A walk through the village

Much more exciting going on a walk through Buhler when you have two young fillies! It was maybe one mile of steep narrow roads with kids on a variety of vehicles, cars coming, a tractor digging up a field, then the darn Swiss cows looming overhead on their hillside as we walk by! Autumn, the filly I was leading was as suprised as me when it appeared about 5 feet above her head! Both Autumn and Lani were pretty brave and we did manage to make it to our destination without incident. Fortunately, we did not meet the train that comes through town.

Interesting day at the indoor arena too. Sharing the arena with two girls riding their HUGE horses. I was playing online with Trooper who was sort of preoccupied watching these beasts canter around him. I'm just not used to seeing such big horses anymore. One little girl about 4 1/2 feet tall was grooming a horse at least 16.2 hands. I think she had already ridden him. Pam and I agreed she needed a compact little Spanish Mustang as soon as possible!

The food here continues to be incredibly satisfying. Jurg and Pam are such great hosts, and their boys are good company too. Missing my family at home but soaking it all up here while I can.

No language barrier with horses

Today was a fun day. I spent a good amount of time with one of Pam and Jurgs horses, Trooper. He's a Paint they brought with them from Kansas last year. He's stabled a short drive from their house at what appears to be a classic European horse facility. Pam said its not as rigid as those in England, but from the horses and people I saw there it looked like something a little too"tight" for me. The give away was when it was recommended that we "dress" for the barn. Luckily, I brought my collared shirt and had riding shoes. I'm fine with etiquette and want to respect Swiss tradition. However, feeling like natural horsemanship may not be totally accepted here, I did feel a little conscientious as I pulled out the rope halter and carrot stick I brought with me.

Pam doesn't speak Swiss fluently, and me only knowing what Swiss chocolate and Swiss cheese is, there were some awkward moments with the people at the barn as we weren't sure if using the indoor arena was okay and how it all worked. Trooper and I, on the otherhand, communicated quite easily. He's a nice horse, trying hard to figure me out. We made some great progress in a few hours.

I noticed as I was playing with him that there were a number of people in the balcony of the arena watching us. Nervous? Oh, no not at all!!!! A bit later a woman walked boldly into the arena, no expression on her face and asked if i was teaching parelli. EEEEKKKKK, we didn't know what to say. "uh, yes, sort of. No, I'm not a Parelli instructor". uh oh, was our first thought. It was a trick question? Come to find out she was inquiring about taking a lesson with me, she had taken a course with a Swiss Parelli pro. and wanted to learn more. Whew. She is German, speaks some English, but apparently speaks some horse too.

Greetings from Switzerland

I made it! Had more trouble figuring out how to sign in to this account than getting here!

The flight was good, slept most of the way. It was trying to stay awake for the rest of the day that was a struggle. My hosts, Pam and Jurg, kept me on my feet, then finally allowed me to go to bed Swiss time. Feeling much better today, thankfully.

It's so beautiful here. Very green, in many ways, and the mountains are incredible. They go straight up, and straight down. I won't every complain about the lack of flat space in Vermont again. I've met the 6 CS horses that reside in this country, they are in their backyard. Beautiful representatives of the breed. Will play with ponies today.

The food is wonderful but I can't recognize the labels on anything but I do recognize a yummy pastry when I see one!

Met a young German girl who will be taking a lesson with me next week. Language may be a little bit of a barrier but we'll figure it out. Good thing is that I can speak horse so I'm not concerned about communicating with them.

Now that I've figured out how to get to my blog, you'll hear from me again.

Steph

Getting packed

Tuesday afternoon I get on a plane to Switzerland for 2 weeks! Thanks to Pam Keeley Gassmann and her husband Jurg, I've been invited over to work with their Colonial spanish horses that they've imported from the states. I'll be working with their two teenage sons , too. It's such a great opportunity, I can hardly believe I'm really going to be in Switzerland in another day, or two with the 7 hour time change.

Packing is not easy since I'm bringing a lot of my own equipment. I have more horse stuff than clothes! Is there something wrong with that picture?!

By the way, Everything Equine has come and gone and the horses were awesome. Montego was such a ham and soaked up every minute of the weekend. With out the help of Jo, Joanne, Kara, Tori and Eliza, it couldn't have happened. You guys ROCK!

And with out the help of a small army taking care of my horses and my kids, I'd not be able to make this trip. Husband James deserves a large box of chocolates too!

I'll be blogging as much as time allows while I'm away. Bringing my camera, and will try to document my adventures!

Until later,

Steph

Horse Fairs and Expo's

I'm loading up on carbs to get me through the next few days! It's the marathon Expo weekend coming right up. Headed over to set up on Friday. We will actually have two booths, one that goes with the horses, then another inside the building where we can sell raffle tickets, and really be in the thick of things with visitors.

I'm SO excited about our display this year. I'm sure we'll take plenty of pictures and I'll figure out how to post them too! Thanks to our friend Elizabeth, we'll be spending the night nearby the Expo Friday Lots of last minute things to do...packing, preparing and getting the horses groomed tomorrow should be interesting. It's too cold for baths, Oscar is shedding alot still, and Montego with his fluffy mane and forelock needs some beauty treatment by Tori for sure. It's spring in Vermont!

This will be Montego's first public appearance as one of our ambassador horses. I'm sure he'll enjoy it, he's a very social little guy and will grab your attention with those big brown eyes of his. He's got a super cute face and really long forelock that hangs in his eyes. Montego has great hair...woman pay big bucks for the natural highlights and two tone coloration he has naturally.

Should be a great time and such good exposure for the horses.

One thing at a time

Gosh, what a nice suprise to see the sun today! It gives me more motivation to get things done around the new property. The potential of this beautiful 72 acres is unlimited! Today Tori and I were talking about what a great cross country course we could make, we could host horse shows and more. But wait...first things first, I gotta get through this weekends event! and more... It's so easy to get off track.

I've been blessed by volunteerism since we moved ponies last week. A few teenage boys showing up daily to do the stuff I don't want to do, or need help doing. They come because they want to, no pay involved, just like the labor and helping out I guess. Gives me some hope for our youth. Today I asked Jesse if he wants to brush horses. He's never been around them. Next thing I know Montego is licking him and nuzzling his nose in Jesse's neck. The guy was havin' a great time with this and had no fear at all--Montego's a little rascal at times but he just loved Jesse. It was a nice day for Jesse and Montego.

My first Blog!

Welcome!

Today is the opening day of my blog! It's been suggested for months now that I start a blog as the development of The Center for America's First Horse (CFAFH) takes place.

To start off, this weekend we have the 6th annual Everything Equine event in Essex Jct. Vermont. We'll be bringing two horses, Montego and Oscar. Our booth will be fantastic this year as I'm really focusing on clean and simple visuals, the less is more factor. This is another great opportunity for us to promote the Colonial Spanish Horses and The Center. We expect about 7,000 people over the course of the weekend. We have three different presentation times and the horses will be on display for two days.

Many thanks to the Board of Directors of The CFAFH for their help this coming weekend!