New blogging system

okay things here in Putten have gotten busy here lately, the girls from CA are leaving in the next couple of days :-( I will miss them so much, they were a blast to have around. But i think I will have to start doing weekly blogs instead of daily because it has been so busy but if anything special happens I will post it. I will have something soon!!!!

Day 8 and 9

Day 8 was uneventful and full of riding, nothing really special took place beside the riding of course.
Day 9 on the other was full of excitement and adventure!!! We went to a training show, someplace in the Netherlands, but this farm was owner by Dennis's family, it was a riding school. And it was absolutely beautiful, it had two indoor arenas, and a nice size outdoor arena, and we meet Dennis's mom, whom was incredibly nice to us (us being the american girls that probably looked like we didn't have a clue!!!). But I was the first of the four of us to ride, so after getting on Sambo, Alan and Andrew went for a gallop in the woods, and Brandon was going to give me a lesson on the flat (THOUGHTS: oh here boy, this is going to be fun), but it the lesson turned out to be great Brandon really help me understand a lot about how they ride and what to do wth my hands and legs, which Alan wasn't able to do, not he is not cable, but didn't explain to me they ride the way they do and when i was told it made sense. So I finally made it out to the arena to start jumping where Alan and Wendy are finishing up with their horses, Andrew has gone back to get another horse (Andrew today is not feeling well :-( and he won't feel better for several more days), but this is the first time i have gotten to watch Alan live in person and not on youtube, he was amazing, I don't understand why he doesn't ride more often but I could really see the use of his hands and legs getting the horse in between them, so another helpful.
So finally it is my turn to start jumping and Sambo was such a good boy, Alan said I was starting to get a hang of the riding style (or he was just being nice), but I had a blast even though I think i only jumped like .60 meter jumps, but hey we all have to start somewhere LOL!!!!

Okay this has nothing to do with riding but it was a fun part of my day, after we get back to the farm, and Nikki, Karli and Andy were going to meet me back at the farm at 7 and we invited the guys to come along too, if they wanted too. So at 7, the girls pull up ready to go since we have all gone back and taken showers and what not. And i go and put my purse in the car and they ask if the guys are coming and I tell hold on and I will go see if they are ready or going at all. So I make my way to the door to the upstairs apartment that they live at in the barn, and yell hello, then I find myself saying hello back and forward with Dennis 20 times, so i just climb the stairs to ask them if they were coming to dinner, and they said that they were coming. So finally I get them done stairs and I notice that they are heading out the door with me and not to their car that is at the back of the barn. So they must have noticed the same thing too, because they were asking if we were all going in the same car so now we are discussing ow we are all going to get to the restaurant, so instead of me riding with the girls like planned.
So Brandon hopes in the car with the girls and Dennis an I take the smart car. So the car ride over with Dennis consistent of short conversations, what was to be a short ride dragged out a little bit, but we arrived at the restaurant, where Brandon and the girls got out of the car laughing, thanks to Brandon's entertainment!
After a terrific dinner and fun conversations, I suddenly realized two hours have gone by and we need to start heading back to our respected living quarters. But on the way back Dennis acted more weird than when we went over there, i swear if he pressed any harder against the passenger door it would have flown open, so i was sitting there wondering why he is pressed against the side of the car like I have some awful disease (THOUGHTS: do I stink, I swear I put perfume on after my shower this evening???). So I guess the answer to that question will remain unanswered. But the day was also Steff's birthday so i go in to tell her Happy Birthday and we end up talking about all sort of stuff for 2 1/2 hours about the boys, the horses, difference in cultures and much much more and final i go to bed at midnight. And hope that things don't continue to be awkward.

Day 7

Okay, I am over my allergies, and my emotional shock form yesterday. So I have to go back to the barn with my head high, knowing I my no be as good as Andrew but I am certainly not a quitter by any means of the word, well unless it comes to cleaning my room or putting my cloths away but that is another story for another day LOL!!!!! And I know that the girls from CA are coming today, so that only adds to my level of anxiety (THOUGHTS: AAAARRRGGGGGHHHHH........I never gonna get a break here, first Andrew and know these girls from California). So I have a lesson and Sambo and it is like a miracle form God, not lying here, I get to jump Sambo!!!!! It was so much fun, I had a blast, I can't say that they the prettiest jump I have ever jumped nor the most graceful but still FANTASTIC FOR ME!!!!
The girls from California get there and they are very nice. Nikki 21, Karli 19, Andy 15, are all from a girl named Jenny's farm in CA. But the rest of the day past with out major incident and runs smoothly.

Day 6

Okay Day 6, was not the best of any of my day in any shape form of fashion, again I get up late because I have slept past my alarm, which meant I got out to the farm late. As I pull up to the farm I see Alan pulling in and there is someone in the passenger seat, and they look to be about Dennis's height, which I automatically assume it is. Well it wasn't it was Andrew, the other rider coming from California, who I didn't think was coming until July 1. So okay new guy, new twist to how everything is going to be run around the farm. So as Alan is showing Andrew around, I start to get Sambo ready, and I over hear Alan telling Andrew that there are really no rules, except that he likes people to wear hard hats. So my lesson on Sambo was okay, I was in major amount of pain because of the way that Alan was having me ride. Andrew is on young six year old that was one of three hours that went clean in a competition for qualification for 6 years old. So and Alan starts to set up a little combination in the indoor arena, and already I am not getting my hopes up that he is setting that up for me, and he isn't Andrew start to jump the six year old around. So for the first time I also get to go out side since Alan wants Andrew to jump outside, I just get to tag along and watch.
After Sambo is put away, and I start to get Indoctro because that is who Alan said to ride next, but they pick the horses feet before it exits the stall and Indoctro kick some up in my face and I start to have some sort of allegoric (spelling?) reaction o the straw, their hay has already made me sneeze and have a runny nose, so now my eyes are running and my skin is breaking out in a rash (THOUGHTS: great......). So I wash my face and hope that it goes away. So with the luck that I have it doesn't, great so I take Indoctro out to the outdoor arena and suddenly find myself being screamed from across the field by Alan, how I can't come out to the outdoor with out his permission.
So this has not really helped my day at all, he is telling Andrew there are no rules and telling me I have to have permission to go outside, so now I am not feeling well physical, but mentally too, and I didn't even realize it until I get into the arena that I have tears running down my face whether it was from emotional shock or allergies I don't know anymore.
But I get done with Indoctro put him away and leave for the afternoon because of the allergies and I am upset with some stuff at the farm but I am able to rationalize it thought my head. But that doesn't mean that I am not allowed to feel what I feel. I realize that I have been here almost and week and I haven't gotten to jump yet because we were going to work on my flat work but Alan just let me flat on my own for three days instead giving exercises on how to ease the transition of riding, and Andrew is here on is first day and has jumped like three or four horses. And I get it I really do, Andrew is an amazing rider and it was amazing to watch him ride, so I was starting to feel insecure in my own riding. And then I suddenly realize I don't have anyone to go vent these feelings of frustration and insecurity to, that I was alone to deal with it by myself, no one to give me a hug :-(. So I just went back to the B&B and rest for the rest of the day.

Day 5 the short blog

Alright because it was my day off, there wasn't much going on. I met Steff for lunch since it was her day off too and we went to McDonald's and I had fries that would Rob would be jealous of, they were greasy and salty the very way he like them, unlike those fires we got from the McDonald's near my house. Then we watched POTC trilogy. Then the boys were too lazy to jump the fence and press the button to open the gate since the gates do not open on Sundays, so as we are watching dead man's chest I hear yelling and I look at Steff and go i don't remember this part of the movie. and she goes it's the boys at the gate they are being lazy bums (in her Aussie accent). so I rain out in the rain to let them in. But that was pretty much my day on Sunday, I would like to extend a huge thanks to Welly and Judge My Ride for putting my blog on their facebook. If I could get comments on maybe what you would like to see me write or anything really (P.S. checking my grammar is going to be a hard one for me, but i will make an attempt if people ask, parents asking don't count either, just mine by the way). Thanks for reading!!!!!

Day 4

So Day 4 is veing much better than day 3, I have to be at the barn at nine this morning so I got myself early so that I cold actually make to the barn on time for once and not at noon lol!!!!! I get there and there is a new face at the barn, she seemed a little shy and I am to so we worked around each other for a few minutes while we got our horses ready for our lessons, Alan ask if we have introduce our selves and both of us answer no, and he introduces us, and the girls name is Marina, whom is not a native of the Netherlands but from New Jersey, and that she has been over here for about a year now.
So we go to start the lesson and automatically Alan compared me to a duck sitting on the horse, so after my odd insult to how
I sat on a horse, he has me do all these exercise you create angels on the horse and by the way the horse is not doing any of the angels I am and they are so painful. Alan was explaining to me that American riders are very stiff and that I need to add angels. so what do I do I push my ankle down more and bend my knees and elbows more create more angel. Still not what he wanted, so he has me drop me outside stirrup, and suddenly my angel on teh inside improved, and what Alan really wanted or maybe a better way to express what he wanted was that he wanted dimension in my angels, and what I mean by that is if you were to draw a picture of something it is only 2D meaning it what you see, now take a picture of the same object and you will start to see them in a 3D type of way (hope I explained this well). So now that I understood what Alan was asking, he ask me to do the next thing to change the way I ride and how most people in America ride and that is to carry my hands higher than what I am used to so that is a huge change for me, some who rides in the hunters and everything is suppose to be smooth and sort of none visible. So I am quickly becoming frustrated with myself, it is a lot harder than I expected it to be to ride like the europeans, they use completely different leg muscle or the same one just in a way I am not used to using it. But Alan keeps telling me i am doing well and the lessons end, alan tells me to let Corrada go out for some grass and then to come back in and brush her.
So next is Smabo (THOUGHTS: love Sambo!!!!), now that he is feeling better, the swelling in his leg has gone done a bunch. But Alan puts me in a different saddle for Smabo because he has such high shoulders. And I guess this saddle puts my leg in a better position, I have a much better lesson on Sambo, he was such a good boy.
But as I was riding these two horses, and Alan was explaining that the way a horse should go,is like when you see them on a lunge line and that is their natural gate, and that is what they try to achieve over here and in the states we have a tendency to push them on their front feet instead of using their hind ends, then I had a revelation, as to why we have so many lame horses with no reasons at all, Alan also said that the horses can work being push on their front end for a couple of days but will go lame eventually if they do it for too long!!!!! Whether I actually found something relevant, the jury is still out and I would like your opinion on the matter.
So after riding and ending the day at the barn, i come back to the B&B, only to change and go for a jog, I found myself back at the barn talking with Steff. Her and I ended up talking for awhile, me entertaining her with my stories from the previous day. But somehow I ended p eating dinner with Alan and his family, where little Izzy was not feeling good. At one point she threw up at the dinner table, the Nanja and Alan are apologies profusely, Steff is used to Izzy being sick and with the family I live with, it just doesn't bother me at all. But Dinner was fantastic, this really good chicken, fabulous potatoes, and basil salad. Okay, I have jogged down the hill, and now I am full of food and it is raining out, so I go back to the canteen to talk with Steff some more, and finally gather the courage to jog back up the hill into my littel house and into a warm shower!!!!! And to bed for the night because the next day is my day off, YAY!!!!!

Day 3

Okay day 3 didn't start out as great as I wanted it to, I woke up again at noon, the time change is really starting to get to me at this point, a six hour time change is really rough. But let face it when 1/4 of your day is behind you it is difficult. Anyway I go to start my smart car it won't start, so I call Alan and he told me to hang out at the B&B since he and the guys are at a horse show (THOUGHTS:When was I going to be told about the show???), but that he would be there in the hour and will help me with the car, so I wait and write some of the previous blogs, then suddenly I fin Alan and Dennis in my living room, granted I had the door opened for them, so that I could see them coming down the drive way, but anyway Alan didn't know how to work the smart car but Dennis did, so he told what I had to do, to work the smart car properly (DENNIS"S THOUGHTS: Stupid American) (MY THOUGHTS: Why in the world do do Europeans have to make starting a car so difficult?!?!?). So I go over to the barn where Alan has disappeared again (sigh). But I hadn't eaten all day and there is a McDonald's down the road I just don't know where it is at, I know it is close to the barn but it is an exit up from where we were. So what do I do, I ask Dennis, so as Dennis is trying to explain how to get to McDonald's to me, with out knowing it I must have had that "you are not making any sense", and so a few quick comments to end this quickly becoming a socially awkward conversation. So finally I find Alan again and ask him for directions, and he writes them down for me (THOUGHTS: YAY!!! :-) ) So I find my way to the McDonald's, I am ready to crawl in the front door of the McDonald's and worship the international fast food chain, talk about being happy to see something I do no really like to eat back home but will eat if it is my last option. Kelly, I know you hate Mickey D's with a passion, but you have to understand I was dying of hunger, and Dutch food can be a bit strange. But of course Pookie gets lost on her way, so after wondering around for a little bit I finally find my way back to Alan's but of course I called him to ask how to get back, driving in a foreign country is well.....lets just its different especially when you can not read to the signs LOL!!!
But I fonally got back to the farm, and rode the the two horses that Alan wanted me to ride, Corrada and Indoctro again, so I was happy again trying to focus on using their bodies to work and not just perching on the horse. Both of my rides go well and the horses are good.
So after the horses are put away, Alan approaches me and ask if I need to go to the grocery store (THOUGHTS: In fact I could use some food), so I told him yes. What does Alan say "Oh well the boys are going so you can just follow them, okay?". So the boys then tell they will be down from their apartment in 15 min (THOUGHTS: Okay, I can put all my stuff that need to go into the car in the car), so I wait and I wait, finally I go knock on the door, and I hear Brandon scream come on up. So I make my way up the stairs, fearing for my life since I have hard horror stories about the way they keep the apartment from Nanja and Steff, and now that I think about Alan too, because he contemplated me living with them!!!! But back to the story, I get up their excepting the worse and it was actually very clean , then I remember they had a maid come that week to really clean the apartment since Andrew was coming to live with them when he come (THOUGHTS: THANK GOD!!!), so I find the boys in the living room, having a snack and drinking coffee, "boys I thought we were meeting down in the kitchen 10 mins ago (questioning look from the boys),I'm sorry, the canteen??", "Oh well we decided to have a snack while we watch Grey's Anatomy, pull up a chair", so after they are done with their snacks and Grey's Anatomy, they have to change their clothes, apparently according to Steff, people n Europe are not in a hurry to go anywhere.
So finally we are on our way to the food store, and what seemed like a long drive we arrived. So as we are walking in the Dennis and Brandon are telling me that if I need help with anything just to ask, so I am going okay great! Well what a bunch of help they turned out to be they breezed through the store like it was no one's business, and then they ask are you done yet? I am in the second isle of the store, NO I'M NOT DONE YET!!!!!! Okay they ask me this question in a total of three minutes we had been in the store. So then I have Dennis help me with picking out cheese, which became a much bigger ordeal than it needed to be.....sigh. So we go to the check out line and there is no one there to bag the food for you, and even worse they don't have bags, they have boxes. So the cashier lady starts to talk in dutch which I don't speak, and so I have to look at he boys and go translate please :-D (pretend that is my big cheesy smile that I ask them with).
So we get otu of the store and Brandon needs to go to the bank and Dennis is going some place else, and I don;t know how to get back on my own so I just follow them around the town of Putten. So as I walk with Dennis because I do not want to be stuck in a bank with Brandon (F.Y.I. Its not Brandon, I don't want to be around, its being stuck in a bank, just incase some one thought I was being mean), so we walk to a sports store and he says I am getting a football, so he walk up to the wall with the soccer balls, Dennis must have seen the look on my face because by the time that he started the to say "sorry, to you this is a soccer ball but to everyone else in the world it is football", I had remembered that little fact LOL!!!! So finally we head back to the cars where they are heading back to the farm and me the B&B.
Okay this is where the real fun of my day comes in, Dennis takes off out of the parking lot through the very small streets of Putten, and I get behind an old lady on a bike and there are a bunch of cars coming the other way where I can not pass her to catch up with Dennis and Brandon (F.Y.I. the road everywhere in the Netherlands are really narrow, it not like in the states, where the person in the other lane can move over some and you can squeeze by the person on the bike, even out narrow roads at home are considerably wider than their wide roads!!!) So after I get around the old lady on the bike, I realize that Dennis is in the round about already, and guess what color all the car where in the round about...sliver, just like the car the boys are in (THOUGHTS: great just my luck), so I didn't see Dennis turn right out the RB and some how I kept going straight, so I am offical lost with in two minutes and even worse the smartie is running out of fuel, luck is finally on my side there is a gulf station hat takes visa (THOUGHTS: OH THANK YOU GOD!!!!!) So I park the smartie on the little hill above the station to find out what side to put the fuel in, and the car for reasons beyond my ability to think does not have a P for park, inside you actually use a parking brake, which is normally what would be our emergency brake. So I feel the car start to go forward so I pull the brake up even farther to so that it won't roll down and into the road. I find that you have to put fuel on the passenger side of the car, then I get back in the car and go to release the break and it won't release, I try and I try and I try for about 7 min (THOUGHTS: don't panic, don't panic, don't panic, whatEVER YOU DO DON'T PANIC!!!!) so finally I ended up calling my parents to ask them if they had any advice for getting it to release and sure enough my dad did, even if I panicked just a little. When I hang up the phone with my parents Alna gives me a call asking where in the world I am, the answer I want to give him, Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore, but I told him the landing markings around me and he said that the boys where going to find me. I go to ask him what type of fuel the car takes but he doesn't know, so I look at the gas cap and sure enough it has my answer for me (YAY!!!!!), so after filling up the car, I wiat ont eh boys to find me and they do and they are smiling and laughing at me, all I can do is smile and laugh back, hey if you can't laugh at yourself who can you laugh at?
But fnally i make it back to the B&B, to hope and pray that Alan doesn't think I am trouble and that tomorrow will be a better day. Thanks for reading!!!!!