Amy
Coassin
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As
I write this, it is freezing and
wet outside so I know that the indoor
arena will be crowded again today.
I am in Germany for 7 weeks, working
at the Alter Eichenhof stables, riding
at least 4 to 5 dressage horses per
day. Altogther I have ridden 15 different
horses, all with beautiful movement,
and ranging from 16 to well over
18 hands high. I am supervised by
Herr Böckmann, top dressage
trainer here and international dressage
judge.
My
name is Amy Coassin and I have been
eventing with my horse Coldstream
Casper (Piglet) in NSW in 2006, and
training with Tim Boland and Christine
Bates. While Piglet is having a holiday
and training with Christine back
home, I am taking this opportunity
to see if I can improve my dressage
skills. Although I don´t
speak German very well, the Brunckhorst
family who own Alter Eichenhof and
the girls at the stable have been very
helpful.
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Amy & Klitschko
Klitschko was named after a famous
boxer after he came back from the paddock
with two big bumps on his head. |
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The stables have great facilities, with
an electronic round yard to exercise the
horses and encourage them to overtrack, heat
lamps to dry off the horses, two indoor arenas
and another one being built, and a great
system for feeding where the feeds are made
at the individual stalls. The arenas here
are woodchips, which is the most common in
Germany, but the new rubber type are also
popular. They also have netting in the stables
which acts as a windbreak for the cold winds.
With 70 warmbloods boarded here, the poo
pile is an impressive three stories high!
This area just North
of Hamburg has more horses than people.
The riders have a big choice of competitions
within a half hour’s
drive away. The family I am staying with
have two daughters who are very successful
with their two horses Flori and Royan. Katharina
was one of the region’s junior champions
in 2004, and Theresa is also very successful.
I also got to go to Frankfurt, Köln
and the North Sea with the family. They made
me feel right at home.
It has been great
riding horses with such beautiful movement.
I think my favourite is Floh (flea) who
is over 18 hands, but I also love Klitschko,
a black horse who I have been learning
flying changes and passage on. It’s great to know how moves like
half pass should feel, and what I should
be feeling for when I’m riding dressage.
The horses here are
so well behaved that I have not been bitten,
kicked or had any form of injury in my
entire stay here! One evening a week the
arena is set up for show jumping so the
horses don’t get bored;
always an exciting time form me as I get
to jump the inexperienced horses. It is also
part of my job to take them on some of the
beautiful trail rides next to the stables.
I love the rugs here which you can use while
you are in the saddle, while warming up and
cooling down.
It will be a big
change to go home to the warm weather and
long days, but I can´t
wait to see my friends again and to to see
Piglet. Hopefully he will find me a better
rider than when I left. But I won´t
forget the kindness of the Eckmann family,
Mr Böckmann and the staff at the Alter
Eichenhof.
Last but not least,
I´d like to thank
my parents for organising this for me and
also Mitavite for their interest in my trip.
Tschüss!!
Amy Coassin
