at home with Marcus Ehning

This week has been awesome. Period. I just got home from the 3 first orientation days at college, which were absolutely unforgettable. The orientation team that I'm part of is called 'the Unicorns' which obviously could not have been a better name. Our team leader Julia is being called Mama Unicorn from practically day 1, that should give you a clear picture of the whole atmosphere! :-) I love my new classmates and this year is going to be golden. Can't wait to go back tomorrow for the remaining days! Be sure to check out some of the pics below to see who else is my super sport class!

But, my tuesday was definitely worthy of a blog post. My friend Carina from Norway, whom I met in Florida, is now working in Germany.......---> on the farm of the one & only Marcus Ehning!
Carina had a day off on monday so we went shopping in Amsterdam, I drove back with her, all the way across Holland to the German border. More specifically: a tiny, very German, town called Borken. I crashed the sofa in her apartment for the night and then, on tuesday, we drove to the barn. I love-love-love visiting big international barns all over the world to see how each top class riders organize things at home. The behind-the-scenes are so useful and interesting. Obviously I was very excited to take a peek at Marcus Ehning Sportpferde!

Marcus shares a property with his brother, Johannes Ehning (who's a successful show jumper too) and their father. The barn is located in a nice green village in Germany, just twenty minutes from the Dutch border. They have a beautiful, sand, outdoor jumping arena with a wide track all the way around to give the horses a proper canter exercise. The whole property is surrounded by large fields, some of which are filled with the 'babies', others with horses like Plot Blue or Sandro Boy. There's a large indoor sand arena too and another outdoor sand ring. Furthermore, there are big walkers for the horses and, off course, lots of nice stalls filled with even nicer horses.

It was great to see Marcus and Johannes jump around in the morning and training their students after, observing activities like these, teach you so much. These people are part of the best at what they do, so basically every word or gesture that comes from them is precious information for a tinie tiny little student like me ;-) Equally super, was seeing some of the best horses in show jumping on their home turf. Plot Blue, Nolte's Küchen Girl and Sandro Boy, just to name a few! They all looked great and happy so hats off to Marcus and his grooms. But it wasn't just horses and dogs walking around....... check the pics below to see if you can find her! I promise, it's totally worth it!

It was a great visit and I hope you enjoy the photographs of this very successful business.

Nolte!

sand arena 2

Marcus on the wall

just some prizes and Küche's little face :)

Nolte's Küchen Girl!

Marcus

Maruc training the students

jump!

nice gym exercise

gorgeous Sandro Boy

Sandro, his little friend and me :)

<3

you found her!!!! OINK

pony is not sure what it is...

my friend Carina and her BFF

sand arena 1

indoor

Plot Blue

Plotty!

main barn

www.sportpferde-ehning.com !!

my super nice new class mates & me :)

Love!

Hi again! 

August is almost gone, next week college really-really starts and that means; holiday is over! I’ve had a great time doing all the things you don’t do a lot while around horses. (shopping..lots of shopping. Oh the guilty pleasure.) 

As you know from earlier entries, I actually did do some horse’ing around. I went to a couple shows and being there, especially around the ponies I’ve worked with, made me think of something. It made me think of the biggest reason, besides the riding, I’m looking forward to starting college. That reason being Love. 

Please, before you go there, I’m not referring to anything close to what is ought to come to mind when you hear ‘college’ and ‘love’ in one sentence! :) Let me explain. 

I’m a scorpio zodiac sign and even tho I’m absolutely not big on zodiac signs, there is this one characteristic typical for scorpios that could not be more true for me personally. I remember reading something about scorpios a bit difficult with trust and love. They say it takes a long time and quite an effort to make a scorpio trust and love someone, but once they do, their loyalty will be excessive. Now, I mean hey, I’m 19, I guess I know right about as much about love as I know about tomatoes, but.. this zodiac thing did come to mind when I was wondering why I’m looking forward to college/internship so much. 

It’s because of those damn horses I’m gonna be working with again. Practically 24/7 and by no means solitarily on their back, but I just get so pathetic with them. I love working with them, getting to know them, taking care of them all day long and the ones I get to know so well, absolutely gain all my trust and affection. Like I said, it’s so pathetic, but they are so much easier than people..! (And I don’t even have any real difficult people in my life haha) Anyway, when I knew I was going to see a few of Lauren’s horses at the show in Belgium, I was just so happy. Same story for when I flew out to Sloane in Virginia after a few weeks at home in April.. I couldn’t wait to see the ponies again. I miss them so much. 

Going to college and starting off with 3 months at Lansink’s, means that I get to bond with these lovely creatures again. Obviously, this feeling is mandatory for anyone who wishes to pursue a career involving horses, but that doesn’t make it any less serious or true. I look forward to having horses around me again whom I can cuddle, scratch-the-always-super-itchy-spots and just have fun with again. :-) I’ve missed it a lot during my little vacation and honestly, I wouldn’t have a clue what to do if I’d be going off to some college now, containing nothing equine! Brrr... horrible thought. 

After all these weeks, I can’t wait to give my unconditional love to them again. :)

...

Boy, I do really need a dog. 

PS. here are some pics of my august photo stream to entertain you. 

Laura & Monkey so super at GCT Valkenswaard

Tiffany Foster!

Ben Maher -- pic taken with my iPhone! Apple-i-love-u

VIP armparty whoop whoop

Reed in Valkenswaard

seat cushions at some random restaurant.. I want!!

a quick stop at the equine casino.. never good for my bank account but oh so nice!

Bronze for Sweden at the Euro Champs!!!!! Love it.

love this guy. Heja Sverige! #rolfgoranbengtsson

#ootd cavalleria toscana style, super brand. Italian, off course.

Flanders Horse Event - CSI*** Beervelde 2013

whoop whoop, I finally went to a horse show again! Like I mentioned in my previous post, I was planning on going to Flanders Horse Event - CSI*** Beervelde, Belgium, this past saturday and that is what I did. :)
Beervelde a little town near the city of Gent, which btw is a really nice place, a little under 2 hours away from Maastricht. I left early saturday morning and I got there around 9ish. First thing on my To Do-list: find the show office and 'pick up my stable bracelet under the name of Lauren Hough'. I'll never get tired of saying lines like that, haha. Anyways, thanks to Lauren I had stable-area-entry-rights now so off I went to see the ponies and Mama Denise, Lauren's stable manager.

I am so pathetic when it comes to those horses. (btw, same thing for the horses at Sloane's place) I just miss them like hell, as tho they were my own. And so I spent most of saturday morning giving all my saved-up loved to Lauren's new ride Reconnaissance (Cougar) and Eirin's (Eirin Bruheim, Lauren's student) new horses Rita (Favorite) and Dorada. But without doubt, most of the love went to Tickles (Tackeray, the mighty stallion) and Muffin/Eve (Everyway). Best morning. <3

At lunch time, the Bruheim's perfected my already great day by inviting me to lunch at the VIP table. Needless to say, lunch was superb, both food (including sushi, carpaccio and crepes with nutella...) and the view of the ongoing classes. I ended up having dinner at their table too, with Denise this time, and lunch/dinner with the Bruheims today, on sunday, again.

Cause yes, I had such a wonderful day on saturday that I just HAD to convince my dad to fast-forward his planned (or rather I'd-like-to-do-that-one-day) trip to Gent to this sunday so I could be at the show one more day. I love my parents, seriously. Even tho my mother stayed at home today, my dad agreed to driving all the way back to Gent once more so yeah, there I was again this morning :-)

I've had an awesome weekend, LOVED to see everyone again, 2- and 4-legged, and I can't wait till next time.

Extra bonus much thanks to the Bruheim family for my VIP arrangement. Thank you.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pics!

Liza

PS. little fact about me: I'm obsessed with horse show accreditations, the passes with name and photo are THE BEST, but bracelets are mighty fine too. I save them all, like a little girl collecting pony stickers. Super lucky me; the VIP gave us a new bracelet for each meal so instead of just the rider band and 1 VIP band, I now have a total of 4 bands saying 'Flanders Horse Event', on my wrist! Yippie!!! et for each meal so instead of just the rider band and 1 VIP band, I now have a total of 4 bands saying 'Flanders Horse Event', on my wrist! Yippie!!! 

Jessica Kürten!

Another one

Lauren & Cougar

7A-B-C-D.. don't see that a lot!!!

UNICORN!

sleepy Muffin

xxxxxxx for Muffin

Morning coffee with Lauren & the Bruheims

Muffin selfie

YAAAAY

VIP!

sleepy TicTac

Tickles :)

Dorada

next stop: COLLEGE!!

It's been a little quiet here recently, my apologies for that. For the first time since a long time, I'm actually staying with my parents at home in the Netherlands, enjoying a couple weeks of summer vacation like the old days. I've been all over the place this year and even tho I was occasionally here in holland with mum and dad for a week or two, it was always just a mini break from work in the US. In my mind I was always thinking about upcoming shows we were going to or organizing my next move. (Or... Organizing school. Because yep, I'm going back to school. College, starting this September.) However, as of last week, I'm more or less done planning, organizing, worrying etc. I moved all my stuff back over from the us to holland, which was, note to self, incredibly/eye-opening/ridiculously much!!! College preparations are also dealt with and even the little yet time consuming things like filling out applications to be an inhabitant of the Netherlands again, is all behind me now. So there's finally some rest! Yeah!

I figured this might be a good time to tell you what I'm gonna be doing once the holidays are over, so.. Here we go!

The college I'm gonna go to, is called Helicon/NHB Deurne. For those of you who noticed, no that's not 'University of this' or 'College of that'... And that is because, like most things in my life, this is not an ordinary college. It's a, Surprise surprise, Riding College! I've thought long and hard about this, cause apart from my passion for horses, I'm also really interested in psychology, photography, fashion and neuroscience. Unfortunately for me, there's nothing that mixes all that together and still contains horses, so I went for the bold move and decided I'm not giving up my equestrians dreams yet. Ok back to NHB Deurne; this college is the oldest and biggest horse college in the Netherlands as far I know and it got my interest since it launched a new, higher level, 4 year study called Equestrian Sport. It includes everyday riding (all English disciplines) but also teaching (both riding lessons and in classrooms) a bit of business and a variety of veterinary subjects. I'm gonna be in the sport-class, in which there's an extra emphasis on riding/competing so all of this together is a mix I feel is made for me. :-) But, there's even more to come. This school is like a boarding school. All students stay in the same building all week and only go home in weekends. (College campus/dorms are highly unusual in the Netherlands)You're required to wear a school uniform for any equine activities. (Navy school polo shirt or sweater, tan breeches) Small groups of students stay at school during weekends or holidays to look after the horses. Also, all students are required to be at school at 7AM, feed the horses and muck stalls, then have breakfast at school together at 8 before classes start at 9. We also have lunch together and dinner once all the horses are well groomed/fed for the night.  In my eyes, this makes the school similar to one of those ballet academies featured in tv shows haha!
I'm honestly so excited. A year without books and study was great after 6 years of high school, but now, I'm looking forward so incredibly much to combining my passion of riding with studying horses and everything around it at an actual educational institution. Only with classmates as crazy about horses as I am..!!! However, it will be a couple of months before I open any book... The sport class starts off the year with a 3 month internship at a barn/riding school. NHB Deurne decides who goes where and luckily they placed me at one of the greatest barns I have ever worked for in the past..; Jos Lansink Stables! Weehoo!! So after quite some years and other barns in places far more away, I'm returning to Belgium to work for this great man, who in my eyes, will always be the World Champion, just sayin' ;-), and his super team! I can't wait. :-)

This party will start early September and will last until end of November. But, obviously, I couldn't possibly sit on my butt at home until September.. Thankfully, there are still some shows to attend in the meantime!

This weekend I'm going to a 3 star show in Beervelde, Belgium, to see Lauren and Eirin Bruheim (and the ponies i miss so much) jump and then the week after there's the Global Champions Tour of Valkenswaard, the Netherlands, to which I'm definitely going since half the United States appeared to have flown in their horses to compete! :D

I'll keep you posted with pictures! Until then, thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your summer!!

xoxo 

NHB Deurne!!

my mentor for this school year! Mr. Mans Buurman

school uniform polo shirt

the beautiful Lansink stables

CHIO Aachen pt. 2

Whoop whoop, I got to go to the CHIO for the last days too!!! 

Saturday was quite an easy day. I arrived at the show grounds around 11AM and the first jumping class would not be starting until 1PM. But saturday morning is always an exciting part of the CHIO anyways, because it's cross country day. Meaning that the eventing riders ride their cross and the cool thing is; the cross always ends in the main stadium. Therefor, I spent all morning in the stands, cheering on the riders as they galloped into the stadium, jumped their last obstacles and eventually cross the finish line. Usually, there's not that many people in the stands, but I love watching it. The starting order is in reverse ranking order, (the dressage test and show jumping part already took place before saturday) so the highest ranked go last. By the time the top 10 riders are starting, it's much closer to 1PM, so more and more jumping people are filling the stands. The Aachen spectators are so generous, they love cheering on the riders in front of them, especially the German ones of course. I have to admit, the cheers when the rider enters the stadium and even more, the cheers/clapping when they cross the finish line after a successful cross country course.. it gives me goosebumps every single time. I mean, crowds are obviously a part of every show, wherever the show is, but there's nothing quite like the Aachen crowds. On the early saturday mornings, it's probably just a couple hundred people there, but can you imagine the roar of 40.000 spectators when a german rider goes clear in the sunday grand prix? Exactly. It's breathtaking. Each and every time. 

That takes me to another one of my Aachen favorites. Prize giving ceremonies. I know that must sound crazy because usually, they are a pain in the but. The handshaking, name listing thing always seems to take forever and it's much to everyone's release when they finally announce the lap of honor. However, yet again, in Aachen it's all different to me. At the CHIO, during every prize giving, they play the national anthem of the winning rider while they raise the corresponding flag. Now, this is something many more shows do, but again.. it's those 40.000 people that raise up from their seats as 1 man, hearing the first tunes of the anthem.. it's the huge stadium, with stands all around, which seems to capture the sounds and boost the volume.. it's knowing someone, one very talented, hard working person, has just reached an ultimate goal; winning a class on the holy grounds of CHIO Aachen. 

I wish holograms would be deadnormal already, so you could all turn up at the CHIO just to see and feel that in person. I'm trying my best but words just cannot describe, especially when concerning the grand prix on sunday. 

Grand prix on sunday leads me to my next favorite, which was actually a first of this year's CHIO; a course walk! I was lucky enough to be able to walk the course for both rounds of the Aachen grand prix as well as the jump off for this spectacular class. Let me tell you, it was BIG. Sloane took me on a course walk in Kentucky once, to kind of explain the basics of walking the course and I figured I might as well practice a bit.. Well. Holy Guacamoly. Walking up to the first fence and standing right in front of it, got me quite impressed but wow.. those combinations later on in the course.. some of the oxers.. the tricky distances.. it was amazing to see. And just take a look of the pic I'll put up here of the triple bar... There is an average/tall guy standing right behind it... It was HUGE. 

I guess every GP in Aachen really is one of the toughest classes you can possibly ride in your life as a rider so I have an incredible amount of respect for anyone able to go clear in any of the rounds.. It was no surprise however, that Nick Skelton won the thing this year. His horse Big Star could not have been named more accordingly and Nick himself.. well.. he's just a freak. In the most positive way. Every time I see him ride, I get the feeling you can put him on a lama and he'd still win the class. When I worked for Laura Kraut, his long time partner, I was fortunate enough to stay at his barn in England for a couple days and just for the heck of it, I will include a picture of part of the viewing room overlooking the outdoor arena. In this room, a great collection of Nick's won medals and other trophies are displayed and seriously.. the room is stacked. I'm talking olympic medal almost stuffed between giant silver plates kind-of-stacked. The guy is frigging Albert Einstein on a horse. 

Okay back to Aachen. Obviously the prix was a pleasure to watch, very well done too to young Swiss Janika Sprunger and French Patrice Delaveau, 2nd and 3rd respectively. 

End of the GP means time for I guess one of the longest living traditions of the CHIO: The 'Abschied der Nationen'. The official closing ceremony one could call it. Every nation sends their riders who participated in any of the disciplines into the stadium once more, all after each other, while the national anthem of the particular nation plays once again. The Aachen speaker then thanks them for coming and wishes them good luck for the future, in the country's main language! Very impressing ;-)

Then, when everyone is in, it's time for one last lap of honor, and now the white tissues come out. Every single soul in the stadium, rider or spectator, has one, and while the CHIO anthem plays, they all wave goodbyes as the riders exit the stadium. It's really quite something to see. And for sure a unique thing in the show world. 

So that's it. Another CHIO came to an end, another year is over, another year has just started! I wish you all the best for this year and I hope to see you at the CHIO Aachen 2014! 

Tschüß!!! (bye in German) 

Safe finish for Michael Jung! 

water.....

Aachen!

Rolex combination, last jumps before the 2nd round finish line

stone wall...

Rolex last jump of the 1st round

Rolex Grand Slam!!! Calgary & Geneva together with Aachen

HUGE TRIPLE BAR

winner winner chicken dinner! Big Star & Nick Skelton win the GP

Just a couple of Nick's trophies....

Abschied der Nationen! See you next year!