The Training Begins..

All settled here at Michael Freund's farm in Dreieich, Germany. We aren't far from Frankfurt. It's a beautiful area, lush and green and there is quite a bit of open ground here, and a large forest with many trails for driving and walking. Close by is a historic area, the grounds of an old castle with a town within the old castle walls.

  

It's a busy town with lots of places to eat and some small shops. Saturday there was a wedding there.

On Sunday we went to watch a dressage show in a nearby town. The farm was in the middle of an industrial area, with a secluded dressage ring with trees and bushes blocking the view of the buildings surrounding it.

It was interesting to take a look at the parking area - the small trailers and vans everyone uses is in stark contrast to parking area of a CDE in the US.

On the way back from the show, we came across this wagon near Michael's farm, it's a lunch tour of the countryside via horsepower.

The training ring has been a busy place. Here's a photo of Jennifer's pair in the grass ring.

Our lesson with Michael went well and he said 'I am happy', that works for me! Today we will do a cones school and then finish packing for Minden, our first show here. It's an FEI show and the German National Pony Championships, also the last selection trial for the German Pony Team. There are 33 ponies in our single class. We are off to Minden Tuesday morning.

Here at Last....

Finally got to Michael's at 10:00 pm the following night (Friday). The ponies had settled in nicely and our hotel is but a few feet away. Internet service is spotty so I'll be brief and try to write more later.

Lots of ponies here - Wendy O'Brien's three, Jennifer Matheson's three, Suzy's pony and Cooper. Marco Freund (Michael's son) also has four ponies. We have taken over from the horses here!

Have taken some photos out and about, will post them later. Just wanted to let you know all is well with ponies and people, will write soon!

Welcome to....Gander??

Not quite going to plan - our flight had to turn around midway to Europe due to a hydraulic leak, so we flew to Gander, Newfoundland and now waiting for another plane to come and pick us up - hopefully the ponies flight went better than mine!

On Our Way

Equipment and ponies are off to Germany. I took some photos of the process...

Paul from Mersant, the shipper, ready with tools just in case.....our equipment was loaded and ready.

Cooper hanging out at the Vetport - looks like the stalls were made for bigger horses.

Riding over in the van with Josie, Suzy's pony

They use this contraption to load the horses from the van onto the pallet.....

Horse eye view

Getting the pallet all set

All ready for the ponies to get on. They really don't like photos being taken back in this area of the airport so I had to stop once we loaded the ponies. They just walk down the ramp into the pallet, one by one, once all three are on, it's closed up and covered with a net to be loaded onto the plane.

The pony flight was delayed a bit due to a late arrival, but fortunately they lounged in the vetport during that time. It's a real juggling act for the plane to leave so it arrives in Frankfurt at the right time. The cargo planes aren't allowed to arrive until after 4 am according to the pilot. He wanted to arrive just after that so they didn't have to stay in the air any longer than necessary.  Suzy flew over with the ponies and I will leave shortly so we will both arrive Friday morning.

Still taking contributions for our trip, the shipping estimate was off and more expensive then we anticipated. Go to www.catalystdriving.com to be part of Team Catalyst. We appreciate your support!

Hurry Up and Wait

The ponies (Cooper, Josephine, Suzy's pony and Randy's pony) are all settled in at the JFK Vetport, ready for their flight in the morning. Suzy and I are spending the night near the airport. Many thanks to Lisa Singer and Jay Breggia who drove us and Cooper and Josie and our equipment through the crowded highways of New York and to Bev Lesher who offered her truck and trailer for the trip.

Yesterday I took my dad for a drive with Cooper along the Brandywine River and showed him one of my favorite views in the world. I took a photo of it to share:

There are few places more beautiful than Chester County, Pennsylvania! Hoping Germany and Slovenia can compare :)

Ready to roll and Minden, our first show in Europe

We are all set to fly out on Thursday direct to Frankfurt. We have to drive up to JFK on Wednesday and the ponies will stay overnight at the Vetport. We'll load our equipment Wednesday and the ponies early AM on Thursday and all will be on their way.

We received the schedule today for Minden, the German pony championships which will be held August 24-28. All the US pony drivers but Lisa Stroud will show here. We will leave next Tuesday from Michael Freund's to go to the show.

Minden is the same weekend as the Pairs Championship in Conty, France so we will be cheering on our Pair team while we are showing.

Looking over the schedule from Minden, there are 33 single ponies, 44 pair ponies and 19 four in hands! Should be an exciting weekend for us all and a great warmup for Lipica. There are several Ground Jury members who will be in Lipica as well. The organizing committee has been very welcoming and we are looking forward to the show.

On the road....



Winston winning us over...



We have started the first leg of our journey, headed to Pennsylvania to see friends and family before we leave for Germany. Along for the ride is Winston, a stray dog that hung around our farm until we fell in love with him. He would not be ignored, so we facebooked his handsome face to see if we could find him a new home. Lucky dog that he is, some good friends in Pennsylvania are picking him up tonight. We will really miss him!! Happy Birthday, Katie!



Winston on his way to a new life


It's been a real team effort for us to go on the road! Horses Maggie, Ellie and Harry are staying at Irene and Tom Gillis' Gilcrest Farm (www.gilcrestfarm.com). Kendra DeKay is training Bali to ride while we are gone.

Our parrot Disco is spending his vacation at Pam Pruitt's house, where I heard he participated in a Yoga class last night! Our three dogs are at Tracey Leftwich's farm in Virginia, transported there by Lynn and Jeff Legg. Tracey has been sending us photos on a regular basis, they are having a great time with her dogs. Marion Belcher is watching the cats. Arnie Brooks is mowing our place. We could not make this trip with our support team, MANY THANKS to all of them!!

Many, many more thanks to all who have gotten Cooper ready. Our vet, Dr. Linda Hickey has gone above and beyond with her care and preparation. The amount of tests and paperwork that goes along with an international trip is amazing, and Linda has delayed her vacation to see Cooper off. Enjoy that vacation, Linda and Howard!

Keith Crawford, our farrier, has done a great job, and Dr Kerry Ridgway and his wife Christine have worked their magic with Chiropractic and Accupuncture so Cooper is at his best.

More thank yous to come!