Well, a lot has happened since my last writing. There were so many days where I thought, 'man, I have to write about what an amazing day I've had with my horses,' which of course I didn't do… Maybe all the fun rides with Ingrid's horses influenced my riding at work? I had so many days where everything was easy, progress was made, and the horses and I were all satisfied and smiling at the end of the day. Whatever the reason, it was a great way for me to wind up riding before my shoulder surgery.

January 12th, I picked up Canadian rider Karis van Essen from the Munster airport and immediately brought her work where she rode 6 horses after traveling for close to 24 hours. Way to be a trooper, Karis!! Since that day she has worked her butt off getting to know the horses and the program at Hermann's. I felt confident leaving her there to temporarily take over my job on the 19th, and from there I returned to the airport to pick up my mom. My super supportive mumsy flew over to babysit me after my surgery and stayed until the 28th. 

Wednesday, January 20th was the day of my shoulder surgery. I was dropped off at the hospital by Mom & Erin Freedman, Ingrid Klimke's new working student and great person to know. While Mom  & Erin went to the tack store I registered myself and proceeded to wait. After 2.5 hours I was given the go ahead to change into my hospital issued smock and underwear (I use that term loosely) and take my sedative. Another hour later, at 12:30 they wheeled my relaxed ass into the surgery wing. After a quick reassurance from my surgeon and a needle in the arm, I vaguely remember thinking I wasn't looking forward to the catheter in my neck with the local anesthesia direct to the major shoulder area nerve. I remember thinking it but don't remember them inserting it. After that was inserted I remember them covering my face with the mask, telling me to just relax and breathe. Last thoughts were, "hmn. The air coming out is cold…" and that was that. 

"Subacromial decompression" is what my surgery is officially called. What this means is they remove the inflamed bursa and then shave off some bone from the clavicle/acromion to make more room for my tendons.  Sounds pretty gross, but this is why anesthesia was invented I guess.

After the surgery I woke up all full of the happies and with no nausea or discomfort. I dozed and smiled my way through the rest of Wednesday, enjoying a visit from my mom and my Spanish friend Senia. Senia speaks no English and I speak no Spanish, so together it's a funny and totally butchered German we communicate in. Doped up to the gills I thought my German was pretty darn good I have to say, and the support staff at the hospital seemed to understand my mumbles and smiles well enough. 

I stayed in the hospital until late Friday morning. My smuggled in iPhone provided me with the ability to email and have some quick, whispered phone conversations. A good book and more visits kept the boredom at bay, but I was happy to walk out of there and get home. Physical therapy was already started Thursday and Friday in the hospital, and after a quiet weekend I have had three PT appointments already this week. 

My range of motion is already very good, according to my non-expert opinion, and the more credible opinion of my physical therapist. Better than that, I'm already almost completely off pain medication. I'm taking now only Extra Strength Tylenol, and yesterday only took one after my PT appointment kicked my ass. I think my biggest fear going into the surgery was the pain afterwards, and this is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than I expected. Sure, it hurts if I try to move my arm in certain ways, and I definitely have very little strength in my right arm compared to before. However, if this is only going to get better every day, then I have no complaints. 

Next Thursday I have an appointment with my doctor to see how my recovery is going. After my surgery he told me it would be two-four weeks before I could start working, then his colleague that discharged me from the hospital told me four-six weeks. Hopefully Thursday I'll have a slightly better idea of where in that time frame I'll be able to get started. Meanwhile I've started going to the gym again, just to pedal on the lazy-bike (where you get to sit back and watch TV), as I can definitely feel my lifestyle change is effecting my ass. My amazingly adorable and getting bigger every day puppy, Maude, keeps me on my feet too with our walks out to the park. 

This forced holiday is nice though. I can't remember the last time I have slept so much and felt so rested. This was the first time Mom & I actually got to relax and do nothing together. Normally when she's here she comes to work with me and when I'm at her place I'm teaching clinics. We watched 3 seasons of the TV series "House" together, and I have two more seasons to watch. Also 8 more DVDs arrived in the mail last weekend from Trucker, so I will definitely be needing to get to the gym! Even more than the DVDs, I'm excited about the upcoming Olympics! As much as I hope I'll be riding at least a little bit by the time the Games begin, I also would like nothing more than to sit on my growing arse and cheer on all the athletes. I just read about Clara Hughes being named Canada's flag-bearer and got a giddy emotional feeling that only the Olympics can give me. The dedication and sacrifice required to get to the Olympic level of any sport deserves support, acknowledgement, and reward, regardless of how the final results in the Games end up.  Reading about Clara Hughes, her amazing sport accomplishments and seemingly great personality as well, inspired me to … well, do my physical therapy exercises and dishes today. I'll save the Olympic training until next month. 

Cheers!

Eiren

Today was another day off spent at Ingrid's barn, this time having jumping lessons. I'm a little bit of a stalker, except that I'm invited to come over and play. Still, I feel like I'm cheating on my job with my ex-job. My job is awesome, I love it, it's a great opportunity to ride top horses, to meet lots of people, to get lessons... and yet, I still go scampering back to my old job any time the phone rings or chirps with a new message. YES! Of course! I'd be happy to help. I'll rearrange my schedule! 

My current job is sometimes serious, and sometimes a little lonely (as this business can be). Often I'm riding alone, or if there are other riders, they are so focused on dressaging their horses that there is little interest in conversation. Besides that, I don't think chit-chat is really a common German characteristic. Truthfully, when I know I have six horses left and still haven't had lunch, I'm usually not going to hang out and shoot the breeze either.  There are some really wonderful people there that I enjoy, don't get me wrong. Sometimes, it's just a job. A damn good one, but still a job.

So when I get the call asking if I can come ride a few horses for Ingrid, and hopefully get her help, then hell yes is usually my answer. It's not only getting super help from Ingrid, or riding these lovely horses that I just understand because they've been trained so well. It's also the whole atmosphere of the stables. The people at that farm are the people I have known since I've been in Germany, and when I don't see them every day it's actually nice to stop and chat, to catch up.  Carmen, Ingrid's manager, has made my life easier on so many occasions I can't imagine life in Germany without her. Like Ingrid, it doesn't matter how busy she is, she will help you without hesitation if you need it. 

A few weeks ago I was riding a horse a little later in the evening when all the ladies from the public boarding stable start riding after their day at work. It was a particularly cold evening and all the horses were fresh. I was riding Dante and he was snorting and bucking, but all in good fun, and the horses were feeding off each other. It was so wonderful to hear the laughter in the voices of the other women as they walked their horses, alternating between a long rein and quickly shortening it saying saying "hey! Nein!" with a giggle. There was no reprimands, no lost patience. No, they just walked around chatting with each other, enjoying the company of friends and their horses. 

Maybe it's the cross training influence at that farm that makes people relaxed. You learn to deal with jumps in the ring, cavaletti in the ring, dressage riders practicing tests when there are 9 other people trying to ride, and occasional children who don't understand passing left to left, bombing around on ponies.  You learn that sometimes you just can't have a perfect ride. I don't know… All I know is the only cranky-pants in the arena there today was the Dressage Queen, who barely rides her horses outside in perfect summer weather. 

It just makes me grateful to still have the connection to Ingrid, to have the opportunity to have jumping lessons like I did today, and to still have a connection such great people at that farm. I still dressage ride a jumping horse for another owner there, so I do get there a few times each week, it's just extra special when I get to have Ingrid time.

Yep, I'm sounding like a cheating employee. I admit it, I still love being in Ingrid's barn. These hours spent riding two or three horses, maybe cleaning a few bridles and catching up are amazing. But when I think of the reality of it all? The super long hours of cleaning this, cleaning that, turning out, getting wet, getting and staying cold, turning in, cleaning something else, ride, clean… would I leave my sometimes serious and sometimes lonely job, my amazing job of riding, riding, riding, showing a horse to clients, riding, grab a coffee, riding, oh man, I have to untack this one myself and get the next ready?, and more riding? Nah. I can still love the past and be happily committed to the present. 

Today is my day off. I got up early, shoveled the 6" of snow off the sidewalk at my apartment and then left to Ingrid's barn so I could ride a few horses in lessons with her. WIth Ingrid expecting her second child around Easter, she's not been riding for a couple of months now, and they are also a little short staffed, so it's a great time for me to help out when I can. 

First I rode Flipper, who is seven years old this year. In my lesson with Ingrid we worked on the shoulder-in, traverse, and half-pass in trot. Then in the canter we did half-pass and half-pirouettes from the Prix. St. Geroge test. After a little more trot work we started on flying changes. 

When I was working for Ingrid, Flipper had started the changes but always got SO HOT in them that it turned into a job for Ingrid, not me. Now he is quieter in them but still gets tense and anticipates. Ingrid would like to see him start tempi-changes, but first he has to get more reliable and more correct in the single changes.

The changes from left to right were very good. From right to left Flipper swings his body and really over-bends his neck to the left as he's changing. This often creates a late change. We tried a few different approaches but finally found a good solution: Riding him in right canter on the diagonal line and then preparing with leg yielding to the right. Keeping the neck straight but moving the shoulders over to the track and thinking the hind legs stay a bit more to the centerline. Finally, keep riding an uphill canter with the hindlegs quick and underneath. Our last change from right to left felt amazing - uphill, through, and straight. Ingrid was very happy, "Walk and pat him! Enough for today!"

Next lesson was on Dresden Mann, a.k.a. Alfie. Alfie will be six this year and had a super five year old year competing at the Bundeschampionate and the World Championships for Young Horses. Now it's time for him to also start getting ready for the six year old work, including the flying changes. 

After doing lateral work in trot and a little in canter, we started working on the changes. Ingrid's working student, Lara, is a lovely rider and has done a little work on the changes. However, she doesn't have a lot of experience with them so Ingrid felt it was better to leave it. Alfie quickly got the change from right to left, but left to right was his tough side.

Alfie is like a little, black rubber ball. He is short-backed, quick, and bouncy. When asking for the changes he sometimes lifts his short back, arches his neck, and kicks out at my leg or just bucks! All the while grunting and me. Sometimes he would be mad if my spur rubbed him and other times he would totally ignore my aid, making it hard for me to decide how much to do. 

Again with him we tried a few different approaches and what finally worked best for him was the following: A bit of forward and back in the canter to make sure he's really responding to my forward leg aid, then really coming back in an uphill, collected canter. I had to also really focus on my position, not sitting too light, thinking I might help him this way. I had to really sit back in a correct dressage seat, ride this good canter, and expect the correct reaction. Once I had the feeling that the hind legs were really quick, really underneath him and carrying his front end then we could ask for the change. The final change went something like this - ask for the change to the right, get the clean change, then another clean change back to the left, then buck and finally another clean change once again to the right canter. Finally, buck and grunt again because you're a sexy stallion and everyone should look at you! 

Once again, Ingrid was very happy with the work.  "Walk and pat him! Finished!" After our walk break we did some stretching trot through the cavaletti, stretching canter in a light seat, and then walked and preened (he did, not me) at the other horses and their riders.

Back at the stable I was getting my last horse, Dante, ready.  Ingrid had to be on her way but gave me my homework for Dante (canter pirouettes, keeping the rhythm and steps the same throughout as he likes to throw in some big, slow strides) and asked if I could come back next weekend on Saturday to work with Flipper and Alfi again. That was the biggest compliment for me, that she's happy with the work I can get from the horses with her eyes on the ground. I have to see if I can juggle my schedule at Hermann's, but I'm hoping it will work. I've also been invited for Thursday morning's jumping lessons, so it could be a very fun week for me. 

Today was such a wonderful day. With the fresh snowfall Munster was beautiful and quiet as I drove to Ingrid Klimke's stable, where I had lessons on world class horses from an Olympic champion rider & trainer. Then tomorrow I get to go ride more top horses, and I get paid for this? Seriously, I must have done something really good in a past life to get chances like this. It's unbelievable. 

Hope your new year is also starting off as fantastic as mine. 

Cheers,

Eiren