Month: November 2009

So I don’t really blog to much about personal events outside of my horse experiences (like I didn’t mention Ex being deployed to Iraq mainly for his privacy. He’s back home BTW and hopefully not getting shipped away anywhere anytime soon, hint, hint Mr. President!) BUT this was just too sweet of a story to pass up posting. My brother and sister in-laws, Chris and Meaghan, and Grandmere Georgia were on the local Oregon news for when one of the bottles they sent off at their wedding was found 90 miles away. It was a very touching story for me and I thought others might find it heartfelt as well! If the embed doesn’t work below, you can go to the direct link online by clicking here.

Okey, so perhaps it was silly but we drove over the Germany for a beverage after my lesson with Anky. It was about a 45 minute drive and we stopped in Kempen. We had a nice stroll around town, stopped by the church, saw some fun sculptures and met a nice bartender/barista at a local bar/café. Here’s some fun photos of the experience!

Ex in Germany


Picollo in Germany


Ang in Germany (of course I found the horse to ride in town!)


Achtung Baby! Actually this was a really nice church and yes, it was kinda pink!


Cheers Ex!

We went to this disco in Eindhoven and Ex was quite impressed with the architecture. It’s actually quite nice and they were playing a good mix of music which made it even more enjoyable. The evening wasn’t complete without enjoying a kebob!

Anky’s assistant and barn manager, Liesbeth recently gave me this photo of Ava Eden van Grunsven (Anky’s daughter) looking down at a cute little Picollo. I believe this was during the stable dedication day. It’s a prett cute picture of them both actually and I just love all the great colors the camera captured.

I’ve had high days where I feel like I’m flying and nothing can bring me down cause I felt so good in my lessons and days where I just wanted to break down and cry (one where I even did). This whole training thing to me is very personal and my days are reflected in my effectiveness during my lessons with Anky. Regardless of whether I feel high or low after my lesson, I always learn something. I always take notes and I always try and do better the next time. This lesson was about, and it’s again and again, simply thinking, asking a little, asking medium and asking lots and not going from nothing to everything. I know in my head that I need to escalate the aids on a scale but my body doesn’t quite get it 100% so I need to work on this. This was reinforced with my lesson today. It was a good one and I gained more knowledge of different techniques.

Here’s a picture of me and Anky with my mare after our lesson. I might not look physically tired but mentally I was worn out! Haha!


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