The morning started at 5:00 a.m., with the students all walking to the barn before 6:00. It was a rough night sleeping for me as I finally managed to catch Annie’s cold and cough. It was inevitable as most of the kids here have been sick. Annie went with her show clothes under her work […]

Today will be a quick post! The group is spending the entire day preparing for the final testing tomorrow. They rode this morning and enjoyed some traditional German cake (one of the girls has her 21st birthday today) before their final Theory class. They will prepare the horses this afternoon by spot cleaning them (too […]

Days 6 & 7: As mentioned in an earlier post, we are not permitted to take photos or videos inside the riding school. It’s very difficult to convey the exact vibe here without having visual documentation! I touched earlier on the jumping expectations and how much more forward, sporty and exuberant the horses are. The […]

Day 5: Monday was a very busy day here in Warendorf. In addition to the intense daily jumping, dressage and theory lessons, the students had the privilege of visiting the German Riding Federation (known as FN, as well as the German Olympic Committee for Equestrian Sport (DOKR), which is affiliated with the FN. These two […]

Days 3 & 4: It snowed (and snowed!) Friday night and walking to the barn from the hotel in the morning was such a serene sight. The entire complex is massive with magnificent brick buildings. On Saturday morning all the students rode together in the large indoor. First, they rode their dressage horses and then […]

Day 2: When in doubt…Volte! I’m sure this is a word none of the students here will soon forget. The instructor today got very upset if she saw any student riding around the ring without doing numerous voltes. Of course there were many other exercises that were also required…but ”VOLTE!!!” is what was heard the […]

Day 1: Several months ago, Annie Klepper received a very special invitation from her German coach Nicole Thüngen to attend the prestigious German Riding School in Warendorf, Germany. Thüngen is the Director of English studies at the University of Findlay in Ohio. Each year Nicole takes a group of her university students to Germany to […]