2/8/11: Scheisse!

My favorite German word is definitely "scheisse" (pronounced "shizer"). It means "shit" and all Germans seem to say it at least twenty times a day. Every time any little thing goes wrong, the first word spoken is always, "scheisse." I had a quiet weekend in Warstein again. Alois, Lena, and Christoffer all went to a small local show about an hour and a half away to ride on Saturday. The three of them left the barn at 6:30 am (I woke up at 5:30 when I heard someone in my room. I thought about using my pepper spray, but instead I just went back to sleep. Luckily, it was just Lena searching for her riding coat in the closet!) I heard "scheisse" many times later Saturday morning because it turned out that the early morning made everyone's minds a little foggy, and Derren forgot to put one of Alois's horses in the trailer. When they arrived at the show, Alois thought Lena had put the horse in the trailer, Derren thought Alois had put the horse in the trailer, and no one had actually done it! "SCHEISSE" could be heard reverberating around all of Germany!

The horses that did make it to the show were all quite good. Alois jumped clear and got ribbons with his best young horse, Balermo, and a new horse that arrived three weeks ago named Evita; Lena had one or two rails in every class with Bandit and Lillibeth, but they both jumped well; and Christoffer's best horse, Magic, jumped clear, and he had small issues with his other two horses. Simone rode two horses at the barn Saturday morning and then left for Dusseldorf. Not only does Simone ride and organize the barn, but she also owns a high fashion clothing store about five hours away from Warstein and has spent the last two weeks picking out her winter collection for next year. Her store carries Roberto Cavalli, Seven For All Mankind, and many other chic brands.

After Simone left, I was the only person riding for the rest of the day, so I had a lot of horses! I started riding at about 8:30 am and kept going until 2:30. With Moni's help, I finished all the horses, so I walked to a small store called Penny Market about a mile from the house to buy some snacks. One thing I absolutely love about living in such a small town is that everything is within walking distance (and by "everything" I mean the grocery store, the gas station, and the church, since that's basically all there is). Alois, Lena, and Christoffer came home around 9:00 pm and we had a great time searching funny videos on Youtube. Alois introduced me to a very funny German comedian named Jim Bauer. His videos are hysterical!

Sunday was an easy day for me because Lena and Christoffer were at home to ride. Alois went back to the show, and he remembered to take Prunus this time! I didn't see the horse show at all, but next Saturday I am going to watch at a show in Dortmund. I can't wait until Lucy and I get to compete here as well! I'm still not sure when our first show will be, but I will probably have to wait another three or four weeks. I'm very impatient!