Ahh... Where to begin? I have been here a week now and it seems much longer. Max survived the flight ok. He was stressed when he arrived at the airport in Florida but once he was able to get out and stretch his legs he was much happier. Vioen arrived late Sunday night and seemed to travel well. The driver said that she was a good girl and they didn't have any problems with her. She had lost some weight which is to be expected considering she traveled across the country. She was a bit out of sorts but we all were at first!
The weather has been pretty hot, up to the 80's. It took a little getting used to but I am drinking a lot of water! I live with two other girls in a four bedroom apartment above the barn. One of the girl's name is Tanya. She is 29 years old and has been working for Melissa and Lars for three years now. The second girl is Sophie. She is 19 years old and has been working here for two months. They are both from Denmark. The third girl lives in the house with the stall cleaner and is the assistant trainer. Her name is Neve and she is from South Africa. She's been working here for six weeks. She trained in Germany and is 30 years old. The stall cleaners name is Reynaldo (sp?). He doesn't really speak english and I try to communicate to him in spanish but my spanish is no good and he just keeps on talking to me and laughing.
Today is my first day off. So far it seems that we only get one day off per week. We start working at 6:00 am and finish at 5:00pm with a half an hour lunch break. It was a bit brutal in the beginning but I have gotten used to it. I have learned to pace myself and so far have been able to better conserve my energy. Today on my day off I haven't left the barn except to go to the post office. I slept in a bit but it's hard because the barn is so noisy with all the activity. I rode three horses today and it was a blast. I can't think of a better way to spend my first day off! I am sure as time goes on I will want to do something non-horsey on my days off but I am still so thrilled to be here and to watch the the horses get worked and see Lars teach.
I have been riding Vioen and she's doing really well. She is very out of shape from all the time off after the surgery but is such a trooper and really loves to work. I am so proud of her and so happy that she's here with me! Lars has already started puting me on horses and it's so exciting! He usually gives you a few pointers or tells you how he wants the horse to go while you're riding and it's great. He's a great teacher and has a great eye for what he wants the horse to do. When Vioen gets going a bit more I will start getting lessons.
Right now there's 20 horses here and 15 more coming for the show season, which is January thru March. It's going to be super busy! I guess there's another girl coming on the 15th of this month and possibly an additional girl coming from Denmark. We will need all the help we can get! I am going to get is such good shape, it's great!
All in all things are going great, better than I had origionally anticipated. Lars and Melissa are really great people to work for. Very positive and easy going. The other working students were pretty patient with introducing me to the routine. I asked a lot of questions in the beginning but didn't want to do anything wrong and they all tolerated me pretty well. I feel a little isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. I don't know my way around at all and we are out in the boon docks! I think later today I am going to go to Wellington and get a new pair of walking shoes. My feet have been killing me! There is A LOT of walking and when you're not on a horse you're on your feet. I will write later to fill you all in how things are done here and give more detail to what I'm learning and what's different. It's pretty cool. I am starting to miss home and miss all my friends but am trying not to think about it to much. Thank god I have Max-i-poo :)
The weather has been pretty hot, up to the 80's. It took a little getting used to but I am drinking a lot of water! I live with two other girls in a four bedroom apartment above the barn. One of the girl's name is Tanya. She is 29 years old and has been working for Melissa and Lars for three years now. The second girl is Sophie. She is 19 years old and has been working here for two months. They are both from Denmark. The third girl lives in the house with the stall cleaner and is the assistant trainer. Her name is Neve and she is from South Africa. She's been working here for six weeks. She trained in Germany and is 30 years old. The stall cleaners name is Reynaldo (sp?). He doesn't really speak english and I try to communicate to him in spanish but my spanish is no good and he just keeps on talking to me and laughing.
Today is my first day off. So far it seems that we only get one day off per week. We start working at 6:00 am and finish at 5:00pm with a half an hour lunch break. It was a bit brutal in the beginning but I have gotten used to it. I have learned to pace myself and so far have been able to better conserve my energy. Today on my day off I haven't left the barn except to go to the post office. I slept in a bit but it's hard because the barn is so noisy with all the activity. I rode three horses today and it was a blast. I can't think of a better way to spend my first day off! I am sure as time goes on I will want to do something non-horsey on my days off but I am still so thrilled to be here and to watch the the horses get worked and see Lars teach.
I have been riding Vioen and she's doing really well. She is very out of shape from all the time off after the surgery but is such a trooper and really loves to work. I am so proud of her and so happy that she's here with me! Lars has already started puting me on horses and it's so exciting! He usually gives you a few pointers or tells you how he wants the horse to go while you're riding and it's great. He's a great teacher and has a great eye for what he wants the horse to do. When Vioen gets going a bit more I will start getting lessons.
Right now there's 20 horses here and 15 more coming for the show season, which is January thru March. It's going to be super busy! I guess there's another girl coming on the 15th of this month and possibly an additional girl coming from Denmark. We will need all the help we can get! I am going to get is such good shape, it's great!
All in all things are going great, better than I had origionally anticipated. Lars and Melissa are really great people to work for. Very positive and easy going. The other working students were pretty patient with introducing me to the routine. I asked a lot of questions in the beginning but didn't want to do anything wrong and they all tolerated me pretty well. I feel a little isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. I don't know my way around at all and we are out in the boon docks! I think later today I am going to go to Wellington and get a new pair of walking shoes. My feet have been killing me! There is A LOT of walking and when you're not on a horse you're on your feet. I will write later to fill you all in how things are done here and give more detail to what I'm learning and what's different. It's pretty cool. I am starting to miss home and miss all my friends but am trying not to think about it to much. Thank god I have Max-i-poo :)
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