the city. Jessie lives just about 15 minutes from Gatwick airport, so I took an express train from Gatwick to Victoria Station in London. I successfully reached the train station and then decided I didn't want to pay for a cab so I would just walk to the flat. I took a stroll past Buckingham Palace with my suitcase... then I got lost and had to ask five different people for directions. That just made me more lost and I ended up having to take a cab further than I would have if I’d just gotten one straight from Victoria Station. Clearly I have a great sense of direction! I think my total journey time was 2 ½ hours… it was a thirty minute train ride. GO ME. My New Year's Resolution: Learn how to read a map!