The Final Four

Posted 28 January 2007 by Eileen Ostlund   (2940 views)

We had one final day to take a second look at horses. Steve and I reviewed the videotape and discussed the horses we’d seen. I was relieved that I would get a second chance to look at my favorites b... (read more)

Day 2 of Shopping in Holland

Posted 07 January 2007 by Eileen Ostlund   (3133 views)

Today started with a drive after breakfast to try a very pretty dappled gray mare at a large boarding barn. She was 10 years old, about 16.0 hands, KWPN. She’d had had a couple of foals already but ... (read more)

Shopping in Holland - Day 1

Posted 01 December 2006 by Eileen Ostlund   (3427 views)

After breakfast, we went back to the Reesink farm where Steve looked at a 4 year old gelding that had been under tack for 2 weeks. His canter under saddle was not yet confirmed and the young male ... (read more)

Jounal Entry #5 Across the Pond

Posted 26 November 2006 by Eileen Ostlund   (3465 views)

My trip to Holland would consist of three days of shopping. We were looking for “my” horse and Steve was doing some horse shopping for other clients in the US. As a one-horse owner, I was actually r... (read more)

Journal Episode #4 –Searching for the “fuzzy Third Level SUV”

Posted 05 November 2006 by Eileen Ostlund   (3615 views)

Armed with my list of prerequisites, I began the search for my next horse in earnest the February before my mare was due to foal. I let all my horsey friends know I was looking for a horse and search... (read more)

Journal Episode #3 – Eileen’s steps to buying a new dressage horse:

Posted 05 October 2006 by Eileen Ostlund   (3838 views)

Step 1) Do something appropriate with current (i.e. “old”) dressage horse. I bred Kaleidoscope to a mellow Dutch Warmblood with a high rideability score in the 100 day test. My goal was to p... (read more)

Journal Episode #2 – Dressage viewed through a Kaleidoscope

Posted 24 September 2006 by Eileen Ostlund   (3933 views)

Pendragon, the horse I acquired during my last year of veterinary school, accompanied me through a couple of relocations – from Illinois to Indiana while I was an equine practitioner for several years... (read more)

Finding dressage by the circuitous route

Posted 23 September 2006 by Eileen Ostlund   (3965 views)

Like many dressage epics, mine began with genetic predisposition which my non-horsey parents never really understood. I baby-sat to earn money to pay for my... (read more)

The Grand Finale

Posted 15 September 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (6027 views)

Everyone reading this has to understand that winning this award had the same importance to me that winning a gold medal would have to a professional. Especially after the very long, frustrating, expe... (read more)

Day Two - the Championship Class

Posted 12 September 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (6924 views)

On the morning of our championship class I went into Spirit's stall, looked into his eyes and said "Spirit, I NEED you to be good today." My trainer laughed as he blew snot on me. Very symbolic.... (read more)

Day One at Regional Championships

Posted 11 September 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (7045 views)

Ok, I won't make you wait. I'll just tell you right away how we did. We won the endurance division at the Region 4 dressage championships! The bad news is that there is no endurance division ... (read more)

Final weeks before Regional Championships

Posted 06 September 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (7234 views)

After bringing my horses home from Chicago (and the humiliation therewith). I decided we had a few weeks left to exorcise Spirit before regionals. We had the vet out, had his teeth done again (altho... (read more)

Overconfident

Posted 06 September 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (7230 views)

I was now getting ready to take both horses to a show at Lamplight. I needed one little qualifying score on Lex and Spirit was just going for the exposure. He was a spooky horse and had only shown t... (read more)

The rainbow after the storm

Posted 05 September 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (7320 views)

The impossible had happened. My horse was diagnosed with early ringbone. RINGBONE. I viewed it as a death knell. Perhaps I was being a bit dramatic, but I think it was the final blow to me. Hones... (read more)

Emotional Tornado

Posted 05 September 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (7320 views)

As a result of his broken coffin bone, Spirit earned himself a few more months of rest. I tended to my broken heart by working and running and waiting. What's another few months when you've been w... (read more)

Spirit Arrives

Posted 05 September 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (7307 views)

I was almost six years into my odyssey to find an escape for my pathetic dressage existence when Spirit came limping into my life. Yes, limping. He hurt himself on the way to my farm. Now, I'm not s... (read more)

Trying Again

Posted 16 August 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (7552 views)

In the big picture, 5 years of desperately seeking a fulfilled life as a dressage rider isn't a long time. And while I pursued this dream I kept busy: I gave birth, broke my arm and sacrum, and was... (read more)

Giving back to dressage

Posted 08 August 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (7961 views)

Now that I had enjoyed my few weeks with "my horse of a lifetime", my role suddenly changed. Lexington helped me find a new purpose in life: helping my veterinarians afford an Ivy League education ... (read more)

Traveling luck

Posted 07 August 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (7986 views)

Now I mentioned that I'm an unlucky traveler but that didn't stop me from going to Europe. In fact between this post and my last post I was in Europe at the Young Horse Championships (wow!) and dri... (read more)

Entry Four - Euro shopping trip #1

Posted 29 July 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (8459 views)

Even though the record will show that I'm the world's most unlucky traveller (and I will share some of those stories with you) I understood that a serious dressage rider like me was best off shoppin... (read more)

My first clinic

Posted 28 July 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (8666 views)

Third Entry: But before I move on - I have to talk about my first "real" dressage clinic. Having earned my qualifying 48% at a recognized show (I noticed the judge doing Tai Chi to relax after my ... (read more)

Working on balance

Posted 27 July 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (8690 views)

Second Entry: Amazingly, I've already gotten reactions from this short post requesting my next entry - ok, here goes. Before my journal leaves my first gelding out to pasture, I shou... (read more)

First Dressage Horse

Posted 26 July 2006 by Julia Snitzer   (8701 views)

First Entry: Well here's the beginning of my story... I've had my 10 year plus dressage career in the dressage Mecca of the world - Missouri. Germans make their yearly pilgrimage here to... (read more)