Last Thursday we had the hottest day in recorded history, apparently, and the trend is continuing. We are riding the horses lightly, early in the morning, when it is still comfortable for them (and us.) They get a bit of time in their paddocks to munch on some grass afterwards, but by 11 or so, they want to come in and hang out under their fans. Seemed like a good time to take a trip… to what might be the horsey center of the universe: Aachen.
The standard of riding there, and talent of the horses, is otherworldly. It is amazing to watch any of the disciplines there, and we spent many hours watching the dressage, of course. But there is also crazy good show jumping!
The other really fun discipline I like to watch there is the driving. Boy, some of those horses are fantastic movers!! I would be very tempted to take them into the dressage arena.
Of course, for me, dressage was the main event and watching so many wildly talented riders and their incredible, jaw dropping horses was super fun and also very inspiring. I particularly love to watch the warm up arenas, seeing both the preparation for competition and also the horses and riders who are just hacking. One thing that struck me was how many times the top riders would practice a particular aspect of their ride – even “simple” things like walking through a corner or trotting on to a diagonal. And I am not talking about drilling; rather, it was calm, quiet improvement until those steps were right where they wanted them. Incredible. Those who know me, know I pretty much idolize Charlotte Dujardin, and I particularly enjoyed watching her rides. She had both Times Kismet and Imhotep competing this year and they were fantastic.
Hopefully our weather will return to normal soon and we’ll have more of our own horsey and farm updates. We have gotten some fun things started for the house, which still needs a LOT of work!! But here is a teaser:
Hedgerow Farm 