Wow, it's hard to believe that 2010 is almost over. When I think back over all the things that have happened to me in the space of one year it makes my head just about spin. What a year!

Let me just recap some of the things I never thought would happen to me, but did in the past 365 days;

I never thought 

• I would take a job as head rider at a stallion station (in Germany - that seems important to say) filled with lovely young horses. 
• I would have my first win in a German dressage show, with four other first place finishes to follow.
• besides the first place ribbons, I would end up with a stack of other top placings on my resume, including the elusive "8" in a competitive 5 year old class.  
• Ingrid would offer me the chance to compete her great stallion Dante in the advanced and FEI levels, allowing me some good results in the higher levels, and most importantly giving me more experience in the Big Arena.
• I would have a big, handsome, healthy, redheaded baby boy after all the drama and trauma before his birth. Denny Crane rules!
• I would have so many great visits with family and friends, in Germany, London, USA, and Canada. And that I managed to fit in a fishing trip and am enjoying the my salmon over here!
• I would have to take a stupid test to drive a horse trailer in Germany. At least I passed. 
• I would quit two good jobs for another adventure.
• that my new adventure would FAIL and I'd be pretty much fu@k*d.
• that because of feeling like I was totally fu@k*d, I found the open door I was meant to walk through. I am the luckiest gal on the planet (but I've always known and appreciated that)
• after being a total A-hole and giving 9 days notice at my apartment, I would move to Denmark.
• I would be working for Morten Thomsen.
• I would be learning how to ride, teach, and train the Spanish Walk amongst other things.
• I would be cleaning stalls again, and somehow okay with it. 
• that Maude, my wonderful, beautiful, not-so-clever-but-loving dog, could get any happier, but she did. She loves Denmark too. 
• I would have spent Christmas dinner and the tomorrow's New Years Eve with the people I'm spending it with. What an absolute bonus!

Finishing my second week here at Morten Thomsen's stable, and it's still amazing! 

Last weekend we had two customers here looking at horses and one owner/client with a horse in training. Everyone was introduced to each other, including us staffers, and from then on we were on a first name basis. After always struggling with the rules of  hierarchy in regards to German social niceties, it is refreshing to talk to and treat people the way we would in North America. "Hey, I'm Eiren. How are you?" Done deal, I understand this.

Aside from the nice, respectful, relaxed atmosphere here, it's an atmosphere of learning opportunities. Wowsers, let me tell ya! Each morning I ride 3 or 4 horses on my own while Morten teaches and then rides a few of his own; after that I warm up horses for him. Even though he's totally focused on the task in front of him, he still manages to keep an eye out for me, and offers advice or praise as needed. Yes, besides telling me what I'm not doing quite right and how to fix it, he also tells me when it's good. Yay, positive feedback!!! 

I've ridden more piaffe in the last week then I have probably in the last year. Not drilling it, but schooling it, getting real help with it. Morten wants me to ride it. He helps me learn how to ride it better. Some of the horses are really talented at it and put up with my floundering, while others are not as confirmed and demand proper aids and timing from me before giving up the goods. I'm slowly learning, hoping the floundering becomes less evident with time. 

Today I worked 5 horses in-hand, again, this is more than I've done in the last year - or wait, no, that's more than I've EVER done with help! Morten helped me with each of them. Three were really good, they know how to do the work, but they each needed a different approach, different positioning from the ground-person, different allowances for forward movement in the piaffe, etc. One of the horses was just learning the work, so I only worked on lifting the hind legs, getting the correct reaction to the request, and also lifting the front legs; he wasn't expected to take actual piaffe or half-steps. I also worked a 3 year old in -hand. All this means is I asked him to react to the touch of the bamboo stick on his legs. He had to lift his front legs forward and up when he got a tap. It sounds like it should be easy, and it looks really easy when Morten or his wife, Sarah, do this. However, I had trouble with my timing & aids (when to stop the tap, when to keep going, what response is good enough, what is great, what is not acceptable), so Morten had to take over and keep it a positive experience for baby. 

In some situations I would feel put out that I didn't get to work through something and just had the lesson taken over; in this situation, when working with a baby, I felt relieved to not risk screwing up this lesson! Because he's so young and just being introduced to this work, it needs to be a game. With my inexperience I could end up punishing him by accident for making mistakes, or worse for doing something right! Morten still talked me through everything while I watched, so I still absorbed a lot. 

It's Christmas Eve and I feel like I've got the best gift of all - optimism, excitement, and joie de vivre! I get to play with horses for a living, and I've landed, once again, in an amazing situation where my education moves forward every day and it's so much fun that I can't wait to do it each day. Thank you to everyone who's supported me on this crazy journey, who's helped me see what road I'm meant to take. Merry Christmas to you!

I've finished my first week here at Dressage Arve, and I LOVE IT!! It's been such a great week, I feel like I've learned so much and been reminded of other things that I had forgotten.

For those of you who (have read and) remember my WEG blog, do you remember Bert, the New Zealand cowboy? Bert inspired me with his way with the young horses and the logical way he approached training. There have been a few times here at my new job where Morten has said almost verbatim the same things that Bert has said. It's really cool that even though one may be teaching the horse piaffe and the other may be teaching the horse to accept the saddle and rider, their ways of thinking and approaching a horse's education is fundamentally the same. Very cool.

I feel free to ask questions here and Morten answers with enthusiasm. Yesterday we did in-hand work with Alabama, and he explained things so clearly while he was doing the work. Not just the "wheres", but also the "whys" were clarified to me. That way, when he handed me the bamboo stick, I had a better understanding of where I was to poke Alabama and why. However, where Morten makes in-hand work look very easy, I looked like a kid conducting an imaginary orchestra with my big stick, and there just happened to be a big, patient, grey horse standing in my way.  (Today's attempts at the in-hand work was a little better!)

Physically I'm exhausted at the end of every day, and the first 5 minutes after my alarm goes off, I'm not really convinced it's time to get up and at it again. However, once I'm actually awake it's all good. The camaraderie in the barn makes for easy work, despite the huge amount of it. The horses are really happy and well behaved, and so are the people (happy anyway - I'm still too new to know about anyone behaving badly). I find myself laughing a lot again, something I didn't even realize I wasn't doing so much for a while there. I like being happy. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Cheers,

Eiren 

Today was awesome. 

Morten did a lot of double-lunging/long-lining/driving (however you want to call it) with quite a few of the horses, and that was really interesting to watch. For my own riding, squirrelly little horse and I had some breakthroughs and it gave me a little more confidence.  

There is a BIG horse (every stable has to have one), six years old, that I've been trying to figure out. He's not super hard, but not super easy either. Today Tristan, one of the Australian cowboys, helped me with him and it was amazing!

First of all, let me clarify the "cowboy" term. These two Australians boys use natural horsemanship methods and are very popular for starting the young horses here; pull out a rope halter and you're a cowboy. Tristan has been in Denmark for a year and a half or so, and has worked with Morten and his horses through this time. He has a very good education in dressage, meaning he could kick a lot of your asses, mine included, in competition. He has worked with both Squirrelly Horse and Big Horse a lot, so Morten thought he could give me some tips to get to know them better.  

Today Tristan warmed up Big Horse for me and I watched. I watched and thought, 'yep, that looks good, better than I've got it. But I'm not really seeing how it's done.' He didn't talk while he was riding, just rode. Then he told me to get on and worked with me. Aha!

I run into problems sometimes when I try to make a horse do what I think is best, rather than listening to the horse to find out what is best. I don't beat myself up about it right now, since I'm just getting to know the horses and mistakes are bound to happen. So having Tristan there, knowing the horse for a long time, and giving me his his input, was really beneficial.

I wanted Big Horse to warm up round and loose. As with a few other big horses I've ridden, this often means that once they're warmed up and loose, I will spend the next 45 minutes trying to change their balance uphill. Tristan suggested that after walking a few rounds, go right away into a little bit of piaffe, or do this from the ground. Keep short bursts of work, demanding crisp reactions from my leg/seat and respect from my hand.  Once I introduce an uphill balance with a few (4-5 steps) of piaffe then TROT FORWARD, not worrying about the position of the neck, just the reaction. Once I feel he is going alone then the pressure comes off. Transition down to walk and same thing again. TROT. relax. Walk. TROT. relax. Walk. Canter! relax. Keep cantering. Now I let you trot. Now, TROT. relax. Good boy, now walk. Piaffe. Good boy, walk. Piaffe. Trot! Good boy!!!

Now I know I got on a warmed up horse, but what a feeling! It was so much easier with excellent reactions and less effort on my part. Tristan also explained that when this horse gets tired it's all over. He said get the work done and get finished, rather than looking at the clock and feeling the need to fill some quota. If the horse gets exhausted the next day will be crap. Good to know!

This was such a great ride, such a positive feeling to know what I can fairly ask and expect from Big Horse for the best results. I know tomorrow I will have a better feeling from the beginning and I can't wait! 

Who doesn't love a clever cowboy? :) 

Man, am I ever glad for muscle relaxers and Advil. I can't even imagine how I would have felt today without their help. Even with all that good stuff in my system, when I got on my first horse today I could only think, 'oh my god. This is going to suck.' Lucky for me I warmed up quickly and my legs, back, stomach, and neck all forgot the pains of yesterday and remembered to do their jobs. 

Everything went a lot better today in the saddle. I was more confident in what was expected of me, so I rode a bit more like a professional - feeling and assessing the situation, making the decisions and changes in my requests to the horse to improve their way of going. Yesterday I was coasting around pie-eyed and nervous, where as today I actually rode. I did what I get paid to do. I even got a few "ja, good, Eiren!" from Morten today. The first time he said it, there was a definite note of surprise in his voice. Seems I sucked a little bit yesterday. :)

I'm really enjoying all of the horses. I've already picked out a few favorites, but they are all of very good quality with great characters. It really is a barn full of happy horses!

There is a smaller, upper-level horse that baffled the shit out of me yesterday. He was, naturally, the first horse of the day for me yesterday, and left me feeling like a complete idiot. He is a squirrelly little sucker, and trying to get him steady in the aids & contact was like getting out on a skating rink with roller skates on - not easy! Today went much better when I warmed him up for Morten. Then, when Morten got on, he said, "get Countess ready then come and watch."

That statement, peoples, is what separates Morten from most other trainers or employers. it seems he really wants for me to learn.  Normally if I had time in between horses I would have cleaned some bridles or done some laundry. Nope, he wanted me to come and watch. As a visual learner, I couldn't have asked for anything better. 

A few times today Morten got my attention and pointed things out. "Look at that three year old! Isn't she great?!" or, "here, watch this one in the piaffe. He's got such a talent for it." When I asked him about the breeding of one of his horses (who just happens to be a little bit of my new favorite) he gave me her whole history, up to and including her grandmother.

Morten's enthusiasm for his horses and for teaching spreads throughout the barn; the horses catch the feeling, so does the staff. There is a definite positive energy and I get the feeling I'm going to learn a lot here. I am very excited about this.

Now, where'd I put my Advil... 

Today was my first real day of work. Morten was here, so there was plenty to do.

I rode 9 horses (I think) between 8:30-2:30. None of the horses were ridden over the weekend, and some of them hadn't been ridden for the 10 days that Morten was away. Between it being the mother of all Mondays, all new horses to me, new and unfamiliar saddles, and not having ridden much in the last month, I felt woefully inadequate in the saddle today.

Every stable, every trainer, has a different system. When starting a horse I've been crapped on if I touched the reins in the first 10 minutes, rather than letting the horse walk completely free (and hopefully somewhat under control) during that time. Another place has the horses on the contact from the moment your ass is in the saddle. After half a round of walk just start trotting, sitting, and get on with it. Some places really stretch a horse long, with the nose out in trot and canter. Some stretch only a little bit, with a rounder topline, always with definite contact and absolute control over every step. 

Some places use lots of circles, others prefer straight lines. Some adjust for every horse, some places there is ONE system and every horse must get on board. 

Today was a day of trying to figure it all out. How does Morten want his horses warmed up? How do I progress in the work? The great thing is if I wasn't doing what he wanted, he just told me what to try instead. This is much nicer than getting pooped on for doing it wrong, with no guidance to the desired way. 

He gave me little overviews of each horse when I came in, or when I went to get it.  "This one is 8, he is very good in the changes until two-times, the piaffe is good, the passage is harder, the lateral is all good." While that was great information to know, until I felt I had the horse on my seat, listening to both legs & both reins, there weren't going to be any sort of piaffing or flying changes. Today I was happy when I felt I had the horses through and with me. Didn't always happen right away, but tomorrow will be better.

For now I am going to take some Advil and a few other muscle relaxing concoctions, and get my ass to bed. I am exhausted, but happy. Tomorrow, I'll do it all again, but better.

Yesterday was a beautiful day for driving, for which I am grateful since I spent 7 hours driving to Denmark. After my blubbery, tearful goodbye to Ingrid it was time to hit the road. Once my tears dried, I appreciated the bright sunshine and blue skies over the new snow covering my lovely town, Munster. It really has been an amazing 2 years & 10 months; I can't quite understand that it's over, I feel like I just went for another holiday and I'll be back. 

However sad I was to leave Munster, it transformed to excitement with each passing kilometer. The last 30 minutes took me into a winter wonderland like I haven't seen since I moved away from Calgary. I remembered hearing that the horse truck got stuck in the snow after Alabama was unloaded the night before, and I drove with a little more caution.

Pulling into the driveway of the stable got me even more giddy. In the dark, wintry landscape the new brick barn was warmly lit up, welcoming me to my new home. I found my new co-workers, Andrea and Robert, and they gave me a quick tour and then helped me unload my car. Morten is out of town, but his wife, Sarah, came over to the stable and also helped me get settled. Can you imagine a nicer greeting than three strangers carrying all of your suitcases, boxes, bags, and blankets up to your new room? What an introduction!

Best of all, Maude has a new best friend. Tyson, a nine month old Boxer, and Maude are cut from the same cloth -  playful, energetic, and sweet. These two started playing immediately and only stopped when we took them into separate rooms at bedtime.  

Today I started working at 7:00. It was a lot of standing around, watching and listening. Morten wants me to wait with riding until he gets back, so I won't really be doing much until Monday. In fact, I have the weekend off. This will give me time to unpack the rest (yesterday, after the computer was unpacked I just called it a night), settle in, and explore the area a little.  

The light work load gave me time to appreciate the scenery; the facility is absolutely beautiful. It has been designed with the comfort of the horse and the convenience of the people in mind. There are about 30 stalls in three wings, two tack rooms, a laundry room, a very nice lounge, and my favourite thing, an aviary. In this nook by the entrance to the riding hall, there are at least three different species of smallish birds singing, fluttering, and doing other birdly things. If I had to guess there might be 10 birds, but I always just watched a few at a time rather than take in the total.  It's very cool and original, if a little distracting. Later in the morning Andrea and I took the dogs for a walk around the property, going through some lovely forest. The snow is too heavy on the branches to walk through with a horse, but once the branches are hanging a little higher off the ground, Alabama and I are going to for a nice hack and check it out.

Upstairs of the stables is a huge apartment. Andrea, Robert, and I each have our own rooms, with a shared kitchen & living room (which overlooks the indoor arena). My room feels like the same size as my apartment in Germany, with better furniture, and the bathroom would fit about three of my former bathrooms in it. There's laundry facilities for people in the stable, including a DRYER!!! It's a magical place, this new home of mine. 

And what an international place this is! Besides my Canadian self, there are a few other countries represented: Andrea, the manager/groom, is from Germany; Robert, the get 'er done barn guy, is from Poland; Morten and Sarah obviously represent the home country of Denmark; Nicole, a client in training, is here from sunny and warmer California; I've heard of other clients from Italy who might be coming soon to see their horses; and finally, there are two Australian cowboys who work with the youngsters. Yes ladies, Australian cowboys. In Denmark. It's true.

That's it for me for tonight. I know the best updates will be to come, as I get to know the horses and Morten's system. I'm very excited to be here and ready for the adventure! 

Cheers,

Eiren 

Alabama left this morning for Denmark and I'll be following her tomorrow in my car. Packed FULL, my Rav4 is not quite as large as I'd hoped. Maude and I will both be comfortable within our allotted space, but there's no room to spare. 

Moving out of Germany and my apartment has been a colossal clusterf*@k to put it mildly. However, there are a few AMAZING people out there who have made it possible, reminding me of my also-amazing friends in PA who made my move to Germany possible. Without friends, how can we get through this life?!

As I'm saying my goodbyes I find the unavoidable emotions coming to the surface, so I am trying to keep the partings short & sweet. 'Yep, I'm off. See you ... later. We'll stay in touch. Ciao.' Even still, when I got in my car and drove away from Hermann's the tears just started coming. Really? Dammit!

Tomorrow morning I'm going to swing by Ingrid's to say my farewells, and I know that's going to be a messy one for me. As always, I am aware of everything Ingrid has done for me, and that knowing her and learning from her has opened unbelievable doors, and more just keep opening. I know I say it every time I talk about Ingrid, but I am so lucky to have had this opportunity to work with Ingrid and her entire Team. 

So tomorrow begins a whole new adventure. I have no idea what I'm in for, but I'm very excited to start. Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck! I'll update once my girls and I are settled.

Cheers!

Eiren & Maude & Alabama.  

Yesterday I took Denny Crane to his new home to be weaned. He marched on the trailer with his mom for the first time like he'd been doing it every day, and unloaded relaxed and brave. However, after I had a dinner & coffee break, the good times were over as we loaded up Aila back onto the trailer without her boy. Oh, the screaming and wailing is hard to endure. Luckily I had to focus on the road and not her cries as we drove back home. The roads were just nasty, with snow falling heavily and making for slow travel. Despite the weather it was as successful as ripping apart a mother and child can ever be. They're both fine today, Denny is settling nicely in his new digs. 

Besides packing & moving horses I've only got Alabama to ride these days. With the weather being so chilly (how did I do this in Canada?!) I've forgone all thoughts of fashion and just dressed to stay warm. I had a laugh when I caught a look at myself, riding in jeans over long underwear, warm winter boots, so many sweaters under my jacket, and a toque (that's a wool cap to you Americans) under my helmet. I may not look like much of a dressage rider, but I was sure happy and warm. 

Today was actually nice after all of last night's snow. I decided to hack Alabama out and was a little surprised that no one else was out. There's enough time to be stuck in the indoor, so if we can play in some fresh powder then I'll take it.  

Alright. Must go pack. Away from the distractions of the internet...  

For the past two months there has been feverish whispering in Germany about the coming winter. People say with a mixture of horror and delightful anticipation that this will be the worst winter in 100 years. Snow! Freezing temperatures! Wind-chill! Closed roads and highways! Yesterday's snowy and frozen return to Germany shows that this is maybe more than just talk; bbc.com tells me that this is the coldest or snowiest beginning to December in many parts of Europe. Turns out I was lucky that my flight and train schedule ran only a little bit behind schedule, as opposed to being completely cancelled. 

I've lost my love of winter and all it's chilly delights since I moved south from Canada 8 years ago. Many years of training as a youngster in the Saskatchewan prairies, then later under the big skies of Alberta, taught me how to dress for the cold. I know I can handle the cold, it's just that I would rather not have to.

So, in the face of this coming apocalyptic winter, how have I decided to deal with it? I'm going to move farther north. That's right, farther north, as in Denmark. Colder, darker, and for sure wetter than Munster, this tiny, flat, country of funny-talkers is going to be my new home when I start my job riding for Morten Thomsen. 

That's my new plan peoples, now you know it. 

I'm looking to start December 10, just 8 days away. I'm more than a little freaked out about this, as it doesn't feel like enough time to pack up three years of life, plus a dog and a few horses. The only reason I feel like I have time to write this update is because I'm sitting at the Toyota shop (yes, again) while new tires are put on my car. This may be the last time I have two hours with nothing to do. 

However, more time would just mean more procrastination. So, as much as I've learned about getting moved in and settled in Germany over the years, now it's time to learn how to leave. Seems I had to sign a contract for everything and anything here, and now I'm going to find out how to get out of them all. I've already completely failed as a renter and I'm sure they don't have a sense of humor about getting two weeks notice on an apartment. I may not be invited back to the country once I leave…

Looking to the future, I can only say I'm very excited about this opportunity. Don't ask me too many questions about my new job, my standard response is, 'I don't know.'  I just wrote a few weeks ago about putting all of my eggs in one basket and being wrong, and here I go again, jumping in with both feet, not really knowing what I'm jumping in to. However, this just feels right. This feels like the reason everything else went completely to shit, leading me in this direction, to this decision. If I'm wrong, it wont' be the first time in my life, and I will gain new experience regardless. If I'm right, this will be an amazing opportunity to learn from an experienced and respected trainer. 

I know I'm going to have challenges already before I get there - cleaning stalls will be part of my daily duty. How many times have I said I'll never do it again? I really meant it after my shoulder surgery, since I don't want to break again. If I do break down, I'd rather have it be because of time spent in the saddle. However, since this is how I can afford this opportunity, gimme the pitchfork. I've told Morten about my physical concerns and we will just see how it goes.  

Before I start spinning in circles, wondering where to start with packing/organizing/filling up garbage bags, I also want to say again how much fun I had in New England. Professionals and amateur riders alike were so much fun to work with, and every lesson had progress. With some riders I felt a little bad that we didn't get to work on "tricks", because I wanted to change some of the basic work first. However, there were a few more advanced pairs with outstanding basics and great positions, so we got to play with some more of the movements. Regardless if we worked on flying changes, cavaletti, or just plain old reaction to the leg & connection to the hand, I enjoyed every one of my 40 lessons last week. I have to say a huge THANK YOU to Kathy Palumbo, who worked her butt off and organized all my lessons for me. Without Kathy (and also my amazing friend Anne) this opportunity to introduce myself to New England would not have happened.  I had so much fun and consider the trip a big success, and we're working closely to figure out when I can get over there in the spring.  

So friends, if you don't hear much from me over the next few weeks, it's because I'm running around like an idiot with too many things to do in too short an amount of time. I'll try to keep updating but won't make promises. 

Stay warm,

Eiren