I was about to leave for Meppen (spelling correction from the last post). It was a great weekend. Not only did I make it there with the big lkw, but Catherine won both the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special breaking 70%. Cadillac was super! The weather was excellent, and the show facility was beautiful. Of course we have a celebration upon return on Sunday night!!
Making it to the show facility with the big lkw was not as easy as it sounded. First the navigation system took me into every small village, complete with cobblestone streets, between Vechta and Meppen. I never got out of 2nd gear. Then I almost turned down a TINY street that had a bridge that was both under construction and had a weight limit of 3.5 tons. Mind you the big lkw, complete with 3 horses and equipment, is over 7 tons! So, I had to turn around, without falling into the major ditch on this tiny street and find my way to the autobahn with Catherine's help of course. Thank goodness she is patient.
When we finally got to the show grounds we were on the main road coming into the facility and it was lined with trailers. People were tacking up in the middle of the road!!! Insanity. Luckily were had a big enough truck that we got to park in the big grassy field!
The warm-up was in the indoor riding hall, which was beautiful! There were so many windows and it had a cathedral ceiling. You couldn't find a cobweb in the place. The competition arena was just outside the indoor bordered with a white picket fence. At the "A" end of the arena there was a big tent with food and drinks available. Germans do not mess around with food! There is always food everywhere and everyone enjoys cake and coffee between 3pm and 4pm.
I almost forgot the best part! The bathrooms!! The Germans do not use porta johns (we could learn from this). There were beautifully decorated and super clean! The picture really explains it all. Yes, I did take a picture of the bathrooms. I often look like a ridiculous tourist at this competitions but it hard not to take pictures!
Here are some pictures:
Indoor Riding Hall
Spectator Tent
Coffee Bar and Vendors
The immaculate bathroom!
Catherine and Cadillac in the Victory Circle
The View from "C"
"Meldestelle" or Show Office (Its adorable)
Casey and I Celebrating Sunday Night
Then came Monday....
Monday was the most honest day's work I think I have ever put in!! After a late night celebrating on Sunday, we all cleaned the barn from top to bottom. We did ausmist, which is where we take a month's worth of straw and manure out of 20 stalls, and we power washed every inch of the barn. At first we started with one power washer and realized we would all still be there if we didn't get another one. So we rented another one and pressed on!! There was water everywhere! All the horses were either in the trailers or in another barn for the entire day. We were exhausted come 8pm when we left the stable, but it was well worth it. The barn looks close to brand new and there are ZERO cobwebs!!
The rest of the week was quite busy. Morthen came for a 2 day clinic and the farrier came. Thursday is was off to another show for Casey and Christoffer. Then Friday night Catherine and I went to another day show in Haftenkamp, Germany. She showed the short Grand Prix with Winymaro. It was a really nice facility with top quality horses. The short Grand Prix was held as a night class and was held under flood lights, it was pretty cool. They also had this huge crane that hung lights over the warm-up. Creative I thought. However, I got my first taste of typical German weather. It poured like no tomorrow! Everything was drenched!! It was strange no one, not even the riders and horses seemed to know it was raining. They carried on like nothing was different. The showed up with proper show attire and their horses turned out to a tee! There was never a mention of a rain delay or anything! It was an experience and a soggy ride home!!
Pictures from Haftenkamp:
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES....MORE PICTURES TO COME SOON
It was really neat to go to some National shows the past few weekends. The quality of horses and riders is out of this world. I saw so many adult amateurs and 12 year old kids that could kick my butt! Talk about starting them young over here! Everyone has a super position, for the most part, and there horses are forward and eager!!
Thanks for reading...
-Meaghan
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