After having a couple of days off, we are back to work after the horse show. We have our sights set on another show Dec. 1,2 and will be very happy to have Mary Anne here visiting at the time and helping us out. This week of training we have gotten back to working on piaffe, passage and one time changes since we had put these things on the back burner 10 days before the last show. Both horses are doing well on the piaffe and passage, starting to make transitions between the two. The highlight of the week was on Saturday for me when I made 8 beautiful ones on Donneur. How sweet it is!
We are going to have to get the ark out soon, we have had rain every day and night for about a week now, with only short periods of sunshine. The horses have not been able to get outside since the horse show and I am sure they are missing their turnout time.
It is so nice to be at a stable where no matter what country you are from, we are all there for the same reason. My Japanese friend, Mieko, gave my horses an interesting compliment. She said that she likes the way they trot, they have a lot of expression, like Michael Jackson doing the Moon Walk. Could that be a new way to describe horses that move with more cadence?
It must be Saturday morning because there is a man that comes to the barn each weekend in his motorized wheel chair, even on rainy days, he gets suited up in rain gear. He must be really a dedicated dressage enthusiast. NOT!!! He is coming to get a beer out of the vending machine. I wonder if his wife knows what he is up to? With all of this wet weather, it is hard to get the horses cooled off and their coats dried after work. Even after being clipped 3 weeks ago, they have grown back quite a bit of hair. I have been changing their coolers for a few hours afterwards trying to get them dry but now I have discovered the wonders of the Solarium. The only problem is that my horses are a little afraid of it because they have to stand in a very narrow space and it makes quite a bit of noise blowing warm air on them. Dolly took to it faster than Donneur because I told her it was a beauty treatment and we all know how women like to go to the spa. Next, she'll be asking to get her feet done while she is in the Solarium. Donneur on the other hand, has different ideas. I turned the Solarium on first and tried to back him in, to no avail. He came out rather forcefully and of course hit the Emergency Off Switch with his nose in the process. Are we surprised by that? But you know what? Now that he is doing his one time changes, he can have anything he wants! I feel a Grand Prix test just around the corner. Hopefully, we can do our first one soon. They have a wonderful Grand Prix test for 8,9 and 10 year old horses here in Germany that is very user friendly that we hope to try soon. The only bad news is that Hubertus cracked a vertebrae in his back and is not allowed on a horse for 8 weeks. His wife, Doris, has a big job ahead of her keeping him under wraps until he gets the all clear from his doctor.......