Finally an update!!

Dear all,

Finally! An update! I am very sorry it took so long. I truely had the intention to blog daily but the internet connection was bad and we had so much work with seven horses so it was impossible to do. But... I'll make it up to you :-)

We have around 2000 pictures so I will make a photo album soon. 

First, a summary of our experiences at the Spanish Barcelona Dressage tour: On Thursday morning around 07.30 AM we left with six horses in the truck. I drove the bus and the trailer with Ubique. Ivanna gave me company and Jose Manuel entertained Marcel in the lorry. Stan changed lorry and bus every now and then. Pip just slept in the truck.

After a journey of 12 hours we made a stop at the racing track in Lyon (France). The horses could rest for a few hours and we handwalked them. The next day we left at 06.00 AM to arrive in Barcelona ten hours later. Well, I can assure you, then it is just chaos! The stalls need to be prepared, the horses need to be groomed, the tack need to be arranged and the truck need to be parked. Everything was done at midnight and we were exhausted ;)

On Saturday morning we started to train the horses just lightly. We also rode Mandy Wilms' El Ganador and Akane Kuroki's Don Luka. Mandy and her parents arrived on Saturday evening and Akane arrived on Sunday.

After a few days of training the vet check was scheduled on Tuesday. I panicked when I went feeding in the morning as a horse has been loose in the stalls where Ubique was stabled and he had a wound on his chin. Horrible! Immediately we asked a vet and Ubique needed stiches. The good thing was Ubique's first test was on Thursday so we had two more days before competing. Fortunately the wound was just in between his nose band and the chin chain but of course he was very sensitive on it. After consultation with the show vet and stewards we could do vet check with Ubique and he passed. A real bad start because somebody didn't check the stable door! Anyway, we had to move on! 

All other horses passed the vet check so the competition could start! I will make several articles about the show results of all horses the coming week. After a successful week I didn't have shows on Sunday and Monday myself. After Akane's last test we trained the horses and went to Barcelona Outlet shopping centre. We shopped and had dinner and then we went back to the horses again. 

My parents came to Barcelona for some days and on Monday the horses had a day off and we just hand walked them twice. That day we have been to Barcelona city, beautiful! We have seen nice buildings, churches and many other things. 

Around 6 PM we were back again to feed the horses and to hand walk them. It was a nice day and the next day the vet check for the second week was on the program. During the first week the weather was very very bad, pooring rain and storm. It was very cold. Fortunately the weather changed in the second week and we enjoyed some very nice days in Spain. The second week was successful as well. The best thing was Showboy winning the Inter 1 freestyle kur! 

After Akane's Grand Prix Special on Sunday we packed everything again and we prepared to go home. We ended our adventure in Spain with dinner with all of us. On Monday morning we left the show and we stopped again at the property in Lyon. The family Wilms and Akane took a flight back home. On Tuesday morning we left Lyon and yesterday evening at 7 PM the horses stood in their own stalls again.

Barcelona Dressage tour 2015 was great!! 

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