Hallo Everyone!!
As my Mom has informed you I have not fallen off the face of the earth never to be seen again….we had some trouble at the barn getting the internet working and then after 2 and 1/2 or 3 weeks it did work but I have been so busy!!
My life in Germany is better then I ever could have hoped for!! The horses are wonderful and I have found that German horses noses are just as soft as American ones and give great kisses as well! All of them seem to be super talented and are very fun to ride. I ride about 3 to 6 horses a day with a few that I ride everyday and the others switch between riders. The horses I ride age from Greenbroke to schooling PSG/I1 and sometimes I am able to get on Johanna’s GP mare which is a really fun treat!
Johanna herself is very talented, such an amazing person and a really great rider! She couldn’t be more fun to be around or more welcoming. She has taken me to my first German movie (Twilight New Moon!) and my first Christmas Market. As well, her family is amazing and so welcoming. They invited me to come to their home near Munich and it has been really wonderful. It is so neat to be able to see another country’s traditions for holidays and what not. A little different but when it comes down to it a family is a family and they all love each-other no matter what country they are in.
I have gotten the amazing opportunity to attend both a Vechta Oldenburg auction as well as the 2009 PSI Auction and Gala. The Vechta auction was very fun and enjoyable to watch but the PSI Gala and Auction was truly unbelievable!! It was so much fun and such a treat to see all of the beautiful horses as well as the whose-who of the horse world over here!
When I came to Christmas in Munich Johanna, Gerd (the other rider) and I drove down very early Monday morning and then Johanna dropped me off with Gerhard :), Gerd continued to Austria and Johanna went to her mother’s. Gerhard and I spent the whole day in Munich just sight seeing and the city is truly breath-taking! Then we went to Bad Toelz for the night (a small town about 30 minutes from Herr Von Frick’s house). The Christmas Markets in Bad Toelz as well as Munich are so much fun and totally German!! Gerhard tried to find me a Crepe with Sauerkraut but he was informed that that is only something you can find in Austria (that fact did not sadden me at all, the thought of crepes and Sauerkraut did not sound appealing no matter how much he told me it was!). The next morning he dropped me off at the Von Frick’s house, which is located literally on a lake that is so stunning with the mountains in the background (they are the highest mountain range in Germany).
In short, I am having the time of my life and have too many stories to even write down in one post!! The family is so great, the people I work with at the barn make my day so fun and I learn a lot, it was so wonderful to see Gerhard (I will be going to Austria for 4 days in January to visit him and his family), and the horses couldn’t be more of a pleasure to work with. Oh and I love my apartment where I live!!!
I will post again soon….I Promise!! Miss everyone at home and all of the ponies!! Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season!! Happy New Year!! Schoenes Neues Jahr!!!!