Mimi Stanley's 2010 Olympic Dream Trip Journal

Monday, June 28th
Today started off very early and everything went smoothly until it was time to take off for Frankfurt.  For me it was a relief when everyone in the group had met up, however a challenge was headed for our group.  The plane lost auxiliary power after we had boarded and in the end our flight was cancelled until morning.  We spent an uncomfortable night in JFK airport, but this brought our group together more quickly than would have happened without this delay.

Tuesday, June 29th
All of today was spent traveling because Germany is six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time so we lost those hours.  We were finally in Germany!  All of us were glad to get to a bed and were looking forward to the next day at Ann Kathryn Linsenhof’s.  It was also neat to get the first stamp in my passport.

Wednesday, June 30th
We found our rental car, later named “Bunny”, a VW van; we soon understood why we had been limited to one suitcase and a carry-on because we had to load the back just right in order to make everything fit.   We programmed the Linsenhof’s address into the GPS and were on our way.  That GPS made me nervous at first because it took us a totally different route than the map, but it got us there.  

The grounds are quite literally fit for royalty they are so beautiful.  Flowers are everywhere and the buildings have beautiful old architecture.  Klaus Martin Rath gave us a tour of the barn and introduced us to some of the more noteworthy horses (they were all nice enough to be noteworthy to me) like Wahyama Ann Kathrin’s lovely international competition mare that is now carrying her first foal.  We were offered refreshments and this was brought to the riding hall.  It can only be called a hall, as it was to grand to be and arena, huge with beautiful footing, woodwork, and lighting. 

We saw all levels of horses, from a young horse having its third ride to Sternteller an experienced FEI horse making a bid for WEG.  Klaus and Ann Kathrin and their son Matthias worked together along with a few other riders so that there were always eyes on the ground to help.  Later on, Klaus and Ann Kathrin’s daughter came down to ride her ponies.  This was most definitely a family operation.  We had a late lunch at a great local Italian restaurant that Klaus Martin had recommended and headed off to Munster where we would be staying for a few days.

Thursday, July 1st
In the morning we headed out to see Michael Klimke ride at the same stable that his father did, the Munster Riding Club.  It was a challenge to find and we learned that there are not always roads where the map says there are, but that the locals are very helpful even to the “silly Americans.”  Here the walls were filled with plaques and ribbons from the generations of Klimkes that have ridden there.  This barn looked like a working place and obviously functioned well for many horses and riders although only Michael, his wife and Jim Kofford were there during our time there. 

We spent the morning observing Michael and Jim work.  It was interesting to see the focus that Michael had; all the horses were being worked to be Grand Prix horses.  If they didn’t fit into a level to show before Grand Prix that was fine.  In this barn Grand Prix was ”king” and the rest were just stepping-stones.  Throughout the trip, we saw that this was more often the case than in America.  His work on the piaffe and passage was especially impressive.  Although Michael had to leave for the office at noon we gained an insider's view in Jim Kofford.  We had again been greeted with warm hospitality.

Jim accompanied us to lunch and to the rest of our afternoon destinations. DOKR the Olympic Training Center was a little imposing to us, as was the Warendorf State Stud.  DOKR did not have anything going on, but it was interesting just to look around.  At the State Stud, we had the amazing luck of being there while they practiced the twelve-stallion quadrille.  That was fascinating to watch and I fell in love with Fuerst Piccolo a smallish chestnut Fidermark son with beautiful gaits and such a cheerful attitude!  We also visited Sattelkammer Warendorf, a tack store that often caters to the famous riders of Germany because of its close proximity to the Olympic Training Center.  I was interesting to hear Jim’s thoughts on his time in Germany, and he encouraged us by say that there are always riding jobs if we would want to come back to work.

Friday, July 2nd
We arrived at Ingrid Klimke’s right on time, as by this point we had learned to give ourselves lots of extra time to find things.  Of course this time we found it right away and had to drive around for a bit!  We only had a few hours at Ingrid’s but it was packed full of information.  She made it easy for us to get the most out of our time there by making it an “English speaking day”.  While we were there she taught a lesson that focused on riding the Prix St Georges for a show and also helped another student during the breaks.  This was a great insight into how to make the most of the training that is already there for the test.  She then had several of her assistants school horses with her guidance.  She had one of her students ride a stallion that she called her trick pony because he is such a good example for the cavaletti work.  We saw some fascinating exercises that I wanted to be able to try right then and there.  She then rode a few horses herself and explained what she was doing.  One of them was the 5-year-old stallion she had just qualified for the Young Horse Championship; he was very impressive and also a bit of a macho boy.

Ingrid gave us a tour of the barn and told us about each horse and what they did.  It was neat to hear how the horse’s inclination decides his career path and that they usually don’t focus on a discipline until they are six.  Again we were greeted with a wonderful feeling of welcome.

In the afternoon we drove to Helen Langehanenberg’s barn.  When we arrived we were amazed at the size of the facility and its beauty.  The first horse that we saw Helen ride was a three-year-old mare sired by Damon Hill.  She was jaw dropping.  Her gaits had such natural balance and so much freedom that we all mostly stared in awe at her for a while.  Helen just rode her quietly forward with many changes of bend, and it was a beautiful picture.  After that she rode the mare Fleur Rubin that was featured in Dressage Today recently. They were the picture of harmony.  The last horse was a gray gelding that was more of a “normal” horse and it was interesting to see her ride him because she did not change what she did, however the effort was more visible because the horse was not so talented.  He was an interesting lesson in how important the right horse for the job is. Even though he went well and was a nice horse. he did not have the quality of the first two.  Helen then gave us a tour of the stable that she and her husband run.  She also told us a little about her training regime.  We left motivated to recreate the harmony we had witnessed.

Saturday, July 3rd and Sunday, July 4th
We headed off to Langenfeld for the Regional Championships for Rheinland.  When we arrived it was very hard to find a parking place because there were so many people coming to watch the horse show.  Already this was proving to be very different from a show in America.  There were jumpers and vaulters in addition to the dressage, and we decided to watch the vaulting until the dressage began.  Most of us had never seen vaulting in real life, and it was so cool.  The strength, balance, grace, and bravery that it takes is amazing. It was like moving art on the back of a horse. 

After that, we needed to go check into our hotel, and when we returned we found something to eat and then arranged to meet Christoph Hess who was judging there.  It ended up that a thunderstorm hit at the appointed time, and we were crowded together with many others escaping the storm.  He explained many of the different tests that Germany has and about the rider test that he would be judging later in the day.  The rider test only looks at how the rider can ride and nothing about the horse.  We then watched the young rider test, and Wow, are the Germans tough.  It was still thundering and raining heavily when they restarted the show.  There was also an FEI pony class going on at the same time, and we saw some beautiful ponies with great little riders.  We returned to the hotel where everyone was in a great mood because Germany had won another soccer game in the World Cup.  We had a super meal and went to bed early looking forward to the next day.

We returned to the horse show the next day to watch the Grand Prix and the rider test final.  The kids in the rider test were very good and had gone through a massive qualification process to get there.  400 kids competed in it throughout the year, 80 qualified for the championships, and only 8 or 9 made it to the final.  The winning rider received a 9.4 and the second place rider was only ten and earned a 9!  The Grand Prix was fun to watch, as was the Young Rider Kur.  We were surprised to hear riders clucking during the Grand Prix and as almost all of them did we concluded that it was legal.  It was an interesting difference from home.  After the show, we headed off for the country towards Balkenhol’s Stable.  Here we got our first real test of our inadequate German.  At the restaurant, which was very good, only one of the waitresses was brave enough to deal with the Americans.  It was also very strange not to have any fireworks on the fourth of July, as most of my family loves them!

Monday, July 5th and Tuesday, July 6th
I think that all of us were slightly nervous to meet Klaus Balkenhol, the legend.  We drove through the gates and over to the barn, walked in and were again greeted with much hospitality.  To our surprise Günter Seidel was sitting in the corner of the arena coaching.  We were all glad to see that he was on the mend.  Klaus and Judith Balkenhol gave us some background and shortly afterward, their daughter Anabel arrived.  When Klaus rode, it was easy to see that he really is a master at piaffe and passage. I could not completely figure out why his horse did such good work because he was so subtle.  His seat was impeccable and his timing was superb.  Anabel and her assistants rode many different horses of many different styles and there was something to learn from each one.  The biggest difference from the other barns was that all horses were started at four to give them ample time to develop.

We were able to go to lunch with the Balkenhols and I guess my German class helped some because when I read off the menu it sounded like I knew what I was doing, but then I had to admit that I really didn’t know what I was saying!  After lunch we returned to the Balkenhol’s.  Most of the horses came out again for a light ride, another difference from the other barns.

The next morning we looked forward to another fascinating day.  We saw many of the same horses and as an extra treat we saw Klaus ride Günter’s horse U2.  Günter joked that you come to Klaus’s, fall off and make sure you get hurt, and then Klaus trains your horse.  His positive attitude was a good lesson in making the best of things even when the situation is unfortunate.  After the morning of work, Klaus showed us around the barn and introduced us to the horses, including the miniature horse that was his old Grand Prix horse’s companion.  Again we had been made to feel so welcome and the grounds were incredibly beautiful.  Flowers and greenery abound and the buildings have old world charm.  We headed deeper into rural Germany toward Hubertus Schmidt’s.  We found our hotel and tried to converse with the owner who spoke no English.  Through lots of gestures and our pitiful German we acquired our rooms and ended up with adorable rooms and had breakfast organized for 7:00 the next morning.

Wednesday, July 7th
On our last day we had a wonderful breakfast and drove to Hubertus Schmidt’s farm Fleyenhof.  It was a beautiful day, and we all looked forward to it, but it felt like the last day.  We were all preparing to go back to the real world.  When we arrived we were surprised to meet another American that Brian even knew.  She became our unofficial guide and gave us a rundown on many of the horses. 
We walked down to the outdoor arena where Hubertus had just gotten on Donnelly his possible mount for WEG.  He greeted us and invited us to sit down at his picturesque ring.  His farm is situated in a beautiful valley, and it was cooler than it had been for the rest of the trip.  He warms up all his horses very systematically and always keeps the relaxation that he developed in his warm-up.  One of his bereiters, a young woman who qualified to ride for the Swiss team at WEG was also riding: she was a beautiful and very classical rider. 

We then went up to watch him teach in the indoor arena which was between the large and small dressage ring in size and up to eight people rode in it without getting in each other’s way.  That alone was amazing.  Then I could not believe how many horse and rider combinations that Hubertus could keep track of. 

We went to a great Italian place and again were amazed at how many Italian restaurants are in Germany.  Also they are so welcoming.  When they found out that we had been at Fleyenhof, they insisted on giving us cappuccinos on the house.  German hospitality is no myth.  We returned to see Hubertus ride a beautiful big black stallion that was somewhat troublesome, however Hubertus remained focused on the relaxation and other elements of the training scale and he slowly came around.  We continued to watch and continued to be impressed by how the correct work made each horse better.  We said our goodbyes to Fleyenhof, took our group photo by the rock, and headed back to Frankfurt.

That evening we went out and bought a few tacky souvenirs and spent our last time together.  We all were a little silly and thinking of home.  I was sad to leave Germany and would miss everyone, yet I was looking forward to going home and applying what I had seen.  It was a fun evening, but we knew it had to come to an end.

Thursday, July 8th
We all met up and started the long process of getting back to the United States.  We went through endless lines and bought our last meal in Germany.  On the ride home we all caught up on the current movies and tried to get a little sleep.  After picking up our luggage we said goodbye.  It was weird and sad to part ways with these people that I had spent so much time with.  I then headed home.  I was excited to see my horses and family.