Flight To Amsterdam Footage

Well I thought it would be fun to show you what is involved with the flying of a horse to Germany. I have a small little flip video camera that was super easy to pull out and shoot. (Thanks Alex!) It is a bit shaky during take off...dont worry it wasn't nearly as bad as it looks from my video skills. The horses were unsure for about 2 minutes and then all was calm again. Enjoy! Will post again soon! If link doesn't work please copy and paste into your browser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA1LbeqfJng

2010 Grant to Germany. Our trip through Vechta begins!

Hello all,

It has been a while since my last post. I am currently in Vechta, Germany on a training grant that I received from the Dressage Foundation this past January. On Wed October 20th my good friend Johnna Stevens and I drove the 24 hour drive down to LAX where Wistar was to fly out on that Friday. We made great time getting up at 3 am on Wed, arriving in Red Bluff Wed about 4:30 and resting for the evening. The next day we were up again at 2 am for the 12 hour second day drive to LAX where the company, Jet Pets, is located. They were coordinating my 10 hour flight to Amsterdam and then on to Vechta, Germany where another 5 hour transport by truck awaited.





Wistar traveled like the trooper that he is and was bright eyed upon arrival into Catherine Haddad's stable Sat evening the 23rd around 7:00pm. The barn is lovely. The footing and indoor incredible. It has been very informative to watch Catherine work her horses and as of today I received my second lesson. Sunday was a day for some light stretching and yesterday Monday we began with work to lighten the aids for the more cadenced trot and the changes. It was evident that tension was creeping in during the one tempi's and we worked to be able to change the neck before and after the series. This morning Tue we worked together at 6:30 am before Catherine was to depart for a CDI in Lyon, France on her darling horse Winyamaro. Today she had a look at my Piaffe/Passage and we are going to work to get the connection more honest in those movements. I must try to get Wistar to stay up more from the withers and to stay light in the contact without me micro managing so much in the hand. To constantly push the hand forward and see that he seeks the contact and steps further under from behind. Catherine has an incredible eye and was instantly able to key into a plan for us. I hope to post video as we go along so that you can follow in our progress.