The last few days Morten has been having back pain; while I wouldn't wish that on anyone, I have to say it's been kinda fun for me to pick up the slack while he can't ride.

Yesterday I rode nine horses and today I rode 11, with Morten giving me real lessons on two yesterday and three today. These are his top horses that he normally rides, so I was a little nervous, but mostly excited. I had to laugh a little yesterday because the things he had to say to me were things that I often tell riders when I'm teaching clinics - "softer contact. Don't hold. Let the neck longer." It is easy to see it, easy to say it, and apparently hard to remember to do it. 

Today went better in the lessons; as I'm slowly getting to know the horses I can better react to my feeling. These are amazing athletes who have been so wonderfully trained, it's really a pleasure to sit on them.  Though I'm absolutely exhausted at the end of the day, I am so happy to be doing what I'm doing. Wow! My life is awesome.

Someone remind me of that Saturday when I've got solo weekend duty... :) 

Yesterday I had my first horse show in Denmark (remember, I drove to Germany to pick up my show cloths?). I rode my favorite chestnut mare, Countess, in class "MB1 A", which would be some kind of 3rd/4th level equivalent. 

I did not knock anyone's socks off, trotting around like an old woman. Countess has a trot that is amazing, but I was not feeling confident enough to push for it in our first outing together, considering it was only her second show and her first indoor competition.  I made a duh mistake in the last flying change, and I see I need to really ride her a little more forward and uphill in everything. The walk was a little fidgety in the collected work, between the (way to big) walk pirouettes.

So, lots of room for improvement, but at the end of the day I'm a happy camper. I had a really good time with Sarah, Morten's wife, on our horse show adventure (she had her hands full with an insecure future superstar, but pulled it off and looked great doing it!), and am pleased enough with the end results of my first class with Countess. There will be a chance to see if I learned anything when I get to my next show in two weeks. Yay!

Click here to watch the video of my test. 

Last night I got back "home" after an amazing little vacation with the family. It's really the first time in years that I can remember taking an actual horse-free vacation. True, I did have plans for one day to meet up with a horse-friend to look at and talk about horses, but in the end it didn't work out. While I was disappointed to miss that, it was kind of nice to have NO HORSES. 

The best part about my horse-free vacation is that I am super excited to be back with my ponies and my work. Today was great, all the horses were super. My little four year old (just four this year) has had a nice holiday also while I was gone, but went around like a star today, like he never missed a beat. All the grown ups were great too, it was a wonderful day.

The cowboys are starting the now-three-year-old colts, two of which will be my projects once they're up and running. Today I watched them work in the round pen; at the same time each guy took a horse and they did ground work while I hung out at the wall. It was really interesting to start to see the horses' personalities come through, and it's fantastic to see how clever they are and calm already after just a few days of working. While part of me wishes I had learned at some point in my career to be able to back/break/start babies, when I see people who are so good, so natural at it, I figure I may as well keep working at being a better rider to bring them along after their first 30 rides. Let the experts have at it. 

Even though my body isn't sure which timezone to follow, my brain knows it's time for sleep. Ciao for now!

I'm at the Charlotte, NC, airport right now feeling very lucky that I am on one of only two flights taking off this afternoon. I've just left a snowy Denmark and landed in a snowy USA. Next flight is to Phoenix, then on to Palm Springs where I will enjoy a week of real holiday with my family. No horses, no teaching, just ... well, I'm not really sure what one does on a real vacation? Sunburn? Eat too much? Sleep a lot? I can do these things. 

I spent last weekend driving to Munster- driving six hours there Friday after work, Saturday at the K&K Cup horse show (my 4th time at that show! Unbelievable), then driving back Sunday. I stopped on the way back up to Denmark to see Denny Crane at my friend Mari's,, then on to Hemoor for coffee with Ingo & Susan Pape and Jamie. It was a few detours that added hours to the drive, but well worth seeing friends.

The weekend trip to Munster wasn't just for coffee and friends; I went to pick up my competition clothes that I had put in storage, thinking I wouldn't be needing these for a while... I love being wrong sometimes! But more on that later.  

What was really exciting for me in Munster, besides the great time catching up with a lot of friends, was the feeling of impatience to get back to work. What a great feeling that is, to be excited to work.

However, I'm going to do my best to put that feeling on hold for a week anyway while I lounge by the pool with a beer, conserving my energy for an evening of napping. Life is good!

Well, there's a crowd forming at my gate, I'd better go make sure someone doesn't steal my seat!  

(Or: Getting off Your High Horse)

I think like anyone who has had tastes of success, however defined by the individual, as I've progressed along my chosen career, I have occasionally been guilty of indulging in a little bit of smugness and self-satisfaction. 

There is a blog entry, probably about 1 ^1/2 years old now, that haunts me these days. It talks something about how pleased I was to be able to wear a white shirt to work and have it still be white at the end of the day. How did I maintain such cleanliness? Cause I wasn't doing the shit work! This means cleaning stalls, feeding, sweeping, grooming, washing…. no, I was just riding.

I can still feel that excitement, remembering that for the first time in my life, I was being paid just to ride. It's not that I don't enjoy doing all the other work with horses, but I've been "paying my dues" for about 20 years now; if I reap a little bit of glory by means of a clean polo shirt, then sign me up, I'll take some. 

Well, those days of luxury are over. I am once again filthy 15 minutes into my day, as barn duty covers me in grime.  This weekend, with Robert taking a holiday in Poland, and Andrea having the weekend off, I was by myself in the stable. Twenty-six stalls, one pitchfork, one broom, one girl 34 year old not-so-young woman. The math isn't pretty, neither was I.

However physically tough the work is (it gets harder every year it seems - I remember blasting through 20 stalls by myself before breakfast ten years ago and thinking it was no big deal), I am still happy to do it because my education is worth it. Every stall I muck, every aisle I sweep (over and over and over and over), I tell myself I am doing this for an opportunity I would otherwise never get.

Even if I was wealthy enough to be a client here in training, it's not the same experience as being an employee. To get to know the ins and outs of a professional's barn, to know the feeding, farrier, and vet programs, to get to know all of the horses under the stable's roof - these are things that clients don't have the opportunity to be involved with. Because you get to know the routine and feeling of the animals, you notice their improvements and setbacks, and all of these things add up to make a better horseman. This is the chance I'm getting, to improve my horsemanship and hopefully my training and riding skills also.

So, off from my well-dressed, high horse I come. At least it was a planned dismount, I didn't get thrown off!