Pictures!!

Hi Everyone!! Hope you are enjoying some beautiful Fall weather! We have had excellent weather this week!! I put some pictures up of me and Royal Rubin. "Rudi" is one of Heike's Grand Prix mounts. He is a 12 year old stallion by Rubinstien. I am lucky enough to ride him quite often! There are a few pictures of us having some fun after a good ride!! Here are the links. Enjoy!!

Royal Rubin:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MTB-Dressage/129309447103592?ref=ts#!/album.php?aid=30115&id=129309447103592&ref=mf

Rudi and I having some fun!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MTB-Dressage/129309447103592?ref=ts#!/album.php?aid=30123&id=129309447103592

Check out MTBDressage on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MTB-Dressage/129309447103592?ref=ts#!/pages/MTB-Dressage/129309447103592
MTBDressage.com is coming soon!!!

Please let me know if the links don't work for some reason!!

Thanks for reading!

-Meaghan

A New Tool for the Toolbox

The Bridge!

I was riding one of the young horses and Heike made a comment that I should really try to keep my hands closer together; create a little imaginary box right in front on the withers and keep my hands INSIDE. Normally when I ride young horses I end up having my hands a little lower and wider, which is fine sometimes, but eventually they have to accept the contact from a slightly closer and elevated hand. Sometimes I try to micro-manage every little moment and correct it before it happens. Sometimes this works out great but other times I get in the horses way and become a bit too busy. Not busy as in moving my hands around in gigantic movements as if I were painting an elaborate piece of art but simply just giving to many little aids in to short of time. Remember: give an aid, give the horse a chance to react, and then repeat if necessary.

The bridge is a great way to feel how slight your rein aids can really be as well as how much more support you can give with your leg and weight aids. It allows you to feel if there are any crooked points in your position and/or your horse’s body. Maybe you have been compensating with your right rein for what your right leg should have been doing?

To make the Bridge take the left rein in the left hand and lay the rest of the rein flat across the withers, then take the right rein in the right hand and lay the rest flat across the withers. Now take the extra part of the rein in each hand. You should have two layers of reins in each hand. This creates small “bridge” on top of the horse’s withers. The forces, in a way that doesn’t negatively affect your horse, to keep your hands steady and only using a slight motion of the wrist for your rein aid. I know it sounds confusing and it will probably feel impossible for the first few rounds but stick with it and really try to feel how your leg and seat aid should precede your rein aids!

After we have mastered the bridge we can move onto riding with only one hand!!

Thanks for reading!

-Meaghan

August!

Well....other than being a complete blogging slacker, there has been a lot going on this past month! August flew by!!

My friend Eliza, of www.elizasydnordressage.com came to visit in the beginning of August! We met up with another good friend of ours and went to Verden for the World Young Horse Championships! There were some incredible horses. I was completely blown away by the 5 and 6 year old classes! The breeding of some of the horses combined with world class training made it a complete pleasure to be an auditor! We also watched the Grand Prix, and the Special. For the first time I was able to Sune Hansen, the rider from Blue Hors ride. He was an absolute delight. He is a tall slender (not to mention gorgeous looking) man with a flawless position. He and his horses moved with such grace. His aids were nearly invisible. Although he has a few mistakes in each test, costing him the win, his rides were breathtaking. He is now the new picture in my head of what I want to look like on a horse and how I gracefully I want to ride. I am really excited to see how well he does at the WEG in Kentucky!

The weekend after Verden, my friend Pia and I drove to Munster to see the final class of the German Championships which served as the final selection trail for the WEG team. Isabell Werth was the clear winner, but the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, spots were really close. I was most impressed by Matthias Rath's freestyle. His horse is known for having serious issues in the final piaffe, but he made a point to do 2 sets of piaffe in the final moments of the freestyle to show the judges that he has what it takes to make the team. He proceed to do almost 18 perfect steps of piaffe right in front of the judge at B while petting his horse. It was awesome!!! The competition arena is set right in the middle of the city with a beautiful historic castle as the backdrop. Wish I could figure out the picture situation!!!!!

After watching the Germans fight it out for their WEG team we raced home and quickly tuned into useflive.com (which had incredible live coverage of the US National Championships) and watched the Americans fight it out for our WEG team! It was an awesome weekend filled with some exceptional Dressage!! Not to mention got me super excited for the WEG.

Always more to come….

Meaghan

Time Off Has Its Benefits!

I have come to the conclusion that taking an actual vacation can be a good thing for one's riding! While you are away somethings get better, somethings stay the same and some maybe lose a little ground! Sure, if you take a day or two off things don't really change, but three weeks, well that gives you a chance! I can't lie when I got back the first two days of riding were tough, I was out of shape, (maybe had eaten too much while at home:) and I was pretty muscle sore! It didn't help the Mr. Meyners (seat coach) came my FIRST day back! But, overall since back I have been able to keep my hands down without too much of a problem. I know this sounds small but really its huge! I was constantly getting yelled at to keep my hands down! They weren't up around my ears or anything but they were just a little too high and as they crept up my seat would creep upwards too! So my hands: Better! My seat stayed mostly the same! My legs maybe lost a little ground. I have been working really hard to make my aids, in some ways quicker, but in other ways softer. YES its confusing! When I need a quick leg aid sometimes I am too slow. And at other times when maybe I could get away with a squeeze of the calf I go for a big kick which ALWAYS ruins everything! So quicker and smaller!

I am still trying to solve the picture mystery!! Everytime I upload a picture not only does it take forever but it loads as 5000 words of ADS&^%&_^FKMA R)(IQ $TUQ !!!! See my problem!! Help!

-Meaghan

PS. I am tryin to do a video tour of the stable to post on here!

Had a Blast at Home

Hey Everyone,

I know its been a while, but I am back from an awesome three weeks at home and ready to get back to riding! I will be better about blogging I promise! Home was great, I got to see lots of friends and family, eat way to much delicious food, and enjoy Boston and the beach!

My flight back was terrible. I couldn't sleep on the first 6 hour flight to Amsterdam, then I had to hang around Amsterdam Airport for 5 hours waiting for my connection flight to Hannover. I almost missed my connection because I was sleeping!! The nice steward lady woke me up! Thank goodness! Then the turbulance on the flight was so bad that people were screaming, breathing out of paper bags and stuff fell from the overhead bins! I am glad I don't have to fly for a while!!

Exciting news! Before the end of the month I should have my website www.MTBdressage.com up and running! While I was home both my parents and several friends put in an enormous effort to get it started! Thank you all so much! Can't wait to see what you think!

More exciting news! Eliza Sydnor is coming to visit me and other good friend Eiren and we are going to watch the World Young Horse Championships in Verden!!

I am working on putting some pictures up like I used too, but for some reason all the pictures that I upload come up as a large red X! So I am investigating that issue!!

-Meaghan

Struggling and Balance

So the last few weeks I have been struggling! I have been trying to sit so straight and so still that almost every muscle in my body aches. Ms. Kemmer has been on me about really turning the horses outside shoulder. Sounds easy, but as I am turning the outside shoulder my horse inevitably falls the inside front leg. I know that I need to make my horse use their inside hind leg to carry and push more of their weight, but its HARD! I always end up using way to much inside rein to make the turn and end up falling a little bit to the outside with my seat, but when I try to make corrections to my position and seat I make too large of an adjustment and then I throw my horse way off balance! Ahhh it’s a vicious circle. So every day I concentrate on staying straight, in the center on my horse, and using small invisible aids to guide my horses! Easier said than done and the real kicker is that I know all this! I completely understand the theory and basic principals but making my body comply is so much harder. I also struggle a lot with what is enough and what is too little. Sometimes I feel like I am way to easy on my horses and I should demand a little more from them because really that’s the only way we are going to move forward, but then some days I feel like I am pushing them over the edge and its information overload and too much for them to handle! What it really boils down to is that everything is about balance. Balance, balance, balance!! So my plan is to keep on trying to make my body do what my mind tells it to do while I am in the saddle and then I think I need to start taking a YOGA class. That’s all about balance and centering yourself, right! New plan: Yoga!! I will keep you updated!

Thanks for Reading:

Meaghan

Major Break Through!

Over the past two weeks I have discovered the key to riding! Ok well, not the absolute key but let's just say a key part to developing my seat further. I have always had a problem with hunching my shoulders. When everything is good nice and easy (aka I'm not really riding) then I can sit on the horse with my shoulders back and in great posture, but in the moment when I actually need to stay straight and strong in my upper body, I hunch my shoulders, fall a little bit forward and probably pull on the right rein! But now I have discovered the little area in the upper body known as the sternum. Yes, I know it has always been there but FINALLY I have started to use it! Keeping good posture and sitting straight really has nothing to do with my shoulders, I just have to remember to keep my sternum up and open. Each rib has to be separated! Seriously, it sounds crazy but really this has helped my seat tremendously. The action, motion, swinging movements (whatever you what to call it) of the horse's body has to flow through your seat and be absorbed without collapsing like a ragdoll. I use to try to keep my hips, legs, and seat so steady that I was absorbing all the movement in the upper part of my rib cage, making my sitting trot look like a slow moving wave, peaking right under my shoulder blades. But now that I have started to constantly remind myself of my sternum I have been able to absorb the movements throughout my entire body with the majority of it in the hips. This has made sitting the trot SOOO much easier. When I look in the mirror I really look as it I am finally moving with the horse as opposed to the flapping passenger. Now if I could only figure out how to give an aid at the same moment! Guess I need to save something for next week! Hahaha.

Hope everyone is enjoying some Spring weather!!!

-Meaghan

More Meyners Exercises

These are a few of the exercises that I worked on this week with Mr.Meyners.

1: 6-12 (Like the numbers on clock)
Lay on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the ground, and rotate your pelvis forward (6) and back (12). Try to alternate the speed and the height or intensity of each movement, but try to keep the exercise in motion.

2. Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Stretch your arms out to either side, shoulder length. Place one ankle on the other knee and let your knees fall from one side to the other while turning the head from one direction to the other.

3. Lay on your right/left side with your arm stretched out above your head, your head lying on your arm, legs long, and your pelvis at a 90 degree angle to the ground (this is the most important part). Lift both your upper body and lower body off the ground just for a few seconds, then rest and repeat. It is most important to keep your pelvis at a 90 degree angle to the ground, do not fall forward or backwards. It is better to repeat this exercise only a few times then switch sides. It more important to do it 5 times correctly than 10 times poorly.
To increase this exercise try to lift lower and upper body off the ground and then raise one leg higher up (separate your leg). If you are on the right side it is your left leg that you raise. Then lower your left leg back to the right one then back to the ground, don’t collapse on a heap in the floor. Make slow controlled movements.

4. Lay on your back with your arms stretched over your head and your legs long. Try to rise your upper body and lower body slowly and of equal height. If you are stronger with your lower abs don’t raise your legs rather than your upper can go, and vice versa. Repeat this same exercise while lying on your back.

5. Sit upright with your legs out in front of you in a triangle, with your pelvis as the tip of the triangle. Keep your legs long. Roll backwards onto your back and bring your legs over your head to touch the ground behind your head, then roll forward, legs back on the ground in front of your like a triangle and reach forward with upper body and arms. Don’t raise your shoulders to stretch further, just go as far as possible with your arms and upper body. Keep breathing and try to keep this a fluid motion, trying to heave your legs over your head and letting then mash down on the ground. (This is what happened on my first)

Each of these exercises should aid in suppleness and bringing together the right and left side of the body. Also the rotation of the head in the opposite direction as the legs aids in better coordination of the diagonal aids

6. To deepen your seat, sit either in the saddle or on a hard stool and have someone stand in front of you and make all different size circles (in all directions) with their finger. Try to follow their finger with only your eyes. Don’t move your head. It sounds crazy but it really works!

Have fun trying to make sense of these exercises. If anyone has any questions feel free to email me. They can be confusing!!

Good Luck and Viel Spass!!! (Have Fun)

-Meaghan

Melting Marshmellow vs. Magic Meaghan

Hello Everyone,

There is actually a good excuse for the serious lack of blogging over the past 5 months (I can't believe it has been that long). I have had NO internet. Can you imagine!! I live in a tiny, yet extremely cute little village! The cable company pretty much had to wire the whole village for DSL, but I now have internet!! WhooHoo! Ok, now that I am over having the internet, I can get back to writing my blog.

Reader's Digest version of the past 5 months: Riding is going great. Getting my butt kicked most days, but on a few, very rare occasions Heike has used the nickname "Magic Meaghan" and "Dressage Rider" to describe a few fleeting moments in over a 1000 rides over the past few months. ALL of the other moments are reserved for the "melting marshmallow" comment! Haha. Heike describes my sitting trot as melting marshmallow! Not good! So I am working extremely hard to have some positive tension in my upper body, which is only possible now that I have my lower leg on the horse (Instead of the beautiful, yet ineffective "dressage" leg that I once had)

I have ridden anywhere from 4 to 10 horses per day, ranging from out of control 3 year olds to seasoned Grand Prix horses. I have been able to work continually with Mr., Myners throughout the winter, and have made some big improvement in my seat and have been able to file away some excellent feelings of a deeper seat and seriously collected canter with a light rein contact. I will describe some of the exercises in the next few blogs. Some are crazy but they work.

Spring has finally come. The winter was so terrible. Everyone has said that it was the worst Winter Germany has seen in 20 years. So I am thinking of Wintering in New England next year, it has to be better that this insane German weather! Haha! At the stable there is a beautifully groomed galloping track, so I have spent alot of time outside in the past few weeks with my youngsters just going forward and straight without running away!! So much fun!

So I promise there will be more consistent updates from now on! Thank you to everyone for reading and your continued support! I hope everyone is enjoying springtime!

-Meaghan

A Taste of Riding in Germany

Oh the challenges it presents. In the past week I have been put in the craziest situations. I rode one horse that is a big sweetheart but deathly afraid of other horses. First of all it was raining, no big surprise there since it rains at least once every day here in Germany, but that means that everyone rides inside the indoor. The indoor is beautiful with big windows, but it is exactly regulation size, there is no inch to spare! So, I had to ride my horse inside with two other horses longing, another horse hand walking, another horse schooling piaffe and passage with a ground person, AND another horse who just came in on the longe line that was rolling and enjoying himself! Ok, so trying to stay a safe distance away from each of the other horses was nearly impossible. I felt like a ping pong ball being bounced around the entire arena as my horse dodged each on coming horse. Of course, I wasn’t wearing a helmet and tried to keep a serious face so that everyone, especially Heike wouldn’t see how insane I thought the whole situation was. Thank goodness I lived till the next because the next day was even crazier.
As anyone who owns or manages a stable knows, it is a full time in and of itself to keep the grounds clean and presentable at all time. So this past week there was a bit of Spring cleaning going on. I know, it’s almost Winter, but you know the Germans clean clean, clean. They were cutting down 15 trees that surrounded the paddock, which is conveniently situated along the backside of the indoor riding arena. There were chainsaws, axes, and tractors going all day. Each horse was a little tense along that specific longside but eventually got over it and worked well. However, it wasn’t until I was attempting to mount a gorgeous 3yr. gelding from the ground, in my brand new Konigs (that I of course ordered was to tall, again) just how crazy this was! Again no helmet, and I was trying to keep him completely still while mounting, and had to keep the”oh this isn’t insane at all” look on my face!
Least to say it has been a challenging week, but I have survived and realized that if I don’t notice the million distractions during each of my rides then my horses will be less likely to react to them. Of course I have heard this several times and have even said this same exact thing to students but it’s always more difficult to put into practice!

Great Week

It has been a great week here in Winsen. Heike was here in the beginning of the week and I got some good help with my horses. I am still working on being able to bend each horse around my inside leg, rather than using my inside rein. Correct bending throughout the entire body really helps to engage each horse through transisitons between the gaits and within the gait. I also worked on some small half steps with one of the 6 years olds. He was super and responsed really well. The timing of my half-halts and the small, tiny taps with the whip was so important. Talk about being in tune with the hind legs.

This weekend, one of the guys from the barn Jens, and I went to Hannover to the German Classics Competition. Heike was riding Royal Rubin 5, or Rudi. It was such a big National Show. She placed 8th in the Grand Prix on Saturday night. We were also able to watch the jumping which was huge, there were over 50 riders. The jump off was insane. They were so fast. I also got to watch a FEI World Cup Qualifier for 4 in hand carriage driving. So cool!! There were hazards, cones, and a make shift bridge all inside an indoor arena (with stadium seating of course). The driving event didn't start until 11pm. Germans are so crazy, they love there late parties. We did some shopping and ate looks of great food too. After the events were over we attended the after party! It was quite the event, the entrance hall of the stadium is cleared out and filled with cocktail bars, a massive dance floor, and a Dj. Party time!

Lesson with Mr.Myners this week! Can't wait to see what exercises he comes up with!

Thanks for reading...

Meaghan

First Lesson with Mr.Myners

Last week I had a lesson with Mr. Myners. He has been coming to Heike’s and working with her for over 4 years. He is better known as the Balimo Chair Guy, he told me this. Haha. Anyhow, it was incredible. He watched me ride, walk, trot, and canter for 10-15 minutes then I got off my horse and did some exercises. First I had to lie on my back with my knees bent, hip distance apart and try to move my hips from 6 o’clock to 12 o’clock. You have to think of the motion of your seat in terms of clock. Then I had to move from 6 to 9 for the left lead canter and 6 to 3 for the right lead canter. 6 to 12 was a piece of cake, right lead wasn’t too bad, but I could barely move from 6 to 9 or left lead canter. Maybe this explains why I always feel crooked to the left! Hmm! Then I got back on my horse and did sitting trot for a few circles to feel a little bit of a difference, trying to move with the motion of the horse and have it continue through my body and be absorbed. I returned to the mat and lay on my back with my knees in the same position but I moved them side to side. Letting my knees fall from right to left and back to right all in one fluid motion. I kept my knees apart a little bit so that I could try to make the switching without tension in my thighs. I then had to move my head to the opposite direction that I was moving my legs. So knees to the right, head to the left. Not so easy. Again I got back on my horse, did a few circles sitting trot, and felt a huge difference. I was actually moving with the horse and didn’t have to use my muscles to stay on. But I still wasn’t deep enough in the saddle to really influence the horse, I was just moving with the horse a bit better. So I did a few more exercises. I laid stomach down on the mat and bend my knees. I moved one knee out to the side, almost level with my hip and had to raise my opposite leg. Sounds confusing, it was. Then Mr. Myners pressed down on the leg that I was to rise and I had to push as hard as I could against it. When he released the pressure it was much easier to raise my leg higher with my other knee extended to the side. I got back on my horse and did a few more circles of sitting trot, still I felt an improvement but still I wasn’t deep enough into the saddle. So here comes the tricky part! This blew my mind. While on the horse, Mr. Myners asked me to do eye circles. Just make a big circle with my eyes, to the left then to the right! I seriously could not do this. I was making a square. I looked posed, Heike said. So I got off my horse and sat down on the stool and Mr., Myners had me follow his finger with my eyes. He made big, slow circles, and then changed it up with some figures of 8, then random lines. It was really difficult for me to follow with just my eyes. But I got back in the saddle and sat the trot and I was able to sit much deeper. My whole sessions lasted about an hour. It was tough work, but truly I felt several differences in my seat. Of course the next day I couldn’t get the feeling back to save my life but he said that would happen. So we will work together again this week and find more exercises to strengthen my seat.

Hope this made a bit of sense....

Meaghan

Meet the Horses

I have 5 horses that I ride everyday and there are a few others that I warm-up or cool-down for Heike.
Charlie II : 3 yr old gelding. Han. Bay. He is schooling most everything from First Level. We mainly work on transitions and little bits of sitting trot. He is super comfortable and has a great mind, not to mention adorable.
Harry Potter: 6 yr old gelding. Han. Big Blood Bay. He is the sweetest horse but a little nervous of other horses. He is schooling 3rd level. But I really work on the basics with him, transitions, straightness, and maintaining a constant connection from inside leg to outside rein. I really have to think about bending throughout the entire body rather than flexion of the pole. It sounds easy but not so much in practice. He is so comfortable to ride, which is great because I can concentrate on my position and am able to make adjustments.
Fien Cera: 6 yr old mare. Han. Dark Bay. She is schooling 2nd/3rd level. I mainly work on getting her to take quicker, more active steps from behind. She has a wonderful trot. I work on maintaining the rhythm of her canter and do some transitions within the gait in canter that are from my seat rather than my reins. This is not so easy for me sometimes.
Coriano: 8 yr old gelding. Han. Beautiful Gray. He has a big swinging trot and an uphill canter. He is awesome to ride. He is teaching me way more than I am teaching him right now. His trot is sometimes difficult for me to sit so I really work on keeping my seat independent from my hands and using my seat to make transitions. In the canter we work on transitions within the gait and walk-canter-walk transitions. He can almost canter on the spot. He is super easy to collect but I always have to think of making his neck longer and little bit deeper to ensure he is working through his back.
Actuado a.k.a Shatze: 10 yr old gelding. Han. Chestnut. Shatze is German for “darling.” The nickname fits him perfectly. He is a sweetheart of a horse and he can give you such a sweet look that you can’t possibly be mad at him. Heike competed him through the Grand Prix. So, naturally I thought “YES” finally a GP horse to ride and practice all the movements!! HAHA!! Not the case. I have barely graduated from the walk yet! Making him work through his back into a longer deeper frame is almost impossible for me, but we are working on it and it’s getting much better! He is so laterally supple that keeping him straight also poses a great challenge. Working from behind up, through both seat bones, to both reins equally is usually my train of thought. He walks for a 10 so containing his movement at the walk is hard enough for right now! I’ll keep you posted…

These are horses are all of incredible quality and are teaching me so much! I have really had to change my leg position quite a bit. I need to keep my lower leg closer to the girth. My leg is certainly more effective there, but has made me feel a little unbalanced especially in the posting trot.

The first two weeks were awesome having Heike and Mayke helping me with each horse, but the last week has been nice with both of them out of town. I really needed the last few days to play with the changes to my position, and get to know the horses a bit better. Having such great training on a daily basis is invaluable but it is always nice to have time alone to figure things out!

More to come on my lesson with Mr. Myners! Thanks for reading…

If I had a dollar...

For every time I have heard sit back, sit up, or back with the upper body in the last week I would be a solid millionaire! I’m clearly learning a lot about using my back and seat to really influence the horses. It’s not easy! First you have to ride forward, oh but not to forward then they are on the forehand, then you must ride more uphill but not slower, just more collected, but with a longer deeper neck, but not with their nose on their chest. Oh yes and you must do all this from you leg and seat, and when you get really good at it then you can use a hint of rein. But until you really understand the correct use of your leg and seat every time you use your rein it is considered to be pulling! Craziness but its all true, so I struggle and I try to have one good moment (be it brief) during every ride where I think, oh this must be it!
I’m finally getting to ride a lot which is great. I am able to sit on so many different horses ranging from gigantic movers to daintier movers and everything in between. I have a few horses that I work on my own, under the watchful eye of Heike and Mayke (the assistant trainer) of course. But I also warm several horses up for Heike and Mayke. So being employed as a rider is pretty much amazing, so far!!
We start promptly at 7am and everyone (grooms, riders, trainers, and working students) feed and clean the stable. There are just over 20 boxes in the riding stable (there are many more in the different breeding stables on the farm), but we just care for the riding horses. After the stable is cleaned we sit down to a lovely breakfast with the “team.” It’s complete with fresh bread, coffee, tea, and everything imaginable to top your bread. After breakfast we start riding. We ride till about 1pm, take a short lunch break and ride again till 5pm.
Of course the weather here in ole Deutschland is somewhat less than desirable. It has rained pretty much every day since I’ve been back and it’s probably not going to stop until summer of next year. Oh well!
Riley continues to impress me! He has had to learn to ride along side my bicycle to and from work. Someone will have to get a picture of this, it’s just adorable! At first I thought I would be writing a terrible story of how I broke my leg on the way to the stable on my first day of work. But Riley has been great, he still likes to swerve into the front tire sometimes, in which he scares himself and pulls us both way off to one side. But luckily those incidents are becoming less and less!
Since I am living by myself I am going to be reading a lot more! So if anyone has read any good books lately, email me!! bmeaghan@gmail.com

Thanks for reading, always more to come!

Meaghan :)

Least to Say its Been a While...

Im back to Germany and back to updating the blog! The backpacking/camping trip around Europe was incredible! Switzerland was by far my favorite! Hiking and taking the cog railway up Mt. Jungfrau (the highest elevation is Europe) was just amazing. The views at the top were breathtaking. Cant beat a 100 foot waterfall as the backdrop of the campground, and being surrounded by the Swiss Alps.

During September I took a much needed break (I know what you are thinking "A much needed break" the darn girl was just backpacking across Europe, but hey the backpack and tent were heavy. :) ) and spent some time with close friends and family. It was the perfect time of year to be home!!

But now I am finally riding in Germany. Who would have ever thought?! Riley (my gorgeous golden retriever) and I survived the close to 10 hours plane ride, plus 6 hour drive from Amsterdam to the stable in Winsen, Germany. Did I mention that I hauled 3 suitcases, a XL dog crate, and Riley around the Amsterdam airport trying to find a silly internet stick and rent a car!! Insanity. But it was all worth it. I have an adorable apartment to myself. Its only about a 1km from the stable, which makes for a nice bike ride to and from work. Living on my own is certainly going to take so getting use to. Its so quiet (except for the German TV shows). I guess I will have to take up needlepiont! Haha.

Yesterday was the my first day at the stable and I sat on 8 different horses. Most of them I warmed up and cooled down for Heike and Mayke (the assitant trainer). Seems I still have alot to learn about the basics. Basic driving aids and moving the horse away from my inside leg seemed to be on top of the list. Then I rode two horse on my own and had some help from Heike. The quality of horses is just insane. When I wrap my head around just how lofty all of their trots are and how much jump the canter has, I will let you know.

Today was much like yesterday but I am so sore tonight! My legs feel like jello!! Time to get back into shape.

Glad to be back, much more to come.

Meaghan :)

Taking Off

Tonight is the night! I leave for London at 10:30pm, and after taking a train to Liverpool and a cab to the hostel I will meet up with my group tomorrow morning at 6am! What kind of vacation starts at 6am? Haha! Then we spent the day touring London and then its off to Paris!

This afternoon I am having traditional German cake and coffee with Catherine, Casey, Christoffer, Natallie, Cesar, and a new girl from France. Im sure it will be a nice way to say bye and thank you!

I will keep updating as much as I can but the internet might be limited once we are on the road!

-Meaghan

Big News!

I am going to be a rider at Heike Kemmer's stable! Woo Hoo! The interview went great and i sat on two very nice horses. One 6 year old and a 4 year old. Both super quality! Heike and I chatted afterwards and she offered me the job! But I still had one more interview with Johann Zaggers, who is the Team Coach for the Brazilians. I spent the weekend at his farm, and rode some really excellent horses. But unfortunately they were looking for more of a student/worker than an actually rider. The facility was huge and brand new, they have over 50 horses! So I just talked with Heike this evening and its final, I start October 1st! And the greatest news is that I can have my beautiful dog Riley!!! Lets hope he loves Germany and stable life! We will see.

You might ask what I am doing between now and then! Well I am going to be backpacking around Europe for three weeks with a student tour group. We start in London and make our way all over. Here is a little bit about what places we will be going to! I forgot, we are camping out!! It should be quite the adventure!
Paris
Evening Tour of Illuminations
See the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Champs Élysées, and Notre Dame Cathedral

Swiss Alps
Scenic drive through the Alps

French Riviera
Visit a French Perfumery
Scenic drive along the Cote d'Azur
Visit Monaco & see the Royal Palace
Visit a Monte Carlo casino

Pisa
See the Leaning Tower

Florence
Walking tour with a local guide
See the Duomo, Basilica Santa Croce, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistry & Piazza della Signoria
Florentine leather craft demonstration

Rome
See Piazza Venezia, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Colosseum & Roman Forum

Vatican City
See St. Peter's Basilica

Bologna
See the famous porticos & two towers.

Venice
Murano glass-blowing & Burano lace-making demonstrations
Private motorboat to the historic islands
See Piazza San Marco, Bridge of Sighs and the Doges' Palace

Vienna
See Schönbrunn Palace, St. Stephen's Cathedral & the State Opera House
Scenic drive along the historic Ring Road

Cesky Krumlov
See the medieval town

Prague
See Hradcany Castle, the Cathedral of St. Vitus, Charles Bridge and Wenceslas Square

Munich
See the Glockenspiel & Marienplatz

Heidelberg
See the medieval castle

Rhine Valley
Scenic drive along the Rhine River
Visit the riverside town St. Goar

Amsterdam
See the canals, gable houses and city by night
Visit a cheese farm & clog maker's house
Visit a fishing and cheese village

I am so lucky!! I'm not sure if I will have access to the internet but I will do my best to keep everyone updated! Thank you for your support!!

-Meaghan

Change is Good

Before I get to my "Change is good" explanation I have to write about Aachen. I realize it have been forever and a day since I have written, but I have been so insanely busy!! Aachen was one of the best experiences in my life! Yes, Stephan Peters and Ravel won all three classes!! An American won!! Too cool! Catherine and I were stable with Stephan because we were "Team USA" even though we didn't technically have a team there this year. We had stall curtains, flags, and blankets the just screamed USA. It was awesome! It was so nice to be around a group of Americans, especially around the 4th. When Stephan and Ravel won the GP Special on the 4th of July and the American flag was raised while the National Anthem played in front of 60,000 people, I was in tears! It was just an incredible moment.
There was a groom's party on Wednesday night which was a blast. It is so much fun talking with all the grooms and hearing about where they have been and how long they have been grooming for. Not to mention a long night of drinking and dancing!
The trade fair at Aachen is like a medium size shopping mall. You can buy everything there and I mean everything! There were so many people on Fri, Sat and Sun that I barely went over there it was just to crowded. The stable arena was much cooler and much quieter!
For me Aachen was kind of like summer camp! You have the time of your life and never want to leave and you are sad for a week afterwards.
Ok, then the day I got back from Aachen I moved into my new apartment. Really it is a WG, pronounced "vgee." There are four rooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen. My three roommates are German, so they are helping with my German! My room is quite large and I have a huge blue accent wall, kind of strange but it works. I also also have a balcony which over looks a potato vending machine. You didn't read incorrectly, a potato vending machine. Cars driving up all day long and insert 2 or 5 euro into the machine and out pops a sack of potatoes. So German, I guess. I will be learning to cook alot with potatoes!
The next day we have the Reese from Dressage Training Online come to the stable to take several training videos for the website. A very educational day. We also have a new working student come to the stable from France, his name is Cesar and he can cook!! So throughout the week we have have several dinner gatherings! It has been a hectic but fun week.
Earlier this week Catherine told me to bringing my riding boots to the barn so that I could start riding. YAY!!! I couldn't wait to get back in the saddle! So after I rode Catherine and I had a long chat about what I wanted to do. Of course I couldn't get out fast enough that I wanted to ride, 20 horses a day if possible! Grooming has been a blast and I have learned so much but really I want to be back in the saddle. But there isn't a riding position for me at Catherine's. There are already 3 riders plus Catherine and at the moment 16 horses. So Catherine has been a HUGE help in finding me another stable to ride at. This coming Thursday I have an interview at Heike Kemmer's stable. She was the Bronze Medalist in Hong Kong Olympics! So as you see alot has changed since the last time I wrote but really everything is for the best!!! Ok so I promise to keep you updated more! Wish me luck on the interview!

Thanks for reading...

Meaghan

Oops

Can anyone tell I am a little tired!! I forgot to write that Catherine won the Grand Prix Special in Viduban! It was the last class of the two week tour and Cadillac was on fire! They had a stellar ride, ridden to music from Celine Dion, and scored over 70%. We had quite the celebration. Perfect ending to a great trip!

Down-Time

So I am still high off my trip to France. I can't believe I was actually there. It was such a fabulous experience. I got to sight see in Cannes, took a day trip to St.Tropez, and spend a week on a vineyard with incredible rosee wine. The name of the vineyard is Chateau des Launes. They have a great website, check it out. www.chateaudeslaunes.com.

The drive back from France was somewhat aweful!! I drove 5 hours to Lyon on Saturday through the strongest wind gusts I have ever felt! Then I drove 15 hours from Lyon to Vechta. The first 11 hours couldn't have been smoother then 100 kilometers to the stable took forever since the main autobahn was closed for repairs and there was a 17 kilometer stau, or traffic jam! It took me forever to get off the autobahn and weave my way through every small town and village to get back to the barn! But we made it thats all that matters!

We are having an intense week getting ready for Aachen! I cannot wait to see Aachen and be behind the scenes with the horses and riders. Hopefully I will be keeping a daily journal, posted each night, for DressageDaily about my experience. We leave on Monday!

Be in touch soon...

Meaghan