Jul 19, 2012 | News and Updates, Students & Show Results, Young Riders
On the first day of competition at NAJYRC in Kentucky, Katie’s Colorado region won the GOLD Medal for the team competition! Our home region 7 won the SILVER for Young Riders and Junior Young riders! Tomorrow is the individual competition day and we have high hopes for Victoria Fernalld riding Amazing from Katie’s barn in Co. Go Katie and Victoria! (And did I mention how proud I am of the second generation young rider coach?)
On the home front, I am excited to have closed up my show year until Championships qualifying Artisan for 4th level CDS and USDF. He has been the little engine that could going up a level in training while reshaping and rehabing his muscles and showing while doing it! Gotta love a horse with heart.
RAAC is coming up soon and it looks like we will have a good showing with Pam on Urbana, Lena on Harry, Joleen on Solitaire and Karen on Revance! Proud of all of you!
Mar 31, 2010 | News and Updates, News From Germany
Video here!
Mar 5, 2010 | Horses, Katie Archives
Sad day here. We lost our beloved Oreo tonight. She has given so much. She taught Katie how to love a horse/pony; appreciate their sense of humor, ride determined, trust like a friend and play lots of fun games! The insurmountable time Katie and Jessica (on Melanie) spent on their ponies was so fun to watch. Katie got her when she was 4 which put Oreo at about 33 yrs old. We all will miss her.
Jan 2, 2010 | News From Germany
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!!!!
Dec 22, 2009 | News From Germany
Well, Katie is finally connected to the English speaking world through the wonders of the internet, she hasn’t quite gotten her posts ready to put up here yet. She is working on pictures etc. She is off to Munich for Christmas! We really miss her here with Christmas coming up. So soon you shall hear from her directly and see what is up in Germany!
Dec 12, 2009 | News From Germany
Well…Katie still has no internet! But the rest of her life has panned out to be quite a wonderful experience! She is settling into the ‘regular’ horses she is riding with the anticipation that she will start showing in Feb. I just sent off her show clothes…I have to admit that it was hard to think I can’t go.
Last night she was invited to a real treat. The PSI Gala Ball and Auction. I have yet to get the news but I am sure she is having fun.
For Christmas she has been invited to Munich to the home of the family that owns the farm. It was a very gracious invitation and I know Katie is happy to spend the holiday with a family.
So in a a nutshell that is the news. It seems the experience is turning out to be more than she could hope for. Hopefully you will soon get her first hand report and pictures.
Dec 2, 2009 | News From Germany
Hi to all who are wondering what happened to Katie and why you haven’t heard about her travels yet! Well as luck would have it the internet has been down in her apartment so not only can’t she make posts here but she is virtually cut off from the outside English speaking world! She is even out of books to read and has finished her last movie! So she will be very ready to share when it gets fixed!
She is riding there now as well as helping with all the barn chores and is very impressed with the quality of the horses. The people at the barn have made her feel very welcome. And yes….it is cold! Hopefully she will have more to add very soon. I talk to her daily and will update if there is any thing new. You can link to the farm where she is in our “Friend’s” links for Gestut Nymphenburg on the left of this page.
Elizabeth
Nov 28, 2009 | News and Updates, News From Germany
She arrived on Thanksgiving day after 27 +/- hours of travel! We are planning to set up a blog page on this site so check back soon. Her internet is down but as asoon as it is working she will be corresponding with you!
Jun 28, 2009 | Katie Archives
Milo, my mom and I pulled into our house today at 3pm after leaving NJ on Tuesday morning!! It is very nice to be home and I think Milo was starting to wonder if he would ever get back. He traveled super and looks wonderful. We stayed at various horse hotels along the way; Plainfeild Farm in Lexington, Ky., Big Cabin Horse Motel in Big Cabin, OK., Broken M Ranch in Albuquerque, NM. and MCS Stables in Flagstaff, Az. All of the places were wonderful with nice clean, safe stalls and the two sites in NM and OK had really nice people accommodations on site. I would stay at all of the places again and would recommend them to anyone that asked. I would like to thank everyone who believed in Milo and I and sent us good thoughts. I know the turn out of the championships wasn’t really what we had hoped for but I was very proud of him considering the circumstances. Milo is for sale but I do think that he and I will compete for the last time together at the CDS Southern Ca. Jr/Yr championships. I am very sad to say the least that we have to part was but I understand Pam’s choice. We had an amazing year together and he has given me more than I could have ever hoped for. I want to make sure he finds the best home ever because he deserves the best. I am looking for a new horse to lease next year so pass the word around!!
Jun 22, 2009 | Katie Archives
The Festival of Champions has come to a very shaky WET close. Katie rode her second ride today after a full night and morning of pouring rain. We worked MIlo in the standing water yesterday in preparation and with some convincing he worked through lakes and slop very well in the warm up ring. After a great warmup today in the lower ring, which had ample rubber into provide some bounce, he entered the show ring and realized the footing was very puddly and unforgiving. Once again he found himself uncertain as to how to deal with it and in the name of trying to stay forward through it he put in an adequate test, no where to his ability. This was a fine time to realize that she has never really schooled him in mud! His final overall score was a 64.4, placing them in 7th overall. Disappointing but we must realize it is an honor to be here. Definatly the horses from wet areas prevailed! Just after her class finished, the rest of the Championships were called off!!! The Grand Prix Special and I-1 riders never got to finish and were placed with the scores they had achieved. The rain was unbelievable and everyone came away with the sad realization that infamous Gladstone is so outdated. State of the art footing or a move of the operation to Kentucky are imperative. Despite the frustration and mess it was great to see old friends and meet new ones. Katie is especially sad as this marks one of her final times with Milo as Pam has decided to sell him. She did not qualify to go to The NAJYRC next month in Kentucky. We start our journey home early Tuesday morning and hope to take about 4 1/2 days. It will be good to see you all and our critters. Thanks again to all of you for your support. May the next show be DRY!!!! Elizabeth
Jun 20, 2009 | Katie Archives, Students & Show Results
The Brentina Cup riders rode in the pouring rain and standing water on Thursday morning and ALL classes after that were postponed and the entire show’s schedule was pushed around. The amount of rain was incredible. Katie’s class Friday morning was the first to go and the ring was sloppy. Her ride was honest but Milo was very careful and conservative. His warm up was brilliant but it was obvious once he entered the show arena that he was concerned. He slipped a few times and had a mistake in the 3 tempis. They achieved a 65.4 which puts them in 5th place. She rides again on Sunday and unfortunately there is a lot of rain in the forecast for today. All in all though we are having a great time. His owner, Pam flew in Thursday night and we are having fun with her. Thank you all for your support and thoughts. Elizabeth
Jun 18, 2009 | Katie Archives, Students & Show Results
The FEI Jog took place today and Milo was a star as always! He passed with flying colors and was an angel! He had a walk day today to rest and recharge for the weekend. Tomorrow I will post some pictures of Milo at the jog and where the event is being held. Thanks for all your good thoughts!
