FINALLY!!! Some pics of Vioen

Vioen and I posing for the camera!

Vioen and I working in the arena this winter.

She's wondering if anyone's got a treat?

Deb,

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to own such a fabulous mare!!! I can't wait for our future together!

Keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming USDF Connections issue where they will be displaying USDF Certified Instructor Profile Updates.

Two Weeks Can Be a Long Time!

The Indoor didn't fare to well in the last storm, rain was blowing sideways!

Hello All!

Well everything's going great here. We have slowly settled back into the "out of season" routine. At the moment Lars, Melissa, Caroline (her dad and Lars are partners in the sales horses of Global Dressage) and Tayna (barn manager/head groom) are all on the road. The left Tuesday the 19th at about 11:00 pm headed for a show in Kentucky and from there they were headed to Raleigh in North Carolina for a CDI. They took eight horses with them which left me and one other person with six horses each to take care of. It is amazing how much work it is to ride and handwalk six horses! Right now I usually get done by 6:00 pm but there have been several days where I don't get finished with work until 6:30 or 7:00. We aren't able to take days off while they are away which will mean that I will have worked at least 21 days straight with no days off! Honestly, I'm not complaining but maybe I want you all to feel a little sorry for me :) No, Just kidding... In a way it has been nice having the barn and arena to myself (almost). I can set my own routine and I am getting to ride some really nice horses! I thoroughly enjoy being able to sit on horses that have been trained by Lars! They are all of very nice quality and it has been a lot of fun to play around with them in the arena. I feel like I am getting stronger and stronger and quicker and quicker with the timing of my aids. I also feel like I am getting a better feel of collection and the balance and impulsion that collection requires. Ultimately, the horses are my teachers. They should be home by the 1st or 2nd and I'm looking forward to them getting back. It's a little to quiet and I need to get yelled at by Lars some more! When I'm riding the horses I can hear him in my mind but it's just not the same.

The weather is really starting to change here in Florida! There have been incredible thunder and lightning storms everyday for over a week now! It has taken some getting used to let me tell you! The weather in unpredictable and I have to keep reminding myself that getting hit my lightning kills people! It's almost impossible to get anything done when the storms hit other than get things out of the rain! You usually can hear the boom boom of thunder in the distance and see a black wall coming your way but the tricky part is that you never know exaclty when it's going to hit you or how long. Last week we had a storm hit us that the local news was calling a tropical storm that lasted for three hours! When the storm is on us it literally sounds like a sonic boom. It's totally crazy! Max hates it! He's almost to the point that everytime it rains or the wind picks up he starts shaking in anticipation of the thunder. He really gets freaked out by it and I have had to buy him some herbal calming drops and treats because I don't think it's good for him to be tranq-ed everyday :( But I think he's getting a bit used to it as well. He's learning to trust that when it's gone it's gone and he can carry on enjoying his day.

Vioen is doing super. I am still struggling getting to ride her as much as I would like or as is needed to really get her stronger but I am just going to have to accept that it's going to be like that in a working student situation. Nonetheless she getting better muscling and more and more rideable. I am really happy with where she's at right now. I am starting to focus more on her balance through doing lots of transitions and increasing the difficulty in the lateral movements. She seems to always be proud of herself after every ride but doesn't hesitate to tell me that she thinks it's a bit hard sometimes :)

I have to go now because I am very tired, doing night check every other night sucks! Tonight's my night. I took some videos on my camera of the weather but my computer doesn't recognize the files :( Will see if I can get those uploaded at some point. Hoe everyone at home is well. I am planning to come home for a quick visit in July/Aug. Feel free to ask me any questions on here if there's anything you would like to know about my experiences so far :)

Bitter Sweet...

The infamous road we hand walk the horses down

Polo pony pastures boarder both sides of the road

This is Jack or Jacleen or what I named our little friend rather :)

Max and I went for a joy ride with a friend in Wellington. So cool to see so many amazing barns!!! Elmo was the tour guide :)

Well as season has comed to an end you can definitely feel the days are much quiter and the work load is much less as was promised. On the flip side it's a bit lonely. My house mates have moved back home. Kim has gone back to Georgia and Chris (my surrogate mother who made sure I ate properly) has gone back to her family's farm in Canada. It's nice that the days are easier and that things are less hectic but I feel that the family I had created here is now gone and has left me a little melancholy. I find that it has been a series of constant adjustments. Adjusting to people leaving (four people total since I have been here) and having to train their replacements or simply just adjusting to not having as many people as you once had. It seems that in the past two weeks as things have slowed down we are all bit by bit settling into our new routine. But it doesn't feel the same for me without the friends that I could trust and rely on. Enough of my sob story :)

I have been riding quite a bit and it has been fun and I am learing a lot. Lars and Melissa are always pushing me to push myself and the horse. There is no slacking in that arena! So it has been good for me to dig deeper and deeper to improve myself and the horses that I'm riding. I find it's a bit tricky because it's not like I am in the arena all day long doing nothing but riding. There is a lot more to my day and there are some days where I am just plain worn out and don't have the energy and mental focus that riding sometimes requires but even so I have to step up which is why I'm here. I am definitely seeing and learing the discipline and hard work it takes to ride upper level dressage and make upper level dressage horses. So that makes me happy and the long days/no life worth it.

Florida oh Florida. Florida is a neat place. It is almost magical in a way. There is a sort of tranquility about it. Must be because it is so tropical. There are bugs, birds and lizards here that I have never seen before! The other day when I was hand walking a horse I saw this beautiful yellow butterfly and then in the next instant the horse and I were being accousted my two huge deer flies! There is also a duck couple that have babies (was four now only two) that hang out on the property. They are very pretty and have stricking colors and marking of orange and yellow around their faces. The alligators have seemingly relocated for the time being which is good. I suspect that maybe they have gone elsewhere where there isn't so much activity since most of the barns have cleared out for the season.

The weather is starting to change. It is getting hotter and more humid and the bugs are starting to come out! Vioen HATES and I mean HATES the flies. She flips her head in her stall everytime one lands on her mozzle and looks like she's having some sort of an attack. I feel bad for her :( But thanks to my dad and Shelley they are sending me one of those fly masks that have the flap that goes down over the front of the face. Don't worry, as I was enjoying the warmth and sunshine this winter, I will be equally miserable this summer. I hear that there are zillions of bugs and mosquitoes and that in the heart of summer it pours rain every afternoon and the land just fills with water. And of course, there's hurricane season. Not looking forward to that!

Vioen is doing well. She is starting to develop more muscle over her neck and haunches. I still haven't been able to get into as much of a routine as I would like with her but Lars told me two days ago that I need to start getting serious with her. LOL! Ok, well I guess that's the bosses orders! But she's happy and coming along and just needs a little more consistency to develop her strength and fitness and then she'll be ready for more serious work.

That's all for now! Hope that you all are well!!!

Relocating Where I Sleep...

I have just finished moving a majority of my things from the house into the appartment. At this rate I have moved at an average of every two months (I'm not complaining but maybe whining a little). I so enjoyed living in the house because on my day off I could lounge around and not feel like I was still in the barn (the apartment is above the barn) but on the flip side I didn't have internet access whereas in the appartment I do. (I think that was what you call a run on sentence). Anyhow the house was a bit lonely because everyone has moved back home for the summer and so it was feeling a little empty and sad being in there alone excluding Max-i-poo. So at the end of the day it is probably better but I was a little pissy when I was told I had to move again! I don't know how I manage to have SO much stuff but at the same time it all fit in the car :) For some reason that feels freeing. Not quite sure why?